#i actually think dennis realized hes not straight and has a crush on mac in clip show

[sunnykeysmash]

mac and dennis’ breaking point

Or, a continuation of the analysis of the development of Mac and Dennis’ dynamic, starting from season 9 all the way to season 14.

I’ve been thinking about this post, this post and this post for quite a while now, and since the OP of the first post, @softhowerton​, never continued the analysis post as far as I’m aware, I wanted to continue it myself and throw my two cents in as I believe there is an actual, clear point that shattered the relationship as we know it at least until season 14, and it isn’t just hero or hate crime as the post suggests, in my opinion. Spoiler alert or tldr: it’s Suburbs, click read more to understand why I think so.

Ok so, I’ve been rewatching sunny casually, trying to figure it out, I’ll admit I haven’t rewatched all of them so this is only gonna be a partial analysis up until hero or hate crime, after which I’ve rewatched all episodes, but anyway I still think I have enough proof on my part. I’ve had a little bit of a journey so I’m just gonna go through it in this post to make it comprehensive. 

Sure, in the past Dennis had said he hated Mac, but it was in front of the gang (Mac Day), and even so, his actions still seemed to contradict it, and especially Mac had not noticed any significant change in behavior on Dennis’ part despite all of this. Besides, it seems his hate was born out of Mac’s tendency to seek other people’s validation and change himself in the process, which we know is something Dennis hates. 

Anyway, see Flowers For Charlie for reference of their relationship still being fine here, the You’re The Inspiration scene. We can assume Dennis saying he hates Mac to the gang in Mac Day is not when he actually starts growing distant, quite the contrary, he cares a lot, as his outburst near the end when he demands Mac to be true to himself indicates.

So at first I thought the breaking point was Boggs, the season 10 premiere. It made sense as the episode ended up being very relevant later on and it’s the first instance of Mac letting Dennis go and accidentally hurting him, plus symbolically speaking, the episode right before it is Squashes Their Beef, where the macden apartment burns down.

However I thought more about it, looked at episodes after that, and Dennis still seemed to be very close to Mac. Especially considering them not having an apartment and sleeping on Dee’s floor (presumably close to each other) as pointed out at the start of Suburbs, they did have problems and yes Dennis had already began to shift his attitude, but they were still close, a breaking point had not been reached yet, post Boggs.

See The Gang Group Dates, the episode right after Boggs, where Dennis admits to giving star ratings to his own sex tapes for Mac (and Charlie) to make it easier for them to watch the best ones.

Or see The Gang Spies Like U.S., where they share their porn recommendations together and allegedly also jack off together. In fact, if anything, it almost seems like sleeping together in Dee’s apartment has made them closer, they’re back to being attached at the hip around these episodes, so again the crack of which we are witnessing the fallout to has not happened yet.

No episodes in season 11 ring any bells in terms of major conflicts until, you guessed it, Mac & Dennis Move to the Suburbs.

And if we take this entire episode into consideration, it’s clear that they had not had a breaking point prior to this, prior to Dennis snapping and saying to Mac that he hates him right in his face.

I took the liberty of screenshotting some moments prior to their big conflict in Suburbs that really highlight how close and comfortable with each other they still were.

No episode after this one has them be this close anymore.

I don’t think I need to point out that the breaking point is in fact Dennis saying to Mac’s face that he hates him.

For Dennis, it’s a build up, he has been silently collecting reasons to be pissed in general and at Mac during the whole episode, for Mac it comes all at once, with the realization that comes with Dennis outright saying it. Nevertheless, this is when their dynamic experiences the fracture, and it’s especially detrimental that it happens in the episode where they’re framed as a stereotypical heteronormative couple, roles they’re obviously not meant to fulfill, at which they fail miserably, and which plant in Dennis’ head the idea that they might not be meant to live as a couple at all (which will later play a role in his decision in DDL), and this living as a couple while not being one and failing contributes to the overall stress.

Let me explain what I mean by Suburbs framing them in stereotypical heterosexual roles since I’m at it, it’s quite simple, it follows most tropes you’d expect.

Dennis is the typical husband; he goes to work and provides the money, he has no time to provide emotionally for the wife, and contributes nothing to the home life, while also not letting the wife experience fulfillment in other ways, out of jealousy. Despite this, he himself does seek fulfillment elsewhere, reflecting the typical husband who acts jealous while also cheating.

Mac is the typical wife; cooking, cleaning, fixing. His work is hardly acknowledged at all, so he feels underappreciated. He feels cooped up and lonely because Dennis is emotionally unavailable, and all his attempts to cope with it are met with anger, possessiveness or frustration because they’re not what the husband allows.

Finally, they get a "reparatory child" in the hopes that it’ll fix the situation, and of course it doesn't work.

Keep all of this in mind for when I’m gonna tackle DDL later on.

