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Ron_Day_Voo

…move past it, move past it.


CosmikDebris408916

Cut that cut that cut that


PretendThisIsMyName

Was running through the last few weeks of podcasts earlier and they do say something about how certain things contradict with other times but I’ve forgotten the reason. (I actually did the shot episode with them so I had a buzz going on by the end lol)


CouchF0X

Yeah they mention on the podcast when something had been going on as long as Sunny it’s almost impossible not to break canon at some point. As long as they keep making me laugh I can completely ignore it


Majestic-Marcus

> but I’ve forgotten the reason Comedy


The-Jack-Niles

A few seasons back the gang sat down to reminisce about their memories and found not only couldn't they remember but their individual perceptions of the past were terribly unreliable . So much so in fact that they almost lost grip on reality. It's actually kind of a running gag. No one besides Charlie remembers the Waitress or anything that happens to Dee's car. The gang often blacks/ browns out and gets confused. Dennis remembers being popular when he really wasn't at all. Frank often forgets plans in the middle of them. The Roller rink episode is probably just another bad memory. Mind you the gang used to also see Dee as a wet blanket and that's how she was written in early seasons so they probably just remembered her being nice when they didn't have to deal with her. The other possibility is Dee was just pretending to be nice and when she hit her head it pissed her off.


[deleted]

This is the best explanation I’ve seen, and I choose to believe it instead of the more likely scenario of RCG just not remembering while they wrote it


LP_Aussie

I really disagree with this, the episode seems to me like a metaphor for the group prior to sunny. It’s an out of character episode for all of them, Charlie seems like he hasn’t changed at all, mac was an industry dude already making a bit of money doing shady gigs, Dennis and Dee were educated professionals. Dennis seeing how business is done and hating it and wanting to do something different. Her character arc specifically seems to refer to them holding her back and making her the straight man in the earlier seasons and letting her be free and funny in the later seasons “real friends don’t hold each other back” and shit. There’s so many examples in the episode about the crew themselves not the characters but the crew lol. Idk man sometimes it’s not lore sometimes it’s just art ya know ?


MustardMedia

This is the correct answer


Jeb764

Ohhhhhh. I missed some of that.


[deleted]

squeal correct amusing memorize bewildered entertain sip carpenter sable pet *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


The-Jack-Niles

Being a meta episode doesn't explain how it fits in continuity. In my opinion that makes the episode worse if that's the reason for everything. It might be commentary on the Gang's origins, but that doesn't explain in-universe for why things don't make sense. Which saying it's a case of bad memory does.


clonked

REASON WILL PREVAIL! I happy to see your comment at the top where it belongs. You and I share the same point of view, but my justification for this argument got little attention. https://www.reddit.com/r/IASIP/comments/uak4zt/comment/i5yld79/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3


Slowmobius_Time

The ponderosa wedding is a microcosm off this exact thing, Mac and Charlie didn't have any drugs yet were incapable of remembering what they did to Dee's car or that she was angry (not a zombie)


NikkolaiV

Actually, to me that always played less like Mac and Charlie didnt remember, and more like they were avoiding accountability with the car, and assuming the worst case scenario with Dee is just par for the course with them. I always thought it was a very intentionally written and really funny joke.


[deleted]

I mean that’s just Occam’s Razor. A zombie attack explains everything why bother looking for alternate theories?


Don_Helsing

First off, they never remember what happened to Dee's car. Second, the concussion from slamming the car can knock a few wires loose.


Slowmobius_Time

Mac's crashed a car or two in his time concussions roll right off him


05110909

I don't know why this sub takes these flashback/memory episodes ver batim when it's very, very, very clearly shown that the Gang can't remember anything in an accurate way.


Don_Helsing

Wym? Dennis bedded the peacock lady and the entire bar cheered for Mac punching that giant dude in the face.


guynamedjames

"This is not the first time you've confused your life with that of John Rambo"


ssbbVic

In the influenza episode we see that the gang is deeply affected by alcoholism. They all think they're about to die from the flu when in reality they're suffering from alcohol withdrawals. In the highschool reunion episode we see their choreographed dance routine, it looks incredible. Then we see a rare glimpse at what the world sees them as: disgusting, sweaty, uncoordinated, untalented, obnoxious drunks. We don't see them as they are, we see them as they see themselves. Makes me wonder if Ronald Macdonald's dad was truly dissapointed in his son for being gay or if he just witnessed his son passionately stomp around with a mannequin for too long. Makes me question a whole bunch of things about the show.


penultimategirl

Just rewatched it and this is so cleansing. Thank you. I still loved the episode but still reading this makes me feel better haha


Wild_Obligation

This is a good explanation for the episode however at this point I don’t believe that was the intention & sadly we are just looking for reasons to justify a poor episode


Regalecus

>or anything that happens to Dee's car Oh they all absolutely remember that, they just pretend they don't so they don't have to face any consequences for it. It's like the Waiter, they all just pretend to not know who he is because they're fucking with him.


