1:00 p.m.
On a Wednesday
Philadelphia, PA
It’s no secret that the gang has made a lot of enemies over the years, but could it be that these “beefs” with others are only just now starting to affect their way of life?
The Season 9 finale episode titled “The Gang Squashes Their Beefs” begins with Dennis and Mac taking an ordinary trip to the video store to get Thundergun Express, the Unrated Director’s Cut (yes, the Thundergun franchise lives on in this show). Before you can laugh and say, “A video store? Aren’t those long dead?” the show acknowledges this with the store’s owners emerging and admitting that they “wanted to invest in an emerging market.”
The video storeowners are, of course, none other than the brothers McPoyle, the main two members of Philadelphia’s first family of incest and unibrows. Since last season saw the gang ruining a McPoyle wedding (Liam McPoyle now wears a flesh-colored eye patch as a result), it would have been a shame if they didn’t show up this year as well. In their anger over these previous events, the McPoyles refuse to let Dennis and Mac rent the movie, and they ban them from the store.
Dismayed, Dennis and Mac had back to the bar, only to find that Dee faced similar issues that day. When trying to buy the gang’s favorite sandwiches from Wawa, she was turned away from the store by Gail the Snail— Dennis and Dee’s gross cousin whom fans will remember had to be “salted” to finally leave them alone. Charlie and Frank have also had their troubles, as Frank’s refusal to pay their landlord has resulted in him cutting off their heat.
Stuck with gas station sandwiches and no movie, the gang decides they need to “squash their beefs” with others in order to get what they want. They prepare to host a Thanksgiving dinner for their enemies, at which Dennis plans to have each person sign a “peace treaty” agreeing to not hold anything against the gang. (“Why do you always want people to sign creepy documents?” Frank wonders. “Once something’s in writing, then it’s set in stone. Then nobody can do anything to stop me,” Dennis answers, allowing everyone to once again ignore his pathological ways).
Before the guests arrive however, the gang gets in one more moment of hilarity just by themselves. To Dennis’ dismay, Charlie, Dee and Mac reveal that they are apparently unfamiliar with basic American idioms and have literally brought a hatchet and dirt to bury it in, a slate and a cloth to wipe it clean, not to mention squash and beef to serve to their guests. It’s simple humor, but it’s a good moment.
The guest list is a short one, but it includes both McPoyle brothers (Liam has now painted an eye on his eyepatch, giving him a hilarious frightening appearance), Charlie, Gail the Snail, Bill Ponderosa, and Frank’s landlord, Wang. Rickety Cricket also shows up, despite not being invited, but once he agrees to eat his food off the floor. Instead of the real Bruce Mathis showing up, the guy they originally mistook for him (and blew up his car in the process) arrives, believing his estranged children are there.
It’s a horrible, sad group of people, which is of course we have learned to expect (and look forward to) at every one of the Sunny gang’s parties. Unlike previous gatherings, however, this one results in a food fight, a fire, and someone getting a hatchet in the arm.
In the end, the gang realizes that they are incapable of apologizing and that curling up in blankets at Charlie and Frank’s place (nightcrawlers, anyone?) is a much more appealing idea than spending another moment with their guests. Happy Thanksgiving!