Furthermore, speaking of Dennis saying he hates Mac, in the episode right after Suburbs, Being Frank, we get this dialogue:

Mac: “Hey, Frank? Do you think that Dennis hates me?” Frank: “What?“ Mac: “I just want him to think that I'm cool, you know? And I just feel like- is this a little bit lame? I just feel like I can talk to you about this kind of stuff.” Frank: “Yeah? Oh, yeah, you can tell me anything.” Mac: “Really? Oh, well, honestly, I just feel like...” [...] Mac: “You know what I mean?” Frank: “Yeah, yeah. Totally, totally.” Mac: “Yeah, okay. Well, look, if you could just casually, off the cuff, mention that I can bench-press [...] I think that he'll respect me.”

Now, I might be mistaken since as I said I haven’t rewatched every episode, but as far as I remember, Mac has never asked to anyone or himself if Dennis hated him prior to this moment. Aside from all of this, it suggests a correlation between fitness stuff and impressing Dennis for Mac, which makes Mac being ripped at the start of season 13 all the more tragic, and is again reinforced when the doll shames him and he starts doing crunches in response to it.

Again, I wanna stress that Dennis and the gang knew about Mac being gay before he came out, of course it’s said in Mac Day, but we’re reminded of it yet again in The Gang Goes To Hell pt1, with the dialogue:

Mac: “There are two guys in this church that are gay.” Charlie: “Who's the other guy?” Mac: “I don’t get the joke.” Dennis: “What’s wrong with that [anyway]?”

And later when Mac actually comes out, we’re reminded by the reactions.

All this time, and especially in Mac Day, it has been implied heavily that Dennis dislikes Mac when he’s in denial and desperately trying to be someone he’s not, yet, as soon as Mac actually comes out for the first time in The Gang Goes To Hell pt2, Dennis becomes outwardly angry, defensive and distant. It’s no wonder that in Tends Bar Mac seems to think that Dennis acts like that because he’s uncomfortable with Mac being gay, as the two elements seem to coincide perfectly every time, but as Charlie rightfully points out, he already knew, so that can’t be it.

The Gang Goes To Hell pt2 actually has some interesting dialogue relating to all of this.

Mac: “Welcome to my first ever dinner party. I'm gonna have lots of these types of functions in the future, you know, with my new lifestyle.” Dennis: “Wow, you're really just diving right into that, huh? Just, stereotypes and all.” [...] Frank: “So get rid of my dog?” Mac: “Yeah, no dogs. [...] We do not allow dogs in our house, right, Dennis?” Dennis: “Wh- Our house? Wh-Why's it our house?”

A couple of interesting bits, such as Dennis getting suspiciously pissed about Mac supposedly stereotyping his own sexuality, despite it not being Dennis’ place at all to get offended.  Mac saying that dogs are not allowed in their house, one could assume because of the Suburbs incident, so again, another reference to that conflict. And finally Dennis somehow being surprised that Mac would call it their house despite the fact that they have lived together for 20 years so it’s only natural that he’d say that. Again, Dennis gets defensive.

It’s hard to pinpoint why he would, if we stress the fact that they were all always aware of Mac’s sexuality. It might be because when Mac was closeted, it was never an actual discussion, but now that he’s out he’s always mentioning it, and in general we have enough proof in the show to say that Dennis tends to get defensive at any mention of gay that could be traced back to him, even if not related to Mac at all. Remember how offended he got on Mac’s behalf in The Gang Texts when Dee called him the f word, and then how abruptly he changed the subject.

This is interesting, as the dialogue that I included from part 1 would have you assume he has no problem with the subject in general, only when it can be traced back to him, when he feels exposed or when it’s been talked about negatively. So we can assume Dennis feels uncomfortable being perceived as non-straight, and this still rings true as of season 14, to a lesser extent.

So we arrive to season 12, and what stands out to me is that Mac keeps noticing how Dennis has started to act pissed towards him all of a sudden and for seemingly no reason. Remember, both of the times Mac acknowledges it in any way before Tends Bar (which are, Being Frank and Making Dennis Reynolds A Murderer) happen when he is not out yet. So despite Dennis acting pissed in Goes To Hell pt2, he has no clear reason to be distant as of yet if we don’t consider Suburbs the breaking point, because Mac is not out yet in those two episodes.

In Making Dennis Reynolds A Murderer, we get this dialogue, after a short bickering between them with Dennis acting annoyed about their new movie night antics which Dennis insists are not funny, while Mac insists they are:

Dennis: “Are we done with this? Can we be done? I'm tired of saying the same things over and over again.” Mac: “Well, wait. Wh- hold Dennis, d-don't leave without me. I mean, dude, look, are you mad at me?”

As we know thanks to Texts, Dennis supposedly hates repeating himself. It seems there’s some communication issues at play, with Dennis constantly saying some things and Mac misinterpreting them, which deeply resembles Texts’ conflict as a whole. 

Dennis is mad about something;

Mac senses that he’s mad about something, is distressed by it which leads him to either avoid the situation or confront it directly, in this case he asks him about it. The distress also makes him insecure, which Dennis dislikes.

