#the argument is that we should use a picture of dee day dennis because that is his 'true appearance'

[dennisboobs]

i fucking love being wiki admin

[dacergirl369]

s14 trailer breakdown!!!

okay so from the trailer there are six clear episode plot line we can see- a zoo episode, a laser tag episode, what i will refer to as the ‘melon episode’, dines out 2.0, a noir episode, and an episode where he whole gang seems to have a corporate meeting and then watch a movie at a private screening that they find *very* exciting. So, let’s go through what we can see about these plotlines from the trailer and what we can piece together from bts info, and then look at what’s missing from trailer and what this could mean. buckle in, because my ted talk is about to get started. in the essay i literally will. Let’s go.

So, we have an episode list, but only the description for the first ep, “tg gets romantic”. we know that in “tg chokes” the gang goes to guiginos at least once due to a scene rob leaked on instagram (https://www.instagram.com/p/B1NBx6-HOxM/?igshid=yg2ql5uyu4w1, https://www.instagram.com/p/B1zgApEHXhv/?igshid=1ge7qkgw5bm0d), so let’s start there.

We can see the entire opening scene for tg chokes on robs instagram, which shows us the gang are back at guiginos for a meal all together (which is also shown in the trailer). But the trailer has another guiginos scene (where dee appears to have a reaction and the waiter appears to use an epipen on her), where the gang (bar charlie and mac, who both only own one quote unquote “nice” outfit), are all wearing different outfits. So we know they visit guiginos at least twice this season. These more than likely happen in the same episode (what i called “dines out 2.0” before but we know is actually called “the gang chokes”).

Moving on to the laser tag episode. It’s... a laser tag episode. Unfortunately I don’t have much to say about it, but it’s a very clear plotline featuring the whole gang. It’s hard to tell if they wear the same outfits at another point because of the vests, but based on dees shirt i don’t think so. This plotline most likely takes up most or all of an episode (maybe dee day? my girl seems to be really enjoying the laser tag, so maybe?).

Then we have the noir episode, which we know is “the janitor always mops twice”. A whodunnit where the premise is to find out who diarrhoea poisoned frank. features the whole gang + the waitress, based on cast instagrams.

Then we have the screening episode (?) which i will go on record as saying i believe will be the thundergun episode (thundergun 4: maximum cool), but that is just personal speculation and not really based in any “facts” or “real world observations” or whatever pussies and people with small meat base their predictions on. we see the gang in a meeting in a corporate style office (the scene where charlie thinks the window is a two way mirror) and then later towards the end watching something on the big screen in an empty cinema and cheering (wearing the same outfits as before). Personal prediction: they’re gonna try convince a studio to let them make thunder gun 4 like they did with lethal weapon. i WOULD like to point out that in robs instagram pictures with dolph lundgren he is wearing a grey v neck shirt sleeve t shirt and in the shots i just mentioned he was wearing a baseball shirt with a print on it, so just keep that in mind when assessing the realism of this theory. But those might have just been backstage or after shooting pics. Anything is possible in iasip.

Okay, next I’m gonna talk about the zoo episode. This is the first episode i’m gonna discus where there are gang members missing from what i can figure out of the plotline. So, we have a very clear story in the trailer of mac and charlie going to the zoo, seeing the meerkats, charlie pisses on mac. Later in the trailer, frank is shown tormenting a gorilla. dee and dennis do not appear to be at the zoo with them, and kaitlin and glenn don’t seem to have been on set at the zoo based on social media posts. dee and dennis are only seen alone together in one scene during the trailer, which is this puppy (0:05), where they appear to be at some kind of fair/stand/protest or something? I’m not sure what it is, but dee appears to be texting while dennis laughs mockingly at her, so potentially (WILD SPECULATION ALERT) the zoo episode is the gang texts and dee and dennis have the main plot of this episode. this is the only dee and dennis solo scene in the trailer however we do have unaccounted for plotlines so this could be a part of that and their plot in this episode may not have a shot in the trailer.

