#The Gang Tends Bar

[trophywifemac]

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA 12.08 • The Gang Tends Bar

[riskerat]

Gay shit again.

[charmac]

[mao-likes-2-draw]

first digital iasip fanart…done by girl who’s officially in too deep. (me) shoutout to the gang tends bar. happy valentines day to these freaks

[absolutely-not-my-main-blog]

Glenn Howerton: [...] and we talk about that all the time when we're writing Sunny, it's like this moment is like 'it's not funny enough,' and I'm like yes, but is it *entertaining,* is it interesting to watch? [...]

Sure, "it's funnier" if they don't, but...

[andromedism]

happy “the gang tends bar” day to all who celebrate!

[egonkula]

and I have feelings!!! of course I have feelings!!! I have big feelings okay? !!! and it hurts!!!

[aanalytic]

[dennisboobs]

Can we talk about the fact the fact that the "one thing [Dennis] wanted more than anything else in the entire world" was not, in fact, the RPG. He doesn't care that there's no ammunition for it, or that he can't actually use it as-is, because what he really wanted was for someone to think of him on Valentines day. That was why he put the anthrax in the box. to stop the others from excluding him. Because even if they were being horrible to each other, he still wanted in on it.

For Dennis, the fact that he wasn't given gifts by the rest of the gang indicated that they didn't love him, and Mac giving him that RPG proved him wrong. He of course would never say it out loud, and still clearly works to suppress the full extent of his emotions even when he's just had an emotional outburst and is on the verge of tears, but Dennis craves this symbolic reassurance. Even as he actively pushes people away, shuts them out, pretends he's emotionless. He's upset that the others actually believe this mask of his, take it at face value and can't see past his lies. He wants to be seen and understood and he wants to be loved by his friends.

[neverainy]

Something something Mac’s first Valentine’s Day as an openly gay man he and he finally gives Dennis the gift of his dreams. He finally felt able to show his love for another man openly and Dennis loved it! Because he’s never gotten a true gift before. His were stolen from him by his father or probably some expensive nothing from his mother and extended family

[trophywifemac]

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA ↳ S12E08 “The Gang Tends Bar”

[literallyrennisdeynolds]

Dennis Reynolds; An Erotic Life

As a Dennis kin and understander, I have really, really strong opinions about the iasip fandom’s portrayal of him. Which is done mostly well, but some headcanons/fanfictions make me so genuinely uncomfortable. (Also I’m about to yap for a while, so I apologize for that.)

One of the most off putting things about Dennis Reynolds is the way he approaches sex and sexual partners. In earlier seasons he’s often seen just wanting to bang as many women as possible and record it for his tapes and sex journal. He has this unhealthy relationship with sex that’s just so fascinating to me. So I want to explain two things in depth and offer my thoughts on them; what Dennis’ views on sex are and WHY he is the way he is. 

Starting with the “problem” itself. Which is the fact that Dennis doesn’t seem to value sexual partners as anything more than a cheap bang. The way he views making people fall for him as a game– as a challenge. Dennis has no actual relationships for most of the show, and, in exception of Mandy (Which, let’s be honest, was more of a co-parenting thing and was only for Brian Jr.), Dennis never commits to anything romantic or sexual. However; there is Maureen Ponderosa. Maureen is interesting because she isn’t particularly anything special. She’s clingy, annoying, and all up in Dennis’ business. He marries her– which is short lived– because Maureen reminds Dennis of a time when he experienced romantic love. And strong romantic love; like the scene where he tells Mac something along the lines of “I feel like I’m fourteen, I’m having feelings again!” Which is often misinterpreted to mean “Oh, Dennis doesn’t feel things!” WHICH IS SO FALSE. Dennis has so many feelings, big feelings. But he has a hard time experiencing things that he can’t control; so he masks what he feels and takes on this cold persona of sorts. This “I’m having feelings again!” quote is meant to portray the fact that Dennis hasn’t felt joy like this going into a potential relationship since he was a kid. Because Maureen was his high-school sweetheart– but not his first time.