Dennis thinks Mac is not genuine about his distress, that he’s not actually sorry and just wants Dennis to stop being mad. Mac becoming defensive and lying, hesitating or doubling down doesn’t help his case. Mac’s track record in misunderstanding Dennis doesn’t help either (see, Dines Out, when Mac didn’t get the speech was for him, or Suburbs, when Mac didn’t get that Dennis was implying he got him a dog until he literally had to tell him). Mac does not perform well when subtext is involved, either positive or negative. Dennis only communicates in subtext, again both positive and negative. This creates a discrepancy.

Anyway, because of this, Dennis does not come forward with the reason he’s upset at Mac. He just keeps being upset.

Dennis at this point thinks Mac never listens and never gets him and is never remorseful for his actions, so he has stopped trying to communicate his hurt to him, resorting to suppressing his feelings of anger instead.

This dynamic started with the Suburbs conflict, but I need to go more in detail to explain why I think so.

Let’s take Dines Out as an example of their ideal, usual dynamic.

How do Dennis and Mac behave usually when one hurts the other?

For Mac it’s:

Dennis is hurtful to Mac (laughs about the karaoke machine)

Mac demands respect and confronts him directly

Dennis doesn't take him seriously

Mac almost goes away

Dennis reveals his feelings/apologizes to keep him from leaving

For Dennis it’s:

Mac is hurtful to Dennis (not recognizing the speech was about him) 

Dennis snaps

Mac apologizes

It used to be like this, but then Suburbs happened, and suddenly Mac is afraid that if he stands for himself Dennis will hate him, and Dennis thinks Mac doesn’t care about his feelings.

So now, post Suburbs, it’s like this.

For Mac it’s:

Dennis is hurtful to Mac

Mac doesn't say anything because he doesn't want Dennis to hate him

Dennis keeps being hurtful to Mac because he’s unaware he’s doing it 

For Dennis it’s:

Mac is hurtful to Dennis

Dennis doesn't say anything because he thinks Mac won't be genuinely sorry or won’t care

Mac keeps being hurtful to Dennis because he’s unaware he’s doing it

So it started with the explosive conflict in Suburbs, and Dennis has been clearly distant, or mad, since, as the episodes seem to point out, and it only got worse, eventually becoming exacerbated with Mac coming out and risking damaging Dennis’ public image, but not starting because of his coming out.

Dennis is also not mad because of the dog or for what Mac did, necessarily, of course that hurt him but he’s mad more in general about Mac’s inability to recognize when he has hurt Dennis and own up to it and apologize. We have seen it time and time again, that’s usually when Dennis scratches Mac, and in Texts it’s especially apparent when he comes up with an excuse instead of apologizing. Aside from that, he’s also mad at Mac’s constant need for attention and validation that was also showcased in Suburbs, amongst other things, with the terribly oppressive visual gag of Dennis opening the closet only to be inundated with Mac and Cheese boxes, symbolizing Mac’s overflowing need to please Dennis and receive praise from him.

As of Chokes and Texts, it seems that both of these conflicts have found a resolution. 

Chokes resolved Mac’s problem in dynamic, letting him once again stand up for himself even against Dennis. Texts on the other hand resolved their problems of miscommunication but specifically Dennis’ problem in dynamic, letting him know that Mac does feel sorry when he hurts him. Again, all very positive developments.

So, getting back on track, the episode right after Making Dennis Reynolds A Murderer is, in fact, Hero Or Hate Crime.

Despite saying that he hates Mac at the end, which I interpret to be entirely performative, he still makes the very nice gesture of proposing that they let him have the rest of the day to feel happy. 

Not only does this clearly show that Dennis doesn’t hate Mac, even post Suburbs, it shows that he cares about Mac’s feelings to some extent, and it also shows that he’s happy for him that he came out. He’s not reacting negatively, he’s not lashing out at Mac. He might’ve been deeply impacted, as we see in his expression and behavior, but he does not hate Mac for the choice of coming out. I’d go as far as to say that he’s proud of him. And it checks out with what we know thanks to Mac Day.

PTSDee doesn’t give us more insight on his relationship with Mac, but he doesn’t go out of his way to try to include Mac at all.

The episode after this, The Gang Tends Bar, is a clear example of the argument I was trying to make. Dennis ignoring his feelings and acting like everything is fine, until he no longer can, he’s cornered and he snaps.

Everything I can say about this episode has already been said better by the post I linked at the beginning, but still, notice the dialogue:

Mac: “[Dennis] is acting, like, so weird, especially towards me. I think it's because I'm gay and he's, like, totally uncomfortable with it.” Charlie: “Yeah- Well, no, 'cause he's known that forever, so it's, you know...”

The episode itself does not show us Dennis being particularly distant to Mac, so we can assume that this is meant to be taken in general. Again reaffirming what we know.

All in all, Dennis wants Mac to care about him and his feelings, wants to feel loved by him, but is not ready to be perceived as non-straight, so he ends up pushing Mac away, which comes easier considering how he’s still mad at Mac at this point in time.

Although, more than mad, as Dennis’ Double Life happens, I’d say he feels hopeless, that’s what his final stare communicates to me.

