S13.E02: The Gang Escapes

[Ray Adverb]

Quote

To boost productivity, Dee hires an at-home Escape Room Experience service to come to Dennis and Mac's apartment.

[Galileo908]

No shock that the gang can't work together to play an escape room, and that the first thing they do is kick Dee out. Of course the lock & key was just the first task.

Of course Dennis thinks escape rooms are sexual. And of course he has locks on the outside of his door. And soundproofs his room, and booby traps it to inadvertently create his own escape room. "Remember, if you're having fun, you're ruining it for me." Sums Dennis up to a T.

I laughed at Dee's brief horrible British. I needed more of stuff like "A tuppence to you, Amanda."

Wasn't really feeling this episode, to be honest.

[callie lee 29]

I wasn't either. I liked the ending with the gang visiting Dee and actually being nice to get (though I kept waiting for them to screw with her in the end), but overall it was a background episode for me. 

[Lantern7]

In case anybody had forgotten, we're watching horrible people. Okay, Dee wasn't bad, but she always looks the sad victim when the guys team up against her.

And, of course, Dennis would have an erotic system where his chosen is basically trapped. Who is worse than Dennis on TV today in that regard? The only person I got is Quagmire from Family Guy, but he's a cartoon character. Dennis probably doesn't have the budget for infinite pull-out beds and knock-out gas.

Nice that the political theme was subtle . . . well, subtle enough for this, the most unsubtle of times. The payoff was great: the guys basically bicker, double-cross, negotiate, jerk each other off in a celebration of masculinity . . . .and they wind up only starting the game. Why would we expect anything else? Then they visit Dee in the hospital and give her the first bite of steak . . . which I took as a crass appeasement measure. I think two minutes after the picture got taken and Amanda left to reevaluate her life, Dennis probably quipped, "Honestly, I thought birds could fly!" Then the guys once again jerk each other off, while Dee screams "GODDAMMIT!!!" and "SON OF A BITCH!!!!" over and over.

Edited September 13, 2018 by Lantern7

[100Proof]

What the hell happened to this show?

Edited September 13, 2018 by 100Proof

[Amarsir]

I think they were so involved in indulging the characters that they forgot to have a plot. You need both.

Unfortunately it was completely obvious that the lock would only be the first clue, so all the drawing out that was supposed to lead to a hilarious twist was just a waste of time.

[Ray Adverb]

Kind of a weak episode, but it's such a strong show overall that even a weak episode is pretty good.

Dennis's descent into philanthropist full on rapist is pretty much complete and kinda scary.

I liked that in the end they all were all nice to Dee.  Even if it was fleeting, it is nice to see.

[DrSpaceman73]

Better than last week, but that's a low bar. 

Still not a strong episode.  Had its moments

After a year and a half to plan all this, you'd think they would have more to offer this season. 

[qtpye]

I have enjoyed the show in the past for its incredibly dark humor but now it is really starting to feel stale. I could predict almost exactly what was going to happen and found the episode quite boring. The cast has strong chemistry but nothing feels innovative anymore. Maybe the season will improve. 

[Ubiquitous]

I was excited about where they were going to go with this but was underwhelmed, although Dennis's escape room cracked me up for all the wrong reasons. "Remember, if you're having fun, you're ruining it for me." I didn't expect the lock to be the first of many clues, but I've heard enough about escape rooms to have known, but why didn't Dee know?

[Ray Adverb]

How did Dennis's rape dungeon work?  If it has to be locked from the outside and it's soundproof, how did he trap women in there?  How did he get out?

[Galileo908]

2 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

I didn't expect the lock to be the first of many clues, but I've heard enough about escape rooms to have known, but why didn't Dee know?

She knew, she just couldn't tell anyone.

[ganesh]

I didn't like Dee not being much involved. The parallel escape rooms with Dennis' room and the game was a good idea, but I would have liked to see more of Dee actually escaping. I did think that Dee and Amanda were in on it at the end for a second. Honestly, with Dennis' creepy sexual thing at the beginning I was kind of hoping he banged Amanda. 

[oompa]

On 9/12/2018 at 10:20 PM, callie lee 29 said:

I wasn't either. I liked the ending with the gang visiting Dee and actually being nice to get (though I kept waiting for them to screw with her in the end), but overall it was a background episode for me. 

Ditto. I was waiting for the steak to not be a 'steak'.

And technically, they did win. They were technically correct, which is the best kind of correct.

[ganesh]

That's why I thought Dee was trying to trick Amanda into opening the door to win the game because she knew those other idiots weren't going to get anything done. 

[Hero]

I liked this episode. The way Dennis had to control himself from scratching Mac when he found out that Mac told Charlie and Frank about the lock, was hilarious. Then you find out that Dennis scratched Mac anyway because he wanted to be in posession of the lock.

My other favorite scene was how scared and grossed out Frank was when he was in Mac's room. And Mac then asking if Frank and Charlie had touched is bike. I also laughed out loud when you see that Mac's bed has no fitted sheet. 

[Lorna Mae]

Might have been slightly amusing if they'd never been trapped anywhere before. The McPoyles held them hostage; they were trapped in that family's house (epsiode was even called The Gang Gets Trapped); they quarantined themselves in the bar...Kept waiting for some new, unusual take on "The gang get stuck somewhere and have to find their way out". I suppose that would be Dennis's sex dungeon, but even that did not really figure into the plot. 

[ganesh]

1 hour ago, Lorna Mae said:

Kept waiting for some new, unusual take on "The gang get stuck somewhere and have to find their way out".

Right. I think they missed the opportunity for more of a focus on Dee escaping than the guys just being idiots. 

[BeckyThatcher]

I thought giving Dee the first steak bite was a set-up.

Since Frank was to provide the meat, the guys voted for him to have the first bite, thus preventing  Frank from poisoning the steak. So I thought ending had two steps 1) trick Dee into not sueing them and 2) feeding her possibly contaminated food. Anyone else thinking this while watching?

Edited September 15, 2018 by BeckyThatcher

[Ubiquitous]

Yeah, I remember Frank's collection of strange meat when Charlie and Dee thought they had eaten human flesh.

[Amarsir]

On 9/14/2018 at 3:28 PM, Hero said:

I liked this episode. The way Dennis had to control himself from scratching Mac when he found out that Mac told Charlie and Frank about the lock, was hilarious. Then you find out that Dennis scratched Mac anyway because he wanted to be in posession of the lock.

My other favorite scene was how scared and grossed out Frank was when he was in Mac's room. And Mac then asking if Frank and Charlie had touched is bike. I also laughed out loud when you see that Mac's bed has no fitted sheet. 

That's the thing - there were good character moments. This show does a good job of knowing who the characters are so they can simply be placed in a situation that plays itself out. 

Unfortunately that's also the bottom tier of effort. Pick a thing and "The Gang" does the thing. Pretty much every sitcom creates filler episodes by doing that. But for the same reason  it doesn't deliver the cleverness we want from Sunny plots. There aren't surprises or new developments because The Gang is just doing what we all expect they would. Compare that to "Charlie Work" with its great plot that took us through an experience and taught us about Charlie. Riskier and harder to do but much more rewarding.

[cynicat]

On 9/15/2018 at 5:03 PM, Amarsir said:

And Mac then asking if Frank and Charlie had touched is bike.

I'm not thrilled with the first 2 episodes, but am completely willing to see how the season plays out.  It never ceases to amaze me how good this show is about continuity.  I'd forgotten about his bike.