Finally (not finally, but lastly out of the plotlines i have lovingly sherlock-ed together), we have the melon episode. This is probably the episode the trailer gave us the most information about, and we can out together almost a whole plotline from these shots. This seems from the trailer to be crickets only episode of the season, although there is a video of david hornsby on robs instagram (https://www.instagram.com/p/B1zEOJjnPG8/?igshid=yfciekezwnc3) of him wearing a different outfit, so maybe there’s another episode in store for rickety cricks this season.

The gang appear to be watching a show in the bar, dennis tells them to shut up so he can watch, they gasp and remark how much they love the show, although dee says the plot is absurd. Dennis says humans are stupid and should be eradicated, which is met with agreement. Seems like we’re gonna have some good ol fashioned meta references this season, folks! Anyways, after this they somehow stumble across franks melon in a safe, ask him and it, and drop it from a ladder (from which cricket catches it). they also seem to be looking at the office computer while dee gags. this looks to be a classic “gang finds a thing and is surprised and intrigued by it so investigate but in an idiot way” episode, although we don’t know what frank is up to during this melon madness. he doesn’t seem to wear that shirt at any other point during the trailer. hmmmmmmm frank wyd

that brings me to the end of clear episodes in the trailer, but there are a few other things that, while they don’t really fit in with any specific plot, gives us a little info about what else is going on this season.

we have a plotline where frank is in the waiters house with him and his mother, not sure what the gang is up to but we see frank wear that shirt earlier in the trailer with charlie. we don’t not see charlie wear his shirt again in the trailer so it’s most likely a plot not in the trailer. there’s also a shot of frank and charlie in their pjs in their apartment, potentially from the first episode (tg gets romantic) as according the episode description it appears to be the episode this flyer is from (https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ZZB-PnDeB/?igshid=nta7myvov0t2), which would make sense for the boys in their pjs, although they could really do that at any point in the season. we ALSO see mac and dennis in their apartment, also in pjs, talking about lunatics. this is likely from the same episode as the charlie & frank pj shot to mirror them, which strengthens the argument that it’s from the first episode due to both sets of guys having the same set up and problem just in different ways (both advertise for a person to come live with them, it goes wrong). dee is also there in this macden shot. maybe she is the lunatic in question? idk. we have dee and mac on what looks like a basketball court, dee is dancing, and after that we also have mac and charlie in the macden apartment and mac tries to swipe charlie’s boaba. i have no idea about these, so i don’t have much to say. just thought i’d bring em up.

NOW, onto what we didn’t see in the trailer. we KNOW there is an episode with poppins because of this instagram post (https://www.instagram.com/p/B01Cqu4nwMK/?igshid=1cc2y1uvonml0). none of the outfits these three are wearing come up in the trailer, so i’m forced to believe this is an episode we have not seen any shots of yet. not sure what dee and dennis are doing. it could be that shot i mentioned before in the zoo section, but we can’t be sure. we didn’t seem to see anything about the global warming episode that has been teased, either.

so let’s recap what we know (or what i think i know). there’s ten episodes this season. we can deduce six coherent plots from the trailer (laser tag, noir, zoo, melon, chokes, potential thundergun). we know there’s an episode with poppins with mac charlie & frank, and the global warming episode. the first episode is tg gets romantic, which we have the description of and most likely those pj shots. so that’s nine plotlines overall we seem to have a grasp on right now. i believe the one we don’t have any info for right now is the finale, and that both the plot details and the shots are being kept under wraps so that the finale is more hard hitting when it comes out. i do believe they’re gonna go hard, we’re living post mfhp, anything is possible, and last seasons finale is an awful lot to top. i can’t even guess at the finale plot. i am so excited.

so that’s my official trailer breakdown and review, i hope this was coherent and if you know anything else or know that im wrong about something please tell me, i’m just so excited i want to have as clear a picture as possible bcs i can’t wait to know what the seasons gonna be!!!!!!