As the RPG, the symbol that represents romantic love and the possibility of a romantic relationship with Mac, sits on the counter right at the end, as the apartment is fixed like nothing ever happened (which reinforces the concept that Mac tends to sweep conflicts under the rug in Dennis’ eyes), he wonders if maybe what he has with Mac is truly unfixable, and decides to go away and try to seek what he truly desires (romantic love and to settle down) with someone else, but not before hesitating at the door, hoping Mac will care enough to stop him.

By going away, he’s in part trying to rebuild a life for himself like he wants, and in part hoping that the drastic gesture will lead Mac to care, without realizing that he already does. As the title suggests, a true Double Life.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Dennis’ Double Life deeply parallels Suburbs.

Starting from the obvious, the trend of the names of Dennis’ serious lovers starting with “Ma” continues.

Maureen, Mandy, Mac. 

Yes Mac is not a lover as of yet, but the implication is clear, and it doesn’t end there.

Check this dialogue:

Mac: “You got me a dog?” Dennis: “Yeah.” Mac: “Oh, Dennis, Dennis. I'm gonna name him Dennis. You're Dennis. He's Dennis Jr.” [...] Dennis: “You with me, buddy?” Mac: “I'm with you. I'm gonna raise this guy like he was our own son.”

So, metatextually, Dennis has a “son” with Mac in Suburbs, that Mac names with Dennis’ name + Jr.

And then, in DDL, it’s discovered that Dennis had a son with Mandy, which she called Brian Jr. His perceived name, Brian LeFevre + Jr.

Making a parallel this clear leaves me to assume that Dennis’ “double lives” mirror each other in every aspect, including his potential relationship with Mac being that of a couple.

And with the RPG, which again symbolizes their romantic love (it was inside the crate, which Dennis remarks “is always empty, there’s nothing in it”, because he has “opened crates” all his life and never found love, which is, as he says, “the one thing he wanted more than anything else in the entire world”; so, as I said, a loving relationship where he can settle, like he was trying to build with Maureen, and like he tries again to build with Mandy, failing both times as there is no love on his part), again sitting on the counter in DDL as Dennis leaves, it seems that the only thing standing between Mac and Dennis and a relationship at that point in time is the conflicts born because of Suburbs, which were still unresolved during DDL. And so Dennis leaves.

What happens from this point forward is shrouded in mystery to me.

The entirety of season 13 is vague, ambiguous, and I can only give my personal interpretation of it, so that’s exactly what I’ll do.

Verbally, and in public, Dennis keeps pushing Mac away. Of course, they’re still mad at each other because the ND incident has scarred them both and they’re hurt, plus they haven’t resolved their issues, but surprisingly enough, Dennis shows no problem with inconspicuous intimacy. He holds Mac by the shoulders when they’re alone in Escapes, he keeps his leg uncomfortably close to Mac’s in Times Up and even shares complicit glances in Time’s Up the likes of which we haven’t seen since Suburbs. He also outwardly seeks Mac’s attention in New Wheels (you could argue he seeks the gang’s attention, but the framing of all the shots make it look like he’s talking only to Mac), and wants him to come to the concert in Bathroom Problem.

Mac on the other hand is letting Dennis have full control, but it appears that he’s no longer walking on eggshells trying not to get Dennis to hate him, he’s not avoiding saying when he’s hurt when he has to. He doesn’t protest often, but he does do it, in Bathroom Problem for example, or when he asks Dennis when the photo of him he shows in Time’s Up was taken, or when he ignores him at the start of New Wheels, so the reason for Mac not saying anything most times must have changed. I don’t know what it would be, possibly just not to hurt Dennis if he can help it.

At the same time, Dennis is going out of his way to be mean to Mac, by lashing out where he knows it hurts. The first thing he says to him as he comes back is “Hey, Mac, did you gain a little weight?”, and in Time’s up, again “Well, guess what, pal? You are ugly, and it doesn't matter how much you work out. It's never gonna change that fact.”

Actually, let’s take Time’s Up.

His whole rethoric and speech towards Mac falls apart at face value the moment you actually recognize his message.

Dennis: “But guys, I got some good news for you. Okay? It's not a crime to be ugly. But you can't be ugly and sloppy.” [...] Dennis: “I got the documents to prove it, so don't try coming at me. But some of you you just haven't been careful enough. So you're asking yourself, "What can I do to save myself now?" You got to clean up your act. Otherwise, you're going down, and you're gonna take me down with you, and I ain't going down.”

When it comes to the others, it makes sense, what they do is recurrent criminal activity, and if they get busted he gets busted. But in which way does this apply to his very personal rant to Mac? How is Mac being affectionate the way they’ve always been in the past going to bring him down, especially considering he never had a problem with it in the past and especially considering he has not done anything particularly unusual that we could see in recent times? 

Continuing:

Dennis: “I'm just saying we need to be more careful so we don't get accused.” Mac: “And we should probably stop harassing them.” Dennis: “Uh, well, you know, I don't know. One step at a time.”

Dennis’ point was never “stop doing what you’re doing”, it was don’t get caught doing it, have proof that you didn’t do it, that you weren’t complicit. What’s his proof? The public rejection he just did.

