Bath salts cause the zombie apocalypse at a McPoyle wedding.
Warning: Article contains spoilers.
This week on It’s Always Sunny… the gang goes Halloween.
The resulting episode, “Maureen Ponderosa’s Wedding Massacre,” is a faux-horror mess. It’s pretty damn funny in parts, but the knottiness of the plot mixed with the obligatory reference points make it another middling episode of what has been a mixed season so far.
The story is told in flashbacks at a police station, centering on the wedding between Liam McPoyle of the creepy McPoyle family and Maureen Ponderosa, Dennis’ ex-wife. Dennis goes to the event, which is held in a seedy, remote area of the woods (the horror cliche monitor in your head should be flashing bright red right now) to make sure that the marriage goes through so that he doesn’t have to pay Maureen alimony anymore.
But, of course, the gang has to come along and muck up Dennis’ relatively simple plans. We don’t really know why Mac and Charlie join in, but Mac, clueless as ever, says, as he scans a room full of unibrowed McPoyles, that there is a possibility they could get laid.
The best plot line of the episode, though, is (surprise) about Frank.
He is approached at Paddy’s beforehand by McPoyle brother Ryan for help in a scheme that would ruin the wedding. Frank, on board with Ryan’s plan, tells the gang he’s going to support his AA sponsor, Bill Ponderosa.
In a hilarious scene, Frank agrees to let Bill “go wild” and take any drugs he wants because he’s earned it after staying sober. As a result of this, Bill puts bath salts in the milk (they’re having a substance-free wedding for you, Bill), causing everyone to foam at the mouth and act like zombies. Happy Halloween!
Meanwhile, Dennis has trouble getting his ex-wife to sign the alimony papers because he’s entranced by her new breast implants. Dennis’ reaction to her surgery is priceless, similar to the breakup-remorse that Michael Scott experienced after seeing Jan’s new breasts on The Office.
In the end, they have sex and she posts his bail, but not before the zombie apocalypse is unsubtly hinted at.
Mac and Charlie, who seem as relatively aimless in this episode, as always, sense the impending doom and accidentally drive Dee’s car into a tree while trying to flee the scene. This causes Dee to start a fight with the dim-witted Mac and Charlie.
Because she seems mentally withdrawn and almost undead (she’s just really, really angry), Mac and Charlie lock her in a freezer to let her shiver amidst the chaos. Poor Dee. She always loses no matter what the circumstances are.
The best parts of this episode lie in the nuts and bolts of its basic construction. The wedding itself is hilariously staged, with the giant bowl of milk, the cheesy orchestra, and the McPoyle family roaming around like lobotomized wackos spurring some of the best laughs of the show.
Overall, “Maureen’s Ponderosa’s Wedding Massacre” is as contrived as any Halloween episode could be. It’s pretty hilarious throughout, but the source material makes it seem obligatory and predictable when it feels as though it should be anything but.
Tidbits:
–Charlie’s Captain Quint impression was actually spot on.
–If they wanted a sober wedding, then why milk?
–I think Dennis reached his sadness peak in that scene with Maureen’s breasts.
–The McPoyle’s need to be show regulars, not just infrequent reference points.
Frank Did What?
–Early in the episode, he gets bitten by a bat and asks Dee to suck out the poison.
