Introducing Endless Mode: A New Games & Anime Site from Paste<\/p>\n
[Editor\u2019s note: The A.V. Club will return to recap this season\u2019s finale on August 20.]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Always Sunny In Philadelphia<\/a> has gifted fans dozens of the dumbest schemes in the history of television. In fact, if you had to say what this show was about more than anything else, it would probably be five idiots doing damage control after their very bad ideas explode in their faces. Whether they\u2019re making Kitten Mittens, collecting Philly\u2019s trash, or solving the gas crisis, the Paddy\u2019s Pub Gang has a unique ability to take get-rich-quick schemes and set them on fire. And in \u201cThought Leadership: A Corporate Conversation,\u201d writers Charlie Day and Rob Mac<\/a> use viral subjects like slap fighting and Tesla\u2019s Cybertruck to concoct a very funny episode that feels both classic Sunny and current.\u00a0<\/p>\n An alternate title for this week\u2019s episode could have been \u201cThe Gang Has Watched Too Much Succession.\u201d The HBO hit isn\u2019t directly name-checked, but that booming score sure sounds a lot like Nicholas Brittell\u2019s compositions on the multiple Emmy winner. They\u2019ve actually been watching a bunch of clips of a corporate retreat in Idaho, leading to some fantastic misinterpretations of \u201cbusiness speak,\u201d including Mac saying nonsense like \u201chammer down our brand identity and come out open commando\u201d and Charlie thinking the sacrificial lamb was actual meat and also suggesting they use other animals than a \u201cscapegoat\u201d like maybe a \u201cfall fish\u201d or a \u201cscapefish\u201d or a \u201cfall bird\u201d\u2014and then we\u2019re back to Dee. (Charlie Day is spectacular in this episode.)\u00a0<\/p>\n The YouTube rabbit hole of Idaho corporate training also allows people like Dennis and Mac to say phrases that mean just about nothing, like, \u201cFirst and foremost, the business must be protected at all times.\u201d The current concern is a reporter in Paddy\u2019s Pub who Frank believes is there because they dumped 500 gallons of baby oil and 200 Paddy\u2019s Pub T-shirts into the Schuylkill River. How did that happen? Flashback time!<\/p>\n \u201cPaddysgate\u201d started several weeks ago when Frank found a jug out back, arguably the dumbest inciting event for one of his schemes to date. After arguing over how to musically use the jug, and a bit of clawing each other\u2019s faces, the Gang got their own individual jugs, but they were full of water. How do you get rid of water? Charlie insists it can\u2019t be used to clean the bar and it\u2019s probably not smart to start a fire, so they begin the slow process of drinking it and talk about the art of braising, evidence disposal, baby oil, and even the Cybertruck. And then there\u2019s the big question of 2025: \u201cWhat are your thoughts on slap fighting?\u201d<\/p>\n After a few days of slapping within the group, Mac has a business idea: \u201cprofessional slap fighting.\u201d They stage these bouts in the bar, which attracts a crowd. But the gang has never come up with a good idea they couldn\u2019t destroy, often through their horniness. So Dennis gives an amazing speech about how slap fighting isn\u2019t erotic enough and turns it into a pitch about an unfulfilled future: \u201cWe were promised women going wild.\u201d<\/p>\n Before you know it, Paddy\u2019s has moved from burly dudes to bikinis and baby oil, although most of the women don\u2019t go for the latter. And to entice a higher quality of contestant, they decide to give away a prize: a Cybertruck. But they become obsessed with Elon\u2019s dumb car and decide they want to keep it for themselves, forcing Dee to become a ringer in the competition.\u00a0<\/p>\n It might have worked if Charlie hadn\u2019t fallen back on some bad habits. He goes to find the Waitress (Day\u2019s wife, Mary Elizabeth Ellis), offering to \u201coil\u201d her so she can win the car. And there\u2019s a truly funny exchange in which she asks if he\u2019s stalking her again. \u201cNo, that\u2019s not my thing,\u201d he says. \u201cFlirting maybe.\u201d It\u2019s a clever nod to a conversation around the show regarding Charlie\u2019s aggressive behavior, especially in early seasons, that also underlines his complete lack of self-awareness.\u00a0<\/p>\n As the Waitress is living in her car, she jumps at the chance to upgrade her domicile, slapping the shit out of Dee before discovering they\u2019re not actually giving away a Tesla. When she threatens to go to the police, Frank and company dispose of the evidence, but Charlie reveals that Frank\u2019s urgency is because he had crossed the \u201cgirls gone wild\u201d line and was staging an orgy in the basement.\u00a0<\/p>\n After the blame game is complete, the Gang comes up with a \u201cno comment\u201d\u2014only to discover that the sole customer in Paddy\u2019s Pub isn\u2019t a reporter. She\u2019s the sex worker for Frank\u2019s orgy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stray observations<\/b><\/p>\n\n