Dennis: “You know, you got to stop kissing me, man. I don't want it. I don't want you touching me at all. Okay, it's never gonna happen. All right? Not willingly.”

By publicly stating this, he’s constructing a clear alibi for himself in case he gets caught, but his intent was never to ask anyone to stop what they’re doing, just to stop being sloppy with it.

Which is why this whole episode, coupled with the subtext in Escapes about “keeping it between themselves”, is very confusing to me, as a whole, for their implications.

Either way, in Bathroom Problem it’s shown that Dennis still feels insecure in his sexuality or uncomfortable with being mistaken for non-straight, going out of his way to point out time and time again how much of a heterosexual male he is.

Skipping Clip Show’s moment of realization (”Dennis, everyone knows that the most annoying person in the world is Mac. So why would you ever want to live with him?”) since it’s unclear what exactly happened, this leads us to Mac Finds His Pride.

Nothing of note here, except for Dennis supposedly feeling claustrophobic driving the pride float, and Mac saying he’s “not ready for a relationship”.

And that is pretty much it. Despite everything, aside from Chokes and Texts, there isn’t much indication of what’s going on between them in season 14.

They seem to be back to being reasonably close, and there seems to be something that is making Dennis progressively angrier as the season advances, but it’s left mostly unclear what that is, especially considering that he’s still unbelievably mad in Global Warming, Jumper and Chop, despite the conflict between them being already resolved by that point.

Dennis is somehow shown to be “uncomfortable” sharing a bed with Mac, despite having slept next to him on Dee’s floor for at least a good year in the past, but he’s not against physical contact, he has no problem stretching on top of him in Chokes, or letting him massage his pecs after a workout (although that’s in private). He looks happy when Mac winks at him, and he even winks at Mac himself while saying “smash test” in Jumper, whatever that implies.

All in all, they’re comfortable with public touching and vicinity again, and the problems that stemmed from Suburbs should be resolved, so it must be something else making Dennis mad and frustrated, and whatever that is it has something to do with Mac failing to do something. Thanks to Chokes, Global Warming and Jumper, we know it seems Dennis wants Mac to do something, but what that is hasn’t been revealed in text yet, so we can only assume.

Still, Dee Day seems eager to remind us about Dennis’ Feelings, with the dialogue:

Dennis: “Today of all days, and now I'm being forced to listen to her feelings? I won't do it. And who cares about her feelings anyway? Nobody, that's who. What about my feelings? Now, that's interesting.”

So I’ll leave it at that. Either way, if season 15 does happen, it seems the direction their dynamic is headed towards is very much promising. Fingers crossed.

#iasip #it's always sunny in philadelphia #macdennis #macden #iasip analysis #iasip meta #mac mcdonald #dennis reynolds #I HAD TO CONTINUE THAT POST IT WAS EATING ME ALIVE #i spent four hours on this post dont let it flop #actually five #i hope op is proud of me #i actually think dennis realized hes not straight and has a crush on mac in clip show #or anyway that dennis is CLOSETED in s14. not unaware. closeted #that'll be a post for another day lol

[headgehug]

So the Gang has done a lot of things, and they don't really know shame, do they?

However, someone wants them to commit an actual murder, and to motivate them, they threaten them with their most shameful secret.

What secret would each of the gang members kill for?

This can be as silly or serious as you're inclined.

omg I'm so bad at sunny meta so I'm going to be dumb and silly <3 this is a fun ask though

Dennis: well it's canon that maureen paid him basically to let her lick him right? and he definitely enjoyed that right. I think sometimes he walks around his apartment and catches himself meowing just casually to himself. and then realizes what he's done and has to sit down and have a good long think about what's happening to him.

Mac: he has, at times, heard Dennis meowing. Dennis has asked if Mac heard anything weird. Mac has denied it. however, Mac did accidentally slip it into a confession once. if that priest ever had reason to blackmail Mac you bet he would do anything to hide the fact that He Knows.

Dee: high school Maureen was sweet enough to hang out with the aluminum monster from time to time (it didn't hurt that she had a crush on the monsters brother and the two were loaded). the girls would do each other's makeup and, sometimes, would be silly and eyeliner pen cat whiskers would ensue. Dee feels guilty for possibly encouraging this catgirl behavior from a young age.

Frank: being an excellent business man and a horrible father, Frank had contacted Maureen and said that she could probably humiliate Dennis by trading licks for debt write-offs. frank of course likes this idea, because frank cuts dennis' paychecks, and he can cook the books enough that Maureen's alimony deductions go straight into his pocket.

Charlie: charlie has been known to hide in Dennis and Mac's apartment and meow to fuck with Dennis, who thinks he's the one subconsciously doing it.