No, that was the school librarian.

This skewed vision of sex, I think, originally stemmed from Dennis’ experience with her. Internally he thought he enjoyed it; because he’s a man, he should get lucky for getting laid (especially from an older woman). And now he views this experience as something nice, sure, and a surge of power, rather than expressing love for someone. It’s an exchange of services. No matter if Dennis denies it, the librarian fucked him up. I also want to add the fact that both Dennis’ parents cheated on each other constantly and didn’t have a healthy relationship. One of the first sex experiences he even had was Frank fucking a prostitute. Some of this can be blamed on Frank, actually. But that’s not the focus here. So, after having sex with Maureen, Dennis can’t see anything else past that that he can gain from her. 

Which brings me to Mac. I won’t analyze him here, that’s for another day (and I’m probably not the best for that). Dennis sees Mac as sort of a rock. And not in the cute romantic way, of course, but as someone to control. Mac is predictable, and Dennis likes predictable. Any time Mac is unpredictable, Dennis freaks out. Like in The Gang Tends Bar, for example. Dennis has no clue why someone would do that for him, or why Mac would look at him with those big doe eyes like that. Dennis can’t imagine a life without Mac across the room with his Ass Pounder 2000, without predictable Mac and his predictable ways. He keeps Mac in line, whether it be with weight-loss pills, anal beads, or an inflatable bed, Mac will stay right by Dennis’ side. And Dennis, being in the exact same environment for 30+ years: will never change.

[charmac]

Mac McDonald - "Gay"

[badnew2005]

THE GANG TENDS BAR - we’re always running outside, out into the world, looking for riches and treasures, when we’ve got everything we need right here.

[buthappysoverrated]

[andromedism]

In 2017, I watched “The Gang Tends Bar” as it aired live, and it’s all kind of a blur but I remember three things very clearly:

Sunnyblr was POPPING. To this day, I still see TGTB posts floating around with 10k notes and they are all still so fucking good. My beautiful relics of an absolutely insane time.

Airing A Crickets Tale that very next week is probably one of the most chaotic things that was happening to Tumblr at that time. We were all like, “Mmm, thanks for whatever that was, RCG! So yummy! Now can we have another helping of repressed middle-aged gay men?” and they said, “Okay, sure! Here’s more of that but make it foreboding,” and aired “Dennis’ Double Life” the very next week after THAT.

I didn’t sleep the night TGTB aired. I was a freshman in college and I went to class the next day and just stared at nothing during my lecture because I was so blown away by it. At 18, it was one of the most formative experiences I’ve ever had with television. Raw, emotional moments have always been so much more impactful to me in comedic shows. I still consider it one of the most romantic episodes of any show I’ve ever seen. I’m 25 now, and I have never forgotten the way I felt the first time I saw this episode. My life is entirely different now from February of 2017, but my feelings about TGTB are exactly the same if not intensified.

Bonus Big Feelings:

Once you’ve watched “Dennis’ Double Life,” TGTB reads so differently—it hurts so much more. Because you know how it ends for them and you never get closure. YOU NEVER GET CLOSURE.

Something about Glenn’s hair being outstandingly hot in S12 really brought everything together, that year + heightened the pining. He would do something and we’d all be like “ok work!”

Season 16 is the closest I’ve felt to Season 12 levels of deranged. I think this makes sense since S16, stylistically, reminds me the most of classic Sunny and somehow, also, every macden fic I’ve ever read.

I never had a good reference point for whether other people outside of Sunnyblr read that episode as incredibly queer, or Just Guys Being Dudes, but most of my comms class watched this show, and we were all foaming at the mouth talking about it the next day. Everyone was like, “Oh my god! It’s getting gayer! We won!”

Reflecting on where I was in life when TGTB, and when this most recent season aired, I can’t help but wonder where we’ll all be if they touch noses. Season 24 is our seasons guys.