((thank you to @lesbian-mac for listening to my two hours of trailer related rambling and telling me to post this lmao <3))

[maccymacdonald]

A Study in Sunny

When asking how much of an impact television shows have and why they are so important to us, I’m sure the latter is a question that’s lingered in the minds of many parents concerned with their child’s obsessions with various things, whether that be bands, actors, sports stars or TV shows. I know I for one have endured the embarrassment of my dad bringing up my new hyper fixation at family dinners or my friends roasting me for whatever new poster I’ve just bought. Even before I planned on writing this article, I think I’ve always known my short-lived obsessions or long time loves have always been deeper than superficiality. (Maybe my High School Musical phase can be excluded from that, though).

I think there’s a lot more to what we watch that makes us cling so hard to our shows, and that they genuinely have a huge influence and emotional impact on our lives. A few people I’ve talked to or seen online think that my generation’s attachment to fiction universes is a bad thing, which to an extent I can understand. However, at the risk of sounding dramatic,  I truly believe TV shows have unimaginable impacts on us.

Whether that’s simply making us laugh until our sides hurt or allowing us a brief distraction from our messy lives there’s so much that shows offer us than just entertainment. Whether you find solace in living vicariously through your favourite character or simply enjoy being able to relate to a situation close to your heart, why should it matter what others think? How could we not hyper-fixate on something that to some extent reflects who you are and what you find compelling about life? And really, who’s to say that doing so is detrimental when to some, a show could be their only outlet to express themselves? I don’t know about you, but I can’t see anything wrong with that at all.

While its all well and good me saying all this, I thought I needed proof. I want to prove that TV shows touch people in many different ways and have the ability to improve lives, and that to many, tv shows mean so much more than what they are on the surface. The only way I was going to prove it, however, is with evidence. So I did a little research.

One of my favourite TV shows of all time is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Rated 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s millions of committed fans and numerous awards make it one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. It’s extremely dark and controversial humour torpedoes taboo topics in the most hilarious and ridiculous scenarios, yet remains subtly brilliant in the way it presents itself and it’s characters. If you haven’t seen it, (in which case the rest of this post will probably make no sense and I’d advise you to binge it, right now), the show centres around five terrible friends who run an equally terrible bar in downtown Philadelphia.

I decided to run a survey about how Always Sunny has affected its fans. I chose this show in particular because each character is so complex and profound in their own right I can see how easy it is for many people to connect with them on such personal levels.

I think the thing I found funniest when starting this show is that the characters are seemingly just really bad people. Every member of the gang has been arrested for something, they’re all alcoholics, they’re constantly thinking of new get-rich-quick schemes and regularly ruin other people’s lives without a second thought. In a most extreme example, my brother can’t even watch the show simply because he genuinely hates the characters (which all in all, is fair enough.) However, I believe beneath the surface of the arguments and violence there’s a depth to every character that you don’t always see in light-hearted comedies.

“They are the most elaborate, multi-dimensional, complicated and most well-written characters in any show ever, especially comedy.”

The characters are all very different. While Dennis is constantly harassing women and plotting against his family, he’s also extremely insecure and vulnerable. He was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in season ten, which leads to him often being shown to struggle with his emotions and ability to feel. He’s an incredibly complex character who I think is often just overlooked as the psychotic angry man, which isn’t true at all.

His sister Dee entertains the more slapstick and needy version of her brother. She too is very easily agitated and has no patience, as well as she’s always desperate for validation (where most of her humour stems from). Because of this, she is immensely guarded of her emotions, also due to the perpetual verbal abuse she’s endured from her family her entire life.

“I can relate to her past with being bullied, and her constant need for affection and to be told that she is good.”

Mac, on the other hand, wears his heart on his sleeve. His development of starting the show as a heavily religious closeted gay man to openly out and proud over 12 years was really inspiring to watch, and his father issues and struggles with acceptance is what makes him one of the most engaging and interesting characters.

His best friend Charlie is also fascinating. On the surface, he is a substance abuser and alcoholic, unhygienic, illiterate, and highly unpredictable. But beyond that, he is very loving and supportive (most of this time).  He adores Frank and is usually happy to do anything for his friends. As a sexual abuse survivor, he is such an important character because it’s clear especially in the later seasons that he truly loves and believes in himself, and regardless of how others see him he never attempts to change who he is. Not only that, but many fans believe he’s autistic meaning his character is not only lovable but awesome representation.