#asks #i started with dennis and then it got away from me #it's always sunny in philadelphia #iasip

[sadiespells37]

(Content Warning for today’s post. It has transphobic language, and while I will keep it to a minimim I feel dancing around the word would be dishonest it is only one slur used as a quote from the show, but fair warning all the same)

Well a week or so into this and I feel like doing something different from the rest of this. While the goal of LGBTQPril is to keep things positive and highlight the growing, but still smaller than it should be, examples of good and nuanced representation in media. That being said, I can’t shake the feeling that today’s character isn’t entirely on the harmful side of representation. Thinking about it is actually part of the reason I wanted to start this project. So join me in a deep dive of one character’s appearances back with the owners and operators of the Worst Bar in Philadelphia that I call:

If you’re not a TV geek like me and that coy hint or specifically recreated title card didn’t alert you I’m again talking about It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Specifically I’m talking about a character who had a few appearances known simply as Carmen or as the gang, all awful people refer to her most of the time “The Tranny.”

Not a great start with that nickname I know, but let’s break down the few times she was on the show and maybe my point of view will be clearer. Her first appearance is probably the most problematic, but still has things that make it stand out. She is in the bar and Mac and Dennis are trying to find a girl to hook Charlie up with. After meeting and chatting Carmen up Mac thinks she’s great Dennis says the unfortunate phrase “That’s a dude,” and proceeds to explain that she is the trans cousin of someone they went to high school with and points out the bulge in here jeans. But what makes the scene stand out to me is right after Mac goes back to Carmen and asks “Is that a penis in your pants?” She says yes, Mac says she lied to him and she immediately turns it around says he lied to her, that he doesn’t work out, and that she’s seen him at the gym and continues to flirt with him. Mac caught off guard is flattered she noticed him and says he will call her later. The candidness of Carmen’s yes that is a penis is given a level of straight forwardness that isn’t often afforded trans women on TV. Yeah she has a penis, no it’s not a big deal, and then her moving on to continue to flirt with Mac and him being receptive to it gives Carmen a certain amount of agency that you don’t often seen in characters like this.

Her second appearance doubles down on all of this. Mac has been sneaking around and the rest of the gang is suspicious. Quickly the audience finds out that it’s because he’s seeing Carmen again. She is shown to have that agency again while Mac is having doubts and worries about the gang finding out, Carmen again shows she knows how to read people and that flirting with Mac will make him more willing to embrace his feelings and attraction to her and it works, for a while. After the two of them have sex she decides to ask about going out on a real date. Mac brushes off the idea in way that makes it seem like that was never an option and she’s silly for bringing it up. No one can see them together. Carmen, once again, given a level of agency trans women rarely get on TV then just throws Mac out of her apartment without a second thought. It’s at that point she realizes that no matter how attractive she finds him, he is a transphobic asshole. She seems to think she could get him to be more open, but clearly if he’s just going to treat her like a dirty secret she doesn’t need to put up with that.

Her final major episode a few years later sees her having had, for lack of a better phrase, bottom surgery and now happily married. Mac is very obviously jealous. He says they had discussed him getting a call after she had her surgery and then goes into a rant about how their marriage is a “gay marriage” and uses that and his religion as an excuse to fight it instead of his again, super obvious, jealousy. At this point Carmen is having none of it. Her husband even gets in on it by bringing up a passage in the Bible about beating slaves being alright after Mac tries to pull that card. In the end Mac doesn’t change anything and learns nothing, as is often the case for this show. And aside from appearing unexpectedly at the end of the season to reveal that Carmen and her husband hired Dee as their surrogate she hasn’t been seen since. She gets to go off and be happy with her husband and new child, which is something not a lot of the side characters in this show can say. Just look at the priest they drive into homelessness and drugs.

Anyway though this is why Carmen is so fascinating to me as a character. The characters don’t treat her well, but they don’t treat anyone well. In fact they have a slew of other nicknames, and never bother using their real ones for a bunch of side characters. She is misgendered really overtly in her first episode, but she isn’t made less of a person because of it. It’s clear to me that there is a gap between the characters, who are awful, and the writers (who are the same ones acting.) As writers they give her a sense of agency that seems to be really uncommon for other trans women on tv. Especially non-main characters who are just there for the main ones to date/sleep with. One of them even regrets parts of what they wrote about her, particularly the name “The Tranny” In 2018 Glenn Howerton, Dennis, said this in an interview:

“I mean, there are a few things, that if I could go back, I would probably do differently. In the first couple seasons, we referred to a character as 'the tranny.' Personally, I wasn't as aware of the power of that word at the time. Now, granted, I think one of the reasons why we get away with it or why it makes sense is because the characters are awful people. They're not celebrated for it and they always lose and they always get their comeuppance, and I think that's important. But I think if I were to do it all over again, there would probably have been at least one person in the group to say like, 'You shouldn't use that word.' I know our hearts were always in the right place and we never wanted to offend anybody. And still, our intention is never to offend."

