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Recap / Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia S 11 E 06 Being Frank

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"Alright, here we go. Let's see what we're getting into today."
Frank's Inner Monologue

Frank tries to keep up with the gang's complicated plan to retrieve Dennis' SUV from of an impound lot, but keeps getting distracted by drugs and unsavory characters.


This episode provides examples of the following tropes:

  • Accidental Hero: Frank ends up rescuing Dennis's car and saving the day entirely by accident. He still has no problem taking the credit for it.
  • Angry Guard Dog: Frank gets chased by one in the impound lot.
  • Asian Drivers: Frank blames a car accident he caused by running a red light on Asians.
  • Blind Without 'Em: As shown when Frank falls over and loses his glasses.
  • The Bus Came Back: Both Artemis and Hwang show up for the first time since season nine.
  • Call-Back:
  • Comedic Sociopathy: Frank responds to Hwang choking to death in front of him by laughing and stealing his sandwich.
  • The Confidant: Mac confides in Frank about his relationship with Dennis and comments that he feels he can talk to Frank about such things, seemingly unaware that Frank finds him "creepy".
  • Continuity Nod: Mac is worried that Dennis hates him after the events of the previous episode.
  • Day in the Life: The episode shows us what a typical day in the life of Frank Reynolds looks like.
  • Dirty Old Man:
    • Frank spends most of his time in the hospital staring at (and attempting to grope) the nurse's cleavage rather than listening to anything the doctor has to say. Also, he leers at an attractive young woman in Artemis' apartment.
    • While not exactly "old", Pondy definitely qualifies for the other parts of this trope due to wanting to get dropped off at a roller rink to get some "strange" where he then ends up groping an underage girl.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: Frank is too busy groping the nurse and staring at her breasts to pay attention to the doctor explaining that he has a tumor in his head.
  • Dress-Up Episode: The gang minus Frank dress up as security guards.
  • Drives Like Crazy: Frank texts Bill Ponderosa as he drives, seemingly unaware of the chaos he's causing. Bill is even worse; several empty cans fall out of his car when he opens the door, and he takes a mystery pill before driving.
  • Exotic Equipment: When Frank is shown peeing into the cans on the floor of the apartment, he also has a second can placed to the left of him where he's also seen peeing into at the same time.
  • The "Fun" in "Funeral": Frank trashes Artemis's apartment and steals her rug while high as her family are sitting shiva for a dead aunt.
  • Impairment Shot: After Frank gets locked in a trunk and shoots his way out.
  • Informed Judaism: Artemis is revealed to be Jewish, despite it never being so much as hinted at in previous episodes.
  • Inner Monologue: The viewer gets to hear Frank's throughout the episode.
  • Kick the Dog: Frank bursts a little girl's balloon while high.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: When Hwang chokes in front of him, Frank laughs and eats his sandwich...and immediately starts choking on it himself.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: Frank never once understands what the plan is supposed to be for getting Dennis' car out of the impound lot, and only succeeds by accident.
  • Meaningful Background Event: The doctor can be heard telling Frank that he has a malignant brain tumor while he's eyeing the nurse's cleavage.
  • Mushroom Samba: Frank undergoes one after eating dog treats laced with sedatives.
  • Narcissist: Lampshaded; Frank refers to Dennis as "the vain one" in his inner monologue when he can't remember his name.
  • Never My Fault: Frank's texting while driving causes an accident, which he immediately blames on "Asians."
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: Bill Ponderosa gets the holy hell beat out of him by a group of men after doing something inappropriate with an underage girl.
  • Pet the Dog: The episode really highlights the fact that Charlie is quite possibly the only member of the gang Frank truly cares about: he refers to Mac as "that one" and finds him creepy, routinely insults Dee just to deflect attention away from himself and can't even remember Dennis's name. By contrast, the final scene of he and Charlie getting ready for bed before playing a game of Nightcrawlers is genuinely sweet.
  • P.O.V. Cam: The entire episode is shot from Frank's perspective.
  • Politically Incorrect Villain: Par for the course with Frank, but if anything his inner monologue reveals him to be even worse than previously established. He makes a joke about Asian driving after causing a traffic collision, refers to Artemis's family as "Jews", sexually assaults a nurse by motorboating her breasts and has a homophobic reaction to Mac touching him that manages to shock the rest of the gang into silence.
  • Punk in the Trunk: Frank gets locked in the trunk of Bill's car by one of the angry dads outside the roller rink.
  • Scatterbrained Senior: Frank acts this way for much of the episode, unable to keep up with the gang's scheme or even remember his own son's name. The fact that he's implied to have a brain tumor goes some way towards explaining this.
  • The Scapegoat: Frank calls Dee a bird to take the heat off of himself whenever he feels that the rest of the gang are starting to catch onto him.
  • Second-Person Attack: When Frank gets knocked out by one of the men assaulting Bill.
  • Shell-Shock Silence: When he stops Bill from killing himself and when he fires two shots from the trunk of a car, Frank hears ringing noises, but is fine otherwise.
  • Special Edition Title: The credits appear over a montage of Frank going about his daily routine, rather than the usual black title cards and stock footage of Philadelphia.
  • Stunned Silence: The gang's reaction when Frank suddenly yells at Mac not to touch him after just retrieving Dennis's Range Rover. Frank breaks the awkward silence by calling Dee a bird, which prompts the gang (minus an annoyed Dee) to laugh.
  • Time for Plan B: Discussed by the gang when Mac accidentally screws up Plan A. Turns out they don't have one.
  • Uncertain Doom: It's implied that Hwang dies after choking on his sandwich, but not explicitly confirmed either way.
  • Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Frank vomits in a nightclub bathroom after snorting some unspecified drugs he finds at Artemis's place.
  • Zany Scheme: The gang's ridiculously convoluted plan to rescue Dennis's car from the impound lot.

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