S10.E04: Charlie Work

[Lantern7]

Dennis and Mac enlist Dee to spy on the fish factory across the street, Charlie and Frank grow suspicious and decide to do some spying of their own.

ETA: That's what I get for straying from the usual source of information. Sorry about that.

[Galileo908]

Man it was weird to see Charlie being the responsible one of the gang. And his plan worked!

 

Frank flushing his shoes, then his shirt down the toilet? Then painting himself black to make a new shirt (plus his whole head)? That was amazing. Frank's the best.

 

That whole health inspection sequence was a work of art. It was insanity filmed in one continuous shot. Bravo, show.

 

ETA: You might want to change the description, Lantern7. It's for a completely different episode.

Edited February 5, 2015 by Galileo908

[Ubiquitous]

It was interesting to see a "day in the life of Charlie" ep.

 

That whole health inspection sequence was a work of art. It was insanity filmed in one continuous shot. Bravo, show.

Agreed!

[Lantern7]

You know what this episode reminds me of? The episode of The Tick where Sewer Urchin proved himself to be a badass. That makes sense for an analogy, since Charlie knows his way around a sewer. Oh, and Frank's camouflage  = Tobias Funke in "blueface." Just my opinion.

 

Damn, the gang sure does suck. I mean, that's the point of the show, but to not give Charlie any credit for his swift thinking? That sucks. While I'm thinking about it . . . why was Dennis all sweaty the last time he saw the health inspector?

 

Seriously good episode. Way to use the bar and its surroundings to make for epic fun.

 

ETA: Tobias married a Bluth; he never became one. My bad. Again.

[jcin617]

Man it was weird to see Charlie being the responsible one of the gang. And his plan worked!

 

That whole health inspection sequence was a work of art. It was insanity filmed in one continuous shot. Bravo, show..

I've often thought that Charlie is actually the smartest one of the group; there have been quite a few episodes where he shows a deeper understanding of what's going on than the others.    And yes, the entire health inspection shot, from her entrance to exit was impressively done.

[Gudzilla]

Brilliant episode, for some reason my favorite bit was Mac's "Dennis scratched me".

 

And of course "Alright alright alright".

[divaTy]

I love that the whole inspection scene was supposed to be a single take. I could see the cuts but it was still pretty cool.

[hincandenza]

This wasn't as funny as the first three, but still a good episode and the gimmick of the long tracking shots was cool, it added to the Henry Hill frantic state of Charlies mind. Some good gags, clever planning (I loved the chair thing, even though I saw it coming a mile away), and I think "the implication" is that this is Charlie's life most weeks- without him, the gang would fall apart in a day. No wonder he's crazy, he's juggling 5 lives in his head at the same time.

Which adds to what Lantern7 said about the gang sucking. We know they're awful people, and are sociopaths so are cruel even to each other... but somehow when they're pointlessly cruel to one member it's cringy for me (I was never a fan of the ruthless Dee teasing for that reason, although she was a total bitch for not pushing the dumpster 6 inches, that stupid bitch). It also lends credence to the Charlie = Genius theory; while we had the last minute twist in the "Flowers for Charlie" episode that said he wasn't, otherwise there's a mountain of evidence that he's brilliant but broken. Heck, even in the recent Boggs episode, he can drunkenly hit like a pro! He's got savant abilities up the wazzoo, but hanging out with these guys ruined him.

It's like Barney on the Simpsons, after Homer introduced him to beer.

[CMH1981]

Wow, that episode was pure awesome-sauce.  If there was any episode where I think Charlie Day could get an Emmy nomination I would think it would be this one.  

 

So that wasn't one-continuous shot when the health inspector showed up?  I know that would be hard but I would think they would just keep re-shooting it till they got it right.

 

I was puzzled about why Charlie was slamming the stool, I thought maybe that was his tick w/all the stress going on...I was glad of the payoff happening to Dee, especially since that stupid bitch didn't move the damn dumpsters another half a foot.

 

Awesome episode.

[Galileo908]

There's such an art to Glenn Howerton saying "Dee, you bitch."

[Princess Sparkle]

I kept dying every time Charlie referred to Dee as a stupid bitch - it kept flashing me back to his angry mumbling at her in The Nightman Cometh.

However, for whatever reason, the funniest part to me was in the beginning when Charlie yelled "You decide to run a chicken and airline miles scam today??", since his inflection made it sound like the problem wasn't the scam, it was that they were doing it today.

Frank flushing his clothes to have a sense of control for a good laugh out of me too.

[DrSpaceman]

There's such an art to Glenn Howerton saying "Dee, you bitch."

Much like Dee's "God Damn it!". Craps me up every time. Its like Homer SImpsons "DOh!"

Was nice to see Charlie, or really any of them, viewed as more than bumbling or ignorant for once.

This reminded me of the episode where Dee tried to live CHarlie's life and realized how difficult it was, and how while everything seemed crazy, he had a reason for it all.

[Whimsy]

I loved this episode!  I keep missing episodes due to my own stupid Tivo season pass setting up issues, so I only saw the Bogg's one and this one so far this season, but I feel this one was genius!  Poor Charlie never gets any recognition, but I loved how he managed everyone.

 

While I'm thinking about it . . . why was Dennis all sweaty the last time he saw the health inspector?

 

 

I thought that was because Charlie kept having him running around doing things like sticking the chickens in the ducts, loading them in the truck, etc, and then he had to keep running back to the bar as if he was only doing that. 

[jcin617]

I love that the whole inspection scene was supposed to be a single take. I could see the cuts but it was still pretty cool.

Here's a story on how they did it;  How 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' made its unintended 'Birdman' homage.

Any transition from inside the bar to the outside in front was seperate, and since the basement set is on the same level as the rest of the set that had to be seperate.  But from the acticle, everything from Charlie leading the inspector inside at the start to when they go downstairs to the basement was all one take. 

[ganesh]

I don't need to repeat the compliments for the episode.

 

The glory hole was covered up with a cat picture. That is all. 

[VanillaBear85]

This was such a great episode in general and for Charlie. It was wonderful to see him so great at something.

 

The opener was funny but had a glaring cut judging from the sign that Dennis was painting. When Charlie walked in it stated "Carmine's: A Place for Ste" and the last cut to the sign/gang it said "Carmine's: A Place". Not a big deal, but it was noticeable.

 

I love psycho Dennis. "Look at me when you're talking to me!" and scratching Mac were highlights. Alright, alright, alright.

 

I generally hate the use of bitch, but I giggle every time someone calls Dee a bitch. They all have their own ways of doing it and I laugh each time.

[Harvey]

It is wild that years later this is considered the best episode of the series. Sure it has its moments, but I can think of better ones. Oh well. 

[voiceover]

Not knowing where this actually belongs, I chose this thread to say:

I have never watched any episode of this series.  I’ve never been interested in watching any episode.  But recently, while scrolling my X-timeline, I came across the “Thank you, monkey” clip.   I may have actually cry-laughed.

Now I gotta watch ‘em all.

[Harvey]

On 6/12/2024 at 6:49 AM, voiceover said:

Not knowing where this actually belongs, I chose this thread to say:

I have never watched any episode of this series.  I’ve never been interested in watching any episode.  But recently, while scrolling my X-timeline, I came across the “Thank you, monkey” clip.   I may have actually cry-laughed.

Now I gotta watch ‘em all.

Late response but the show has a big fluctuation in quality episode to episode. Not all of them are good but when they hit, it's great. So I'd recommend starting with some of the fan favorites to get you in the groove.