Finally I’d like to address one thing that I feel like a lesser show would have done but It’s Always Sunny is smart enough to do. As discussed previously in recent seasons Mac has come out as gay after it being hinted at for years. The linking of these two concepts, Mac dating and sleeping with a trans woman, and Mac coming out as gay after years of repression are never linked. The hinting at it isn’t even brought up in any of the seasons before Carmen’s final appearance, with the exception of a mild crush/wanting a father figure out of a Phillies player. And in the later seasons where it’s hinted at and shown greater, Carmen is never brought up as a factor. The only thing close to that is when Mac is jealous she got married she says “If anything you are gay because I still had a penis when we were together!” In that moment, and because it comes from Carmen herself it comes off less as a genuine observation and more as her being able to read Mac like she did when they were flirting, except this time she’s tired of his crap and knows just how to get him to back off. It’s a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but I feel like other shows that aren’t as aware would make that connection and just keep making it, in spite of those facts having nothing to do with one another.

So I’ve said my peace, and I’m still not sure where I fall. I think in the ends on the positive. She’s a smart capable trans woman and most all of the harmful language the gang uses about her is because they’re all horrible. Still I realize that this could be a highly subjective topic and I don’t expect my view to be anything close to “right.” Check out the episodes and decide for yourself.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia S1 E4: Charlie has Cancer (2005)

S3 E10: Mac is a Serial Killer (2007)

S6 E1 & E12: Mac Fights Gay Marriage & Dee Gives Birth (2010)

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That’s all for today folks. Please leave any likes or comments below. I am especially curious to hear responses and other opinions about this peice on particular. I want to know what you have to say. And of course if you have something you want to suggest or cover feel free to do so with the #LGBTQPril.

#lgbtqpril #television #lgbtq #trans #trans woman #it’s always sunny in philadelphia #it’s always sunny #Carmen

[macdentrash]

I have some issues that I want to talk about...

Ok so I’ve been thinking about macdennis (as one does 25 hours a day) and I just wanna share something... so we all know Mac and Dennis are gay for eachother, as does anyone who’s seen them interact in the slightest, and that’s been apparent since the literal first episode of the show (this isn’t necessarily related but I think it’s cute that the literal first lines of the show are between these two gays but to continue on...) and the levels of said gayness have evolved over the seasons. We have season 1 twinks who are subtle (at least for the most part) in their homosexual subtext and this could be played off as two “really good friends” but nothing beyond that (not how I choose to see it but some do and that’s not necessarily invalid just because some of us disagree), moving on through the seasons the gayness becomes more blatantly obvious, it’s brought to the viewers point of focus in a more straight(lol)forward way and the climax of this really shows in season 5 with the tipping point being Mac and Dennis Break up. Other than the few scenes with Frank/Charlie this whole episode is devoted to the blatant codependency of Mac/Dens relationship, not to mention the sexual tension (which is completely unsubtle imo), they literally cannot function without eachother and there is NO heterosexual reasoning that can explain the extended scene (beautiful lips!)... as we progress further in the show the homosexual undertones only become stronger (I could site every point in individual episodes and have a thesis level of critical analysis but for the sake of brevity we won’t go there today) which can be seen in the double parter Mac Fights Gay Marriage/Dennis Gets Divorced, any Mac and Dennis titled episode really and many more (every episode or at least most of them shows some level of interaction between the two that makes the viewer go “hmm well that’s gay as fuck”). Continuing on though, I’m writing this mostly to get into the newer seasons (11/12 respectively) so obviously in season 11 we have the ICONIC suburbs episode where they literally move to a house together and take up their individual “marital duties” (i.e. honey do list, Mac staying at home and taking care of things in his way lol, and Dennis going to work, etc) and we learn a lot about their dynamic and see that the codependency has not in fact weakened over time but grown to incomprehensible levels, in the rest of season 11 there’s fairly limited interaction and Mac/Dennis team ups but in the 2 part finale of The Gang Goes to Hell there are some important pieces. To start Dennis in the beginning is the one who supports Mac’s decisions (saying something along the lines of “you don’t have to mean it, just say what he wants to hear” etc) and it shows how well he knows Mac compared to the rest of the gang, again we have limited interaction until the end of the first part but there’s some really interesting stuff once they do get to interact. I’d like to start with Dennis’ reaction to Mac coming out and how “he always knew”, he always knew and still acted the way he always has (and knowing that he knew, makes one doubt Dennis’ own self proclaimed heterosexuality), moving on, when the boat first malfunctions Dennis automatically reaches his hand out to steady Mac and doesn’t show any real concern for anyone else, fuck even after the boat steadies he keeps his arm reaching out towards him... there’s definitely more in part two but I’m going to skip ahead a little to the tail end of part two. Dennis hid the letters that Mac’s dad sent him from prison and he looks heart broken when Mac gets upset, showing that Dennis actually gives a shit no matter how much he tries to pretend that he doesn’t (this is pre onion that I’m talking about here) and I believe that he honestly was just trying to protect Mac from his shitty father (which could have to do with Dennis’ own daddy issues but we won’t get into that here), also in the end of this episode we have Charlie saying something along the lines of “send us a miracle” and Dennis looks @ Mac in that super love sick way (he is his miracle! i’m so soft i apologize). The last thing I want to touch on in this episode is that when Mac is shoved back into the closet at the end, Dennis makes a very frustrated face... the face of a man who just wants his best friend to come out already... wow ok this is long but let’s move on to season 12, that will continue in the next paragraph break for the sake of breaking up this wall of text...