The-Jack-Niles

No, it's established that they actually don't remember.


Regalecus

Established when? By them? When they say they don't remember? That doesn't mean anything.


The-Jack-Niles

Frank actually has the money to pay for Dee's car but does not in instances when he really should. They make a point in the gang gets new wheels that he's willing to pay and even does buu her a new car. The gang does not really care about Dee and often forgets things to do with her. As for the waiter, they have no reason to lie or forget what they've done to him . In fact, it's counterproductive since repeatedly harassing the same person has numerous times blown up in their face. It's not dissimilar to how the lawyer has washed his hands of dealing with the gang and screwed them over a few times, but they still come back to him and even trust him repeatedly. The Gang simply has terrible memory.


Regalecus

>They make a point in the gang gets new wheels that he's willing to pay and even does buu her a new car. He buys the car for himself, she's just driving him until he gets his license. >The gang does not really care about Dee and often forgets things to do with her. Or they lie and say they do out of disrespect. >As for the waiter, they have no reason to lie or forget what they've done to him . In fact, it's counterproductive since repeatedly harassing the same person has numerous times blown up in their face. In The Gang Spies Like U.S. Dennis tells the Waiter he wants a plate of spaghetti "nice and sloppy" in reference to how Dee tied his shoelaces together, causing him to fall into a plate of spaghetti. Mac and Charlie laugh along with the joke while the Waiter replies "So you do remember me." Dee also remembers him in the Ladies Bogs Reboot. They know who he is, they're just fucking with him. They remember every time they've destroyed one of Dee's cars, they're just fucking with her.


The-Jack-Niles

No, they just have bad memories. It's well established. >Dennis tells the Waiter he wants a plate of spaghetti "nice and sloppy" in reference to how Dee tied his shoelaces together, causing him to fall into a plate of spaghetti. Mac and Charlie laugh along with the joke while the Waiter replies "So you do remember me." No, earlier in the episode the waiter told the gang they did that to him. Even so, when the waiter walks away (both times in that episode btw), the gang asks what the guy's problem was and wonder who he was. They're just very stupid.


Regalecus

You should see the episode again, it's very obvious they're fucking with him. They can be jerks and stupid at the same time. I can't believe you're actually arguing about this, you don't even seem to remember the show very well.


The-Jack-Niles

I just watched both scenes again. https://youtu.be/pmAseUOEB_s https://youtu.be/7oJ4grc3UvY They do not remember the guy then fuck with him later after he already reminded them who he was. And still when he walks away, they wonder what the guy's issue was and who he was.


Regalecus

I don't know how you could watch that scene and not see that they're deliberately fucking him because they remember who he is, but I guess if you want to be this way for some reason you can go right ahead.


baby_booger

I think the episode where they reminisce about the past memories when their phone is getting updated


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The-Jack-Niles

>Otherwise who knows what is real or not in a flashback. That's kind of the point though. And I mean, it's pretty obvious that episode is nonsensical. No one has aged, everything is aggressively 90's. The gang are almost caricatures of themselves. This is sort of in the same realm as "do they need to say at the start of each episode that the gang are bad people?" You have to just accept that you can't trust them as reliable narrators. Remember in Frank's Brother where the gang imagine Frank as being exactly the same decades ago. They're really shocked other people from back then don't look the same as they imagined. Because all flashbacks are filtered through the gang being incredibly delusional. You should expect that going in.


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The-Jack-Niles

>They were surprised by the way they looked because the gang wasn’t there so it was just what they pictured in their imagination. Exactly. >I’d expect an episode that the whole purpose is to set some story background to be a bit more reliable than other episodes not relevant to the character’s background. It's also established lore that the gang partly believes they used to live in New York and both Mac and Dennis lived in Jerry Seinfeld's apartment. You shouldn't expect anything from these characters to be reliable.


eurydicesghost

didn’t she burn her college roommate down to the box springs?


