S13.E05: The Gang Gets New Wheels

[Ray Adverb]

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Dee gets in with a group of cool, rich housewives. Meanwhile, Dennis hits it off with some everyday, blue-collar bros; Frank struggles to renew his license; and Charlie and Mac deal with a new generation of bicycle bullies.

[Amarsir]

Well, it's unlikely to be a bottle episode!

[Hero]

"Bicycle bullies" ? I wonder if Mac will take off his shirt to assert dominance?

[Ray Adverb]

15 hours ago, Amarsir said:

Well, it's unlikely to be a bottle episode!

Yes, finally.  Although from the description I read on TV Guide, next week's probably is.

[Galileo908]

Gotta love how the ep opens with Dennis FINALLY wanting the gang to ask him what became of his family...and no one was going for it. One way around that lingering thread, I guess. I ended up enjoying this one. This has to be up there with amount of lives the gang has ruined in one episode, right?

Of course Dennis only took the sleek new car to show it off. And of course nobody buys it. And people think he's an Uber, that's great. It's like he got progressively lamer as the episode went on, I loved it.

Man, Charlie and Mac suck enough to get bullied by middle school bicycle bullies. Giving those kids a beatdown was so great and hilarious, but it's dark at the same time. Like, it's just vicariously beating up their childhood bully.

Yeah, Frank in Driver's Ed was amazing. Don't follow Frank into the woods, you're just gonna find weird, old school porn. And man, of course Frank took the wheel at the end.

[Lantern7]

Good episode, lots of callbacks . . . like Frank denying and one-upping his kids, and Dennis going into Deranged God Mode. Except that wasn't him, that was Dee. On the bright side, herattempt to break another woman has her banging the kid by accident.

Nobody gives a shit about Dennis' situation before this season. Seems legit, at least for those four.

And, of course, Mac and Charlie have to deal with the guy who stole their bikes, whose kid stole Mac's bike. And we end up with tweens getting their asses kicked, which works for this show. Luckily, Dennis gets his Range Rover (the last one being destroyed by a rocket), Frank and Dee get rescued from their plot, and all is right with the world.

[incandescent]

This felt like a proper return to form.

 

And also Dee looked so good in that first scene. Kaitlin Olson really is a golden goddess.

[Dewey Decimate]

I don't know what's horrible with me, but 1) the women puking their brains out on the plane as Artemis looked on in a beatific trance (with vomit gurgling from her own mouth), and 2) Charlie and Mac vengefully and deservedly beating the living shit out of those punk-ass kids (how did they do stunt doubles??) have been the hardest times I've laughed at anything on television this year.

Loved Mac and Charlie's response to the lead bully's insult of "GAY!" ("Well, statistically one out of..." "Don't push your agenda now!")

[Ray Adverb]

Finally a decent episode.

• Multiple locations.
• No heavy handed social message.
• More characters outside The Gang.

Next week it looks like we're back to the same old thing though, with The Gang hanging around the bar making heavy handed jokes about transgender issues.  This has been a really weak season.  Where did all their money go?

[Ray Adverb]

Was that Danny Devito's character from Taxi on Frank's license?

I loved Dee essentially turning into a female Dennis after driving a Range Rover.  That group of rich bitches was perfect for Dee.  I wish that could have lasted longer, but her overreaction was terrific.  Also I had forgotten about them shooting up Dennis' car with the RPG.  I thought that was just random vandalism.

Frank's old school pornography stash in the woods was strange.  Besides the antiquated nature of magazine porn, why would he hide it? 

Edited October 4, 2018 by Ray Adverb

[marketdoctor]

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Frank's old school pornography stash in the woods was strange.  Besides the antiquated nature of magazine porn, why would he hide it? 

There have been times and places where owning pornography was illegal (and the weirder it is, the more likely to violate "community standard" obscenity laws.)  Also, there were times when people were ashamed to have it, and it might be a carry-over from one of those times.  That said, Frank having shame isn't a likely explanation, but he does try to hide what he thinks is illegal.

[ponyglue]

woods porn is a thing! look it up...

[Ray Adverb]

46 minutes ago, ponyglue said:

woods porn is a thing! look it up...

I know that, but in 2018?

[Ubiquitous]

I loved how no one cared about what happened to Dennis or why he returned, despite his lame attempts at fishing for a response. 

Wasn't the man who mistook Dennis for his Uber driver Jamie from the Progressive commercials? 

I was expecting Frank and Dennis to get in trouble for what they did with the kid that Dee somehow mistook for the mean woman's husband. Frank for giving porno to kids and Dennis saying he'd suck the kid's dick ( albeit wildly taken out of context).

I didn't see Frank's driver license long enough to tell, but was it an old one of Danny Devito's? I cannot recall whose name was on it.

Edited October 4, 2018 by Ubiquitous

[Joimiaroxeu]

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That group of rich bitches was perfect for Dee.

Yeah, it was kind of like a script was left over from The Mick.

Was John the Uber rider Glenn Howerton's body double? I was struck by how much they were alike in general appearance, e.g., height and body type.

[Ubiquitous]

2 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Was John the Uber rider Glenn Howerton's body double? I was struck by how much they were alike in general appearance, e.g., height and body type.

I am pretty sure he's Jaime, Flo's coworker.

[ponyglue]

2018 woods porn for Frank Reynolds?!? Absolutely perfect.  Have you watched this show before?

[Hero]

"What are you going to do about it?" Love how Mac and Charlie said that was the perfect line, therefore there was literally nothing they could do about it. 

The beating up the kids scene was hilarious. "I think I killed a kid!" "You did, I saw him. He was dead." Lol! 

I love scenes with Mac and Charlie. Charlie Day is a favorite of mine and I think he is so cute. 

[halkatla]

If, say,  someone were to ask me: "How come you love The Gang so much?"  now thanks to this episode I can simply say "check out s13e05 and you´ll find out". Those twins make my dreams come true, with their dark but beautiful charm. And Frank in the woods by the tree-stump, with the hidden porn... I´m swooning. Mac and Charlie beating up those awful kids, please stop, don´t be so perfect. Happy ending, with Dennis feeling his 80´s music, say no more.

[callie lee 29]

I laughed so hard at Charlie and Mac beating up those kids I damn near hyperventilated. The image of those little baby felons flying through the air and over cars was hysterical. And now I'm a little distrubed with myself. 

Of course Dee is Dennis!! Just with no money she can't really evolve into complete psychopath. And even though no one gives a fuck where Dennis has been all is well with our alpha as long as he's in the driver seat of his 25 year old car. 

[ganesh]

Wow, Chuck Knoblach pre-yips way reach back. Good work.

23 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

Gotta love how the ep opens with Dennis FINALLY wanting the gang to ask him what became of his family...and no one was going for it.

I hope this is a running joke and we don't find out for a while. 

I'm liking the show's use of 'fuck'. 

15 hours ago, Ray Adverb said:

Was that Danny Devito's character from Taxi on Frank's license?

Too much hair. De Palma was balding. 

28 minutes ago, callie lee 29 said:

I laughed so hard at Charlie and Mac beating up those kids I damn near hyperventilated. The image of those little baby felons flying through the air and over cars was hysterical. And now I'm a little distrubed with myself. 

They had it coming tbh. Of course, Mac could have just physically taken the bike back in the first place. What were they going to do about it? 

Although I prefer the gang all together, these were all good plots and tied up well. 

This was a long walk to hit the reset on the Range Rover. 

[Ray Adverb]

Here's a screenshot of Frank's license.  I don't know if that's Devito's character from Taxi, but it's definitely a younger Danny Devito.

 

[Rinaldo]

Younger even than Taxi, I would say.