Ok so in season 12 is where imo everything kind of culminates and comes to a head as far as Mac and Dennis’ dynamic goes...to touch briefly on Making Dennis Reynolds a Murderer, we have “Well if Mac’s going to do it... I’m going to do it” (which speaks for itself) as well as Mac and Dennis just generally being portrayed as spending quite a bit of time together. Moving on to where everything really kicks off in this season imo is Hero or Hate Crime. We have Mac finally escaping from the closet but there’s a lot that’s woven into that, Dennis encourages Mac to come out of the closet until he actually does so (we’ll get to that in a minute) and when Mac leaves Dennis is the one who encourages the gang to just let him enjoy his first day out. The importance of Dennis pushing Mac to come out and then getting uncomfortable when he actually does is because HE NEVER THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, and when it does he makes the same fucking face as he does when he’s trying to hide his emotions during the RPG scene... after this episode Dennis becomes “emotionally distant” (to quote Mac himself) and he generally is just kind of weird about Mac being out, I personally believe that’s because he’s too scared to admit his own feelings and scared to have to explore his own sexuality and how that impacts his overall identity. Obviously next we have PTSDee and Mac’s dream/subsequent reality, so at this point it’s well established that Mac has a thing for notorious 5 star man Dennis Reynolds but now we have to ask the question “does Dennis reciprocate those feelings?” (spoiler alert: yeah he does but moving on), in this episode it’s made apparent that Dennis is aware of Mac’s attraction (and has been for a long time) but even though it comes very close, he does not act on that attraction in a substantial way and we as an audience collectively heave a disappointed sigh (in gay) and hope for better next time. Next up is the The Gang Tends Bar, which is a fucking masterpiece... so from the beginning we have Dennis trying to avoid Valentine’s day and get the gang to “just do their jobs!”. Later we have the parallel between Mac trying to talk to Charlie about Dennis and Dee trying to talk to Frank about Charlie (both convos are interrupted by that intruding Jerry) and that is really solid evidence for the Chardee Macdennis Theory™... to get to my point here we have the “I have big feelings” speech and Mac coming in to save the day with his gift. So this is where it goes off, Mac who is now openly out gives Dennis a Valentine’s Day gift and makes no move to clarify this as a friendly/unromantic gesture, and the way that Dennis looks at him (other than being hella gay) is one of realization and just realizing that someone actually loves him (our collective hearts break for the bastard man), and going back to Hero or Hate Crime, he makes that same face when he glances back at the gang which is him trying to hide his emotions and how much Mac/the RPG really mean to him. Lastly in season 12 we have DDL, imo the most crucial part of this episode as far as Macdennis goes is in the beginning when they are coming up with the plan, I’ll insert the script here because it says more than I ever could: 

Mac: Look, I think the point is, maybe we got to close the emotion door for Mandy by telling her that you're gay. Dennis: Yeah, right, but I already had sex with her. How am I gonna convince her I'm gay? 

Mac: Just go with me here. Brian's not above having a one-night stand with a woman, but he's got no room for her emotionally - because he's in love with me.

Dennis: With you? 

Mac: Well, yes, the lover is me, of course.

Dennis: Mm.

So this to me is just the writers pointing out the nature of Mac and Dennis’ relationship, they literally change the dynamic in no way and they’re almost screaming “THEIR IN LOVE YOU FOOLS”... the rest of the episode shows Dennis being confused at Mac’s actions (”why would you say you want to raise the kid?!” and showing discomfort when Mac launches into the same “he’s my bottom” speech from Mortgage Crisis) and Mac becoming more brazen with his obvious huge crush on Mr. Reynolds. Dennis leaves dramatically at the end and takes about 10 times longer to say Mac’s name than any other member of the gang, while Mac looks on with that sad puppy dog look on his face. This is how they leave it, other than Mac and the rest of the gang blowing up the Rover.

So to get to the original point I was trying to make before going the fuck off... now that we’re in season 13 we all are kind of wondering where they’re going to take this. After all the evidence I’ve discussed here, plus literally the entire roster of episodes, I just want to say that something with a capital S is going to happen. I mean, why would they be focusing so much on their relationship (to the point of it being uncomfortable *cringes and thinks about the sex doll*) and not ... take that anywhere? I mean they’ve been upping the anti since around season 10 and I feel like that character development and plot evolution is not for nothing, RCG know what they’re doing and I truly believe that we may get something at least resembling canon Macdennis this season, add in the factor of promo like “The Machelor” and it’s almost impossible that we aren’t going to get anything... also in the promo for the new episode we have Mac and Dennis holding a fucking heart shaped object between their hands...HEART SHAPED and that’s a level of metaphor that’s not even trying to be subtle... anyways I’m gonna go now but these are my surface level thoughts on the matter and if you want to hear some more specific analysis (on episodes/scenes) don’t hesitate to ask and I’ll type out something similar and not as lengthy. If you made it this far, I wish your heart luck moving further in this new season and we can all cry together

#macdennis #iasip #meta #long posts #come scream at me about macdennis