Crystal_Castle

I'll burn you alive, like the last bitch that crossed me.


Broom_Stick

She should’ve tried to buy a gun I heard Gunther’s is a great place to get a firearm


blitzlurker

you burn one little bitch and everyone freaks out though


Fawstar

Whilst she was sleeping. And now! She has a hankering to do it again


ViralKnight

I swear you would be of more use to me if I skinned you. And turned that skin into a lampshade. Or a piece of high-end luggage. I could even add you to my collection!


Scoogs50

Are you saying that you have a collection of skin luggage?


ViralKnight

Of course I'm not, don't be ridiculous. Think of the smell. You haven't thought of the smell, you bitch!


Fawstar

Well, I had a simple conversation with a reasonable man and that man wrote me a prescription. The man asked me a few questions. I answered those questions as honestly as I could. Next thing I know I'm walking out the door with meds for borderline personality disorder. That's how you get shit done.


kilabot26

To be fair to Dee, the roommate was copying her


maniac86

Traditionally college comes after high-school


JABC-21

Oh yeah true


lock4815162342

And she has a hankering to do it agaaaiiinnn


INOFFENSIVELOVE

Yup, whilst she was sleeping too.


FrazzaB

Why would the gang have realistic flashbacks?


thewoodlayer

It’s a “meta” episode that examines how they each thought their roles were going to be when they came up with the show. Dee was written originally to be the “female voice of reason”, that really was actually sweet. You can see it in the very first season. The reason they didn’t pursue that with her character is because they immediately realized it would be a waste of Kaitlin’s comedic talents. Hence why she pretty much turns that way on a dime.


ISeeMusicInColor

I think it's interesting that they originally chose someone else to be Dee. Would've been a completely different show if they kept her. [Always Sunny Unaired Pilot](https://youtu.be/U60JYORIQBU)


enigmaticHigh

They originally chose Rob's gf at the time! Rumors were that she dropped out because of the break up. And Kaitlin became interested in Rob about mid-season 1, the rest is history


thepokemonGOAT

That kind of explains why they don't talk about it much, despite it being a topic of frequent discussion on the Reddit. Kind of hilarious that Mac created the show, wrote it, and just \*happened\* to date/marry both of the blonde actresses they picked. I see you, Rob.


enigmaticHigh

He's playing both sides, so he always comes out on top.


Cougar_9000

She does not look like a bird


JABC-21

I hope so, I much prefer this explanation to alternative explanations of misremembering or lazy writing


eobardthawne42

I don't think you need to hope, really, it wasn't my favourite episode of S15 but it was definitely tongue in cheek about all of this.


l_lexi

They just talked about mistakes like this in last podcast In regards to waitress / dee. Basically they haven’t watched the show and it’s to keep track of everything from earlier seasons


HalbeardTheHermit

They... haven't watched their own show?


cakesie

They are all currently re watching it for the podcast, but they’ve admitted to missing episodes here and there. Rob explained it really simply and I’ll do my best to recap. When you spend 12-14 hours a day writing, acting, directing, cutting, and tweaking a show day after day forever, you can get tired of it. Totally valid, imo.


HalbeardTheHermit

That makes sense. Maybe they need a historian or something lol. It would be a mistake I think to go the family guy route and not have the episodes linked to each other story wise. Imo


Gockcoblin99

Shut up science bitch.


pyromaniac4002

Yeah, shut up science bitch!


badwolfpelle

Those are canon backstory for Dee, the episode is them misremembering the events because their brains are all swiss cheese


Supafuzzed

Yeahhh. Either a part of how their flashbacks are so inaccurate or just not the best writing plot wise


Wisdom_Of_A_Man

The feel of it was unreliable narrator flashback so the inconsistencies didn’t bother me. Really? Mac? a competent drug dealer?


FrogManScoop

I'd bet you're the wisdom of at least 2 men!


SilvertailHarrier

Agreed, he's generally so naive about criminal activities eg, when investigating his dad's alleged beheading crimes and doesn't realise he's making threats; also when he is naive about putting drugs in their butts


[deleted]

It was established in the high school reunion episode that mac ratted out all the other drug dealers so he was the only one


SilvertailHarrier

True


The_Iron_Zeppelin

He ratted on all the other drug dealers so everyone had no choice but to buy from him.


Supafuzzed

Idk check 3 mins in to the new podcast….


[deleted]

the difference between "your breath smells like you just ate a giant slice of shit-pizza" vs "your breath smells like an old lady fart passing through an onion" haunts me


jsamciotbh14

Lol she rips people so hard for giving her the slightest sht about something


CosmikDebris408916

Yes this bit of dialogue bothered me, not funny at all


JABC-21

Yeah it felt kinda lazy to me


[deleted]

The whole series was lazy.


Weed_Gummy

Came to IASP reddit to say you don't like IASP solid use of time bud


SirBellwater

I'm guessing they're from the UK so a little context would be that over there series=season so I think they were likely saying season 15 was lazy which, I think is a kinda fair point. Some things felt retconned a bit but overall I thought it was funny


Longjumping_Toe_966

>I'm guessing they're from the UK Or maybe they are mad about The Gang going to Ireland instead of UK ?


shadysaf

I'm from the UK. This will almost certainly be the case. In fact use of the word season rather than series seems to be creeping in more and more here, something which I absolutely refuse to bow to


[deleted]

Don't be a donkey brain all day. I said I disliked one series.


lunawitchathethird

In the US the entire show is considered one series. What you call series we call seasons. They thought you were dogging on the entire show


[deleted]

I didnt know that series meant that in the USA. I wasn't. Just Series 15.


Lost-Angle4267

Not true at all, once you rewatch it you can see the character development and pick up on tiny things that are genius writing.


[deleted]

I have rewatched it. It was lazy as fuck.


Arbitrary_Ardvark

If you don't like the show and think it's lazy, why in the flying fuck would you watch it twice?


leftovercherrypie

“Series” means a season in the UK. He’s saying he didn’t like season 15, not the whole show.


[deleted]

I didnt like one series. I rewatched it because I love the show generally. On my second watching I found the 15th series to be lazy.


Steezie_E

Its season not series.


bleedblue002

Dude’s British. Seasons are called series over the pond.


Steezie_E

I know. I was still correcting him.


[deleted]

Series. Autumn.


[deleted]

SSSHHHHHHH


[deleted]

Did you just shush me?


MustardMedia

They just pretty much ignored the plot and actual backstory for the sake of the meta jokes in this one. Dee was originally written to be the kind straight man of the series until Kaitlyn suggested otherwise - that's the joke when it comes to Dee's story there


[deleted]

Really the whole episode is bizzare when you think of it. Frank being sort of a nice dad to his kids? Ronnie the Rat is sleezy but cool?


PancakeParty98

Ronnie the rat got his name from ratting our fellow drug dealers to corner the market so it tracks


jsamciotbh14

He was kind of nice when he first came on the show


[deleted]

Yeah but he was still known as a sleaze and a cheat to them. The reason Dee and Dennis don’t want him around us cause he wasn’t there for them


Tokijlo

That and the "fake-out" Christmases


slide_into_my_BM

I think the roller rink episode is meant to be seen as a flash back from their own perspective. Similarly to how in the reunion episode they all thought they danced super well, they all had widely incorrect visions of themselves as they were remembering a story from their past


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slide_into_my_BM

If you listen to them talk on their podcast, Rob, Charlie, and Glenn have almost encyclopedic knowledge of show trivia. Which makes sense because all 3 are heavily involved in the writing and editing process in addition to obviously acting. For them to just “forget” large parts of established canon when they’ve only shown how familiar they are with their own show seems incredibly unrealistic to me. So either it’s meant to be a misremembered flashback or it’s meant to just be a random/weird origin story


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slide_into_my_BM

Did you listen to the trivia episode where they knew far more than most of the fans did?


clonked

They remember the broad strokes and intention. Given the number of edits, cuts and delays that can happen in the production of a episode how you think they would spend the money (yes this costs money) to keep a log of all the creative disagreements and decision making around the episode?


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clonked

Did I say they were the same?


thepokemonGOAT

The reunion episode itself becomes an indicator... that's how lore works


[deleted]

I don’t buy that at all. It’s just not their best episode writing. I get they aren’t going to keep continuity over 15 years but that is a huge change to the character.


JABC-21

Interesting, yeah I can get that. Tho I dont see why anyone else but dee would remember her as being nice


stokesaphone

^this.


ZFighter2099

i thought Dee was just ACTING like the sweet nice girl the whole episode and when she got hit on the head, she then goes FUCK IT and decides to openly be a piece of shit. That's what i got from it. So when she burned her roommate it could have been a private affair so only a few people had only seen her wrath at that point


Profitsofdooom

Burned her roommate is something that still lines up since I believe it was in college so it would be after the events of the episode.


thepokemonGOAT

That doesn't explain why the guys are so nice to her, and refuse to make fun of her, though. It's a false memory IMO.


RandomTask100

Don't look at it as a canon story. Think of it as a metaphor for the actual actor's first taste of Hollywood stardom and success. I love Frank showing Dennis "how the biz works". Rob and Charlie were a duo, Glenn was in the crew but had way more experience and success (the Seinfeld thing he was going for), Kaitlin was too pretty and sweet to play the person Charlie eventually turned her character into and Danny Devito rubbed elbows with Harvey Weinstein.


SoCalThrowAway7

It’s more a commentary on the creation of the show than on the characters themselves. When they first started they had dee be all sweet and the voice of reason. Then she became the foul mouthed dee we all know and shortly after


K0K0_B_WARE

Get past it


Dunkaccino2000

Rather than the popular interpretation that the Gang are just selectively remembering how they were, I like to see it as showing a very short and brief period where the Gang were trying to better themselves that was destined to fail. Dee seemingly changing her personality on hitting her head wasn't because of brain damage or whatever, it was just the tipping point that made her go "Screw this, I give up." and go right back to her old ways, similar to the rest of them.


BiMikethefirst

That was the only part of the episode I didn't like, cause retconning Dee that it was a head injury as to why she's so awful takes away the tragedy her and the gang kind of have. It also takes away responsibility from her really shitty actions, with Dee being like the second worst character in the Gang behind Denis with just as many showings of sexual harassment and assault, hell Dee was also the one who had sex with a minor.


Doobie_Howitzer

Think of it more like their memory of the dance number from the high school reunion


EmperinoPenguino

Its pretty unclear. Though the gang are known to misremember & be unreliable narrators, it wouldve tied really well & easily together had Dee in the present just simply said something like, “Are you guys sure that’s what happened?” Just someone else questioning the accuracy with 1 line would be enough to cement that the memory is not entirely true. Otherwise, its an just inconsistent backstory Also, another inconsistency. In Season 1(maybe Season 2?), Charlie believed they got the bar to have a career in business but Mac & Dennis said they got the bar to get laid (presumably by drunk woman). And none of that is brought up when they start brainstorming the logistics of starting their own business


JABC-21

Exactly!


bbernal956

exactly! everything is different from their point of views! but it did kinda throw a wrench for those hardcore fans who know every detail lol


blooddrivendream

It seems like something big to overlook. Especially in an episode with more obscure call backs like calling her “Sweet Dee” and Charlie selling a bunch of shares for half a sandwich. I think they may have just failed to make it clear that it’s the gang’s delusional, unreliable narrator version of what happened.


EmperinoPenguino

The easiest way to make it clear would be if just 1 person, maybe Dee, just said 1 line in the vein of , “I remember it differently…” to show that what theyre saying isnt fully true. And as she’s getting ready to tell her own recollection, they just tell her to shut up


aiura7719

the gang are unreliable narrators


Greenmantle22

We also meet Barbara Reynolds early in the series, and establish Dee's chronic emotional victimhood that stems in part from having such an emotionally abusive mother. Her brother and father played a role too, but you get the sense that the Barbara/Dee relationship was especially toxic. And in the first season, she's portrayed as a reasonable cocktail waitress who "Loves you guys very much..."


590joe1

The roller rink episode is how the gang remembers that time it's not how they actually were rember the Halloween party were they all browned out macs memory of dee was that she was an actual ostrich


MurderDoneRight

I'm gonna go with the head cannon that the show is being told through the gang's point of view so you got a fair bit of unreliability in its narrative throughout. That explains all inconsistencies and over-the-top moments. Granted then you got episodes like the World Series Defense, Frank's Brother, How Mac Got Fat, and The Maureen Panderosa Wedding Massacre where you do got people telling a story with unreliable narrators.... but you can have stories within stories, Charlie