It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 4 Premiere Review

Now entering it’s fourth season, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” has tackled issues such as racism, homosexuality, abortion, molestation, and now cannibalism; pretty sensitive subject matter, especially for a comedy. Luckily though, the stars and creators of the show (Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, and Charlie Day) manage to keep the show not only inoffensive, but also insanely hilarious. They do this by following the one simple rule laid down by shows like “Seinfeld;” your characters can be as repulsive as humanly possible, as long as they never succeed.
For those who haven’t tuned into the show until now and are worried that they will be behind story-wise, don’t worry. There exists nothing along the lines of story-arches, but instead simply revolves around five bar owners who consistently get into mischievous situations that usually spring from a social or taboo issue. And really, the story of each episode can be easily determined simply by looking at the title of the episode. Take for example the title of season 4’s premiere, “Mac and Dennis: Manhunters.” Any guesses on what the episode will be about? If you guessed “man hunting,” then congratulations, you’re exactly right.
The episode starts with Charlie (Day) and Dee (Kaitlin Olson) salivating over meat that they stole from Frank (Danny Devito, the only “name” in the small cast.) Frank, upset about the stolen meat, convinces the two that they have eaten human flesh, making the two believe that they have become cannibals, and looking for ways to satisfy the crave. This leads them to a Chinese meat market, and to a morgue with a hotplate where they discuss whether or not it’s racist to eat “white meat” instead of “dark meat.”
Meanwhile, Dennis and Mac, intrigued by Frank’s stories of hunting, are compelled to partake in hunting something a little more challenging. A human is the only way to go with this one so the two start looking for their prey. Now, in a show where the main characters literally ruin people’s lives, it’s no surprise that they constantly bring back those characters to make their lives even worse. After quitting the priesthood, living on the streets, becoming addicted to cocaine, and having his legs broken by the mob (all thanks to the gang,) Rickety Cricket returns as the prize in Dennis and Mac’s man hunt.
After a somewhat gimmicky third season, a lot of us thought that maybe the show had lost the sparkle that it had originally had. Fortunately though, it looks like the show is hitting its stride again this season. In terms of the first episode, the man hunting wins over the cannibalism story line. The hunting employs an actual flow to the story instead of the more random cannibalism story points. Although jokes about eating human flesh almost always find a way to be funny.
This is not one of the show’s best episodes, but still very funny and a good indicator that the show is back on track. Sunny is at it’s best when it allows the gang to create situations for themselves, instead of having them caught up in something. It involves the characters more and allows them to be who they are, funny.

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” airs Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. on FX.