A few months ago I launched a survey that 206 wonderful people responded to. Even though I’m involved with the Always Sunny community every day through social media, it really helped me get an understanding of the bigger picture, rather than just memes and discourse (although I wouldn’t change the Sunny Tumblr fandom for the world). So before I dive in I want to thank everybody that took the time to respond to the survey or talk to me privately, as you’ve helped everyone that reads this gain more of an insight into It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and it’s amazing fanbase, which I appreciate tremendously.

(And before I start, the overwhelming majority classed themselves as being obsessed with the show, and almost 100% have dedicated some form of social media to it, so you know these results are the real deal.)

While many people, like I do, watch the show on their own, over half watch it with friends and 49% say watching the show helps them bond with someone. I thought this was quite interesting because whether it’s your friends, parents, siblings or anyone else, if a show brings people together it really can only be a good thing, especially a comedy show.

I think a lot of people don’t realise how important tv shows are to relationships. I once knew someone who told me the only time they ever spent with their father was when they watched their favourite programme together. This shows how powerful tv shows are – to some, they’re vital for bonding and spending time with someone you love. They allow you the opportunity to do something fun which inspires conversation and communication, things not always easy to achieve.

While this is really important, there are three main things that stood out in this survey as the most relatable and helpful to fans. Charlie’s autism, Mac’s sexuality, and Dennis’s BPD. After reading the results it became obvious that so many people relate really strongly to these characters, each one holding something personal to every different person who watches the show.

“I really like Charlie because he very accurately portrays a dyslexic person and I think that’s really great. I also really like Mac because I can relate to him being very closeted so his progression to acceptance of himself was really nice to see for me, so his storyline, as problematic as it may be, I do find to be very realistic and relatable. I can also relate to Dennis in a really dark way, with the borderline personality disorder, so he also has a special place in my heart.”

Predictably, ‘Who is your favourite character?’ is one of the questions I asked, and this is what came back.

Charlie had the most votes with 58%, while Mac wasn’t far behind with 53%.

(And whoever gave a notable mention to special agent Jack Bauer and Poppins the invincible dog, I love you.)

As you can see, Charlie and Mac are the clear favourites. ‘Wild Card’ Charlie has attained number one though and has been a fan favourite for a long time. While there are hundreds of reasons to love him (he’s my favourite too), I think most people just see him as the funniest character. (Which is completely justified). However, apart from his humour, which obviously a lot of viewers adore, there are many other reasons fans love Charlie Kelly and the other characters so much.

Something I found interesting was quite a few responses mentioned Charlie’s autism. While it’s never been explicitly stated in the show that autism is definitely a condition he has, it’s something many fans have speculated about. It’s pretty much confirmed Charlie is autistic due to certain things he does or certain personality traits he has, explained brilliantly by Reddit user carrionkid in this post.

“I really like how his character is almost certainly autistic. It helps me realize that it’s not something that I should be ashamed of, and I also really like the way he’s played and written in general, and his musical talent! I find a lot of comfort in the ways he’s similar to me. I relate so strongly to that feeling of being left out and trying really hard to make your friends like you.”

Charlie is obviously a character that some fans have a deep connection to. Autism isn’t often portrayed well or accurately on-screen, and well-developed characters like Abed Nadir in Community and JJ Jones in Skins are very rare. Frankly, representation of various mental conditions is majorly lacking in the film and television world. So to see someone as complex and engaging as Charlie Kelly is really refreshing and important in the progression of television.

“I find Charlies’s autism symptoms make me feel more comfortable and accepting of myself as I might not be otherwise, due to past experiences with people telling me that I am not autistic despite my diagnosis (even though these comments were motivated by bigotry towards minorities I fit into I still find it hard to ignore them).”

Characters like Charlie show how much of an impact TV shows can have. Being able to relate to a character is a really big deal – finding something like a show that seems so unimportant, yet turns out to be something genuinely helpful in accepting who you are and being less lonely is really special. I think the personal connections between characters and viewers are underrated. At a certain point, they stop being characters, and you see them as yourself. Albeit a more exaggerated, problematic version of yourself, I suppose.

Probably the biggest thing that a huge amount of people responded to is Mac’s sexuality, and his troubles with learning to accept and love himself as an extremely religious gay man.

“Mac became a favourite [of mine] since at the time I was very closeted and so was he, and I felt protective of and comforted by him.”

If I’m totally honest, there were times in the first few seasons I really didn’t like Mac, but I think it just took me a while to understand him – Mac is a very dramatic guy, simply because he expresses his emotions so outwardly while the rest of the gang often struggle to. He tries to hold nothing back and is very open with who he loves, and I think this is why it was so heartbreaking to watch him suffer from his internalised homophobia and closeted sexuality.

There were so many people on this survey talking about how much they relate to him. In fact, when asked what kind of things in Alway Sunny has helped people with on a personal level, a third of respondents said Mac’s sexuality, and 38% said the show’s acceptance of their LGBTQ+ characters.

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The writers and creators (Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day who incidentally play the characters of Dennis, Mac and Charlie) confirmed that each member of the gang is bisexual, while Mac himself is homosexual. This kind of representation, even though the topic was addressed off-screen, is still important for diversity and providing safe, inclusive characters for viewers to watch that aren’t harmful to the LGBTQ+ community or at risk of being killed off. In the unfortunate television culture now where LGBTQ+ characters are constantly under threat from the ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope, it’s so important to have such a well-developed, funny, human character like Mac around, who is happier than he’s ever been and isn’t going anywhere.

“The pay-off of him finally coming to terms with his sexuality was refreshing in the way that it didn’t become the butt of a joke or change the nature of his character completely.” 

It was really emotional to see people responding to the survey who have grown up in unaccepting, extremely religious families who found solace in witnessing Mac’s journey and finding hope in his coming out arc. It really is wonderful to see how comforting Mac is to people having a hard time and who may not have anyone else to relate to.

“Mac’s character development resonated with me. Even though it was over the top and exaggerated in the show, the extreme Christian life of a closeted gay person and falling in love with your best friend was relatable.”

It’s been a running element of the show for a long time that he’s very much in love with Dennis, and whether their relationship is another case of queerbaiting, a simple gag that won’t actually amount to anything, or the longest slow burn relationship ever, Mac is still awesome representation and an amazing character who embodies many of the struggles and hardships real people face every day. And he’s an example of someone who overcame all of it.

While the gang have earned themselves a reputation for never giving a shit about each other, it’s pretty clear deep down they do all love one another. To see the gang unfazed by and supportive of Mac’s sexuality, (especially given Charlie and Mac have been best friends their entire lives and Charlie tells him he’s always known) is clearly very comforting and inspiring to a lot of viewers afraid of coming out.

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I  recently chatted with awesome Tumblr user Sunnystruck. On her blog she explained the importance of Mac’s storyline way better than I ever could:

Mac’s coming out arc is so unique and personal to me because it’s one of the very rare instances of fictional coming out arcs that doesn’t involve a romance as the transformative catalyst for a character embracing their sexuality or coming out.

Even when everyone else knows and recognizes that Mac is gay, he still has to figure out how to get there on his own terms. It takes him so long, and then to see him love and embrace that decision about himself is so refreshing. He comes out and celebrates his gayness openly and because he spent so fucking long getting to that point and so much time wrestling with it in terms of what it meant for his identity and his image – which again, are completely personal.

It took him a long time to love a part of himself. And that’s truly a kind of representation that gets to me.

Even though I came out to my friends and immediate family I’m still navigating how to embrace that around them and seeing Mac be so gay in some episodes makes me feel so normal. He’s really fucking gay and it shows, and I can relate to that. And he still took his time and that means so much to me especially in an age where straight people claim to have gaydar and say they’re waiting for someone to come out but it’s not their call you know? It’s ours. They don’t dictate our stories, we do. That means something.

Meanwhile, Mac and Charlie aren’t the only ones who struck a chord with viewers. Dennis also got a lot of attention from fans, mostly, I found, because of his borderline personality disorder.

Dennis has always shown signs of extreme mental illness. He is immensely manipulative and cold, often being compared to a rapist and serial killer. While claiming to be completely emotionless (which most of the time, he is), Dennis is prone to extreme bouts of rage. While these moments are funny to watch, Dennis’ behaviour has always signalled to something more serious, and in season 10 he was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

“I relate the most to Dennis because before getting treatment for DID and BPD I was very similar to him.”

For those who don’t know, BPD is a disorder of mood and how a person interacts with others. While there are many causes for developing BPD, a prevalent one is traumatic events which occur during childhood. Many people with BPD have experienced parental neglect or physical, sexual or emotional abuse during their childhood. This would make sense for Dennis, as he and Dee often describe the way in which Frank is a terrible and emotionally abusive father. Not only that but in the eleventh season Dennis reveals he had sex with the middle-aged school librarian, Mrs Klinsky, when he was 14. Despite his insistence he wasn’t raped, the experience seems to have been very traumatic and has left obvious scars.  These factors probably contributed to his emotional issues and extensive mental illness.

“I don’t “relate” to Dennis but his trauma and the way it manifests has been really helpful for me in dealing with my own trauma.”

Dennis is an extremely complicated character, who may at first seem impossible to relate to, as his personality and behaviour are extremely complex. Despite this, or maybe because of this, a lot of people relate to him on many different levels. Some respondents said they also have difficulty comprehending social boundaries or emotional relationships. Some said that simply seeing a character be diagnosed with a condition they have is extremely comforting and helpful.

“I relate to Dennis in him having BPD. I didn’t even really know it was a thing until he was diagnosed with it, then I looked into it more to understand it and realized (to my horror, confusion, and ultimate relief) that he had the same thing as me.“

While in some ways I think the portrayal of Dennis’s BPD on the show can sometimes be quite problematic in terms of positive representation, his diagnosis has clearly been very important to a lot of people. This character is evidently very reassuring and solacing, and his effort in getting help and medication (although reluctantly at first) is extremely encouraging and inspiring to those in a similar position.

Okay, so that was a lot of information. Although, before you call me out for wasting time or over-analysing a sitcom, I’m not the only one:

So suck it. But seriously, while I went into probably unnecessary and excessive detail, I did actually have a point.

The point I’ve tried to make here is that TV shows are extremely important. They’re important because of the immense impact they have on their fans.

Hypothetically speaking, TV show creators have a choice to use their influence for good or bad (or worse, indifference). It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has succeeded in carefully crafting characters which resonate strongly with their audience, and whose storylines and personalities are so well thought out and developed they’ve helped fans cope with a number of issues they’ve struggled to get help for anywhere else.

TV shows do affect us greatly. While the most common examples of this are being heartbroken over your favourite character dying, falling in love with a show so much you make it your life or a show inspiring you to follow a certain career or lifestyle, the responsibility TV shows have for creating a safe and inclusive environment where you can see yourself  being represented is, in my opinion, much more important. From what I’ve seen, countless popular shows just simply aren’t trying hard enough. Shows like Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead have become slightly infamous for their mistreatment or lack of representation of POC and LGBTQ+ characters, and every day a new show emerges that inevitably gets slated for romanticising or glorifying mental illness.

To disagree and say that TV shows don’t have an obligation to be diverse is something I just can’t understand. An audience is never exclusively white, straight, neurotypical individuals, and to assume that they are is absurd. While Always Sunny has a long way to go in its inclusion of POC characters, it’s one of the few shows I’ve seen that present such varied and interesting people who are so easy to fall in love with.

It’s so important to feel represented on-screen, so if anyone in any way can relate to Charlie, Mac, Dennis, or any of the other characters, and become happier because of it, it’s a win. So I believe yes, TV shows are important, and their effect is monumental.

If you managed to make it this far without falling asleep and want to obsess over this dumb show together, follow my Sunny blog!

CREDIT:

Thank you to these people for letting me use your screenshots or taking the time to chat with me! 🙂

phenomenaaa

milksteaksandghouls

god-hole

macdennisd

wjldcard

How much do TV shows really affect us? Why are they so important?