Sunny is over. Dennis’ Double Life was actually the series finale and a prequel to The Gang Tends Bar. No, really.
Sunny is over. Dennis’ Double Life was actually the series finale and a prequel to The Gang Tends Bar. No, really.
Feel like Charlie on some pepe silvia shit rn, but HEAR ME OUT. I have looked EVERYWHERE for this theory and have no idea how nobody else is getting this.
This was immediately apparent to me watching Dennis’ Double Life without knowledge of the “Glenn is leaving Sunny” rumors - likely because Sunny played a significant role in me addressing my own narcissistic tendencies. I then spent last night digging all the links in this post up.
-How did Dennis get to North Dakota if The Gang blew up his car? (hint: he didn’t)
-This uproxx interview Glenn (Dennis) gave about the finale. Emphasis on how nebulous and dodgy his answer to whether or not he was really leaving was. This interview is what kinda ties the whole theory together: Hear me out, watch the episodes in this order, then come back and re-read this.
-These tweets from Glenn:
-The notion that RCG felt the show needed to end because they realized way too many fans genuinely related to the characters for all the wrong reasons and did not truly Get the show, and the fact that Dennis is pretty much the epitome of the narcissistic, insecurity-and-denial-fueled, subconsciously self-harming mindset that Sunny exists to mock (and that he talks about in interviews - to a specific degree of sentimentality and weight in that uproxx one). They created Dennis’ Double Life as the ultimate finale: An allusion to the unfortunate reality of Sunny’s Double Life, and one that tries to get that portion of the fanbase to really examine themselves and how they live their lives.
-How much more directly left-leaning and social justice commentary-oriented this season was compared to ALL others
Always. Sunny. The show ultimately exists to mock Narcissism, and that’s why the title is what it is. In the warped world of The Gang, it is truly Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Also, have we ever seen the outside of Paddy’s at night other than the end of Double Life?
-This tweet from Patton Oswalt, from the night Dennis’ Double Life aired, in regard to the show Glenn is allegedly leaving Sunny for.
-The fact that Dennis up and dropping everything to become a father makes NO SENSE in the context of the episode nor the show, yet would probably make sense to the lowest-common-denominator of the show’s demo - the people they are trying to get to self-examine with the episode through Dennis. Really mull over how much more sense this context makes.
-THE FUCKING ROCKET LAUNCHER. THAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THESE TWO EPISODES, AND IT IS A NONLINEAR ONE IF YOU PAY ATTENTION (the only thing suggesting otherwise is Charlie - who is illiterate - referring to the launcher as “rocket” in Double Life. Dennis never sees the rocket launcher in Double Life). DENNIS’ DOUBLE LIFE LITERALLY ENDS ON THE CREDITS ROLLING OVER THE BURNING WRECKAGE OF THE CAR THEY BLEW UP (starter car? it was a FINISHER car) TO THE SOUNDS OF TOM TOM CLUB’S GENIUS OF LOVE - THE “DANCE INTRO” SONG FROM THE WHOLE SERIES - RIGHT AFTER THEY BRING BACK EVERY DANCE FROM ALL OF THOSE AT ONCE. I would go into how Dennis’ self-realization is based on letting go of the idea of himself as a Genius Of Love, but that’d probably be a stretch.
-Dennis’ Double Life sets up almost everything to end the series - the only part that really doesn’t make sense in that way (I’m pretty sure Frank even quips “that doesn’t make sense” upon the announcement) is Dennis leaving to “become a father”. Every other part of Double Life is showing the beginnings of The Gang finally using their intellect for some sort of good rather than spiraling into themselves, and the ending completely undermines it. The Gang Tends Bar seems EXTREMELY out of place in tone, pacing, plot and character dynamic unless you watch it right after Dennis’ Double Life in this context - Them finally, through Dennis, all starting to Get Their Shit Together.
In short… Dennis has pulled the ultimate Scheme on us all, and it is beautiful. Sunny was a great show, but you only truly “got it” if you get The Implication.
PS: if you have seen Charlie and Mac as Better People than the rest of the gang throughout this series (I certainly used to), you might be part of the group they’re trying to get to, because get this: The only thing different about those two is the visibility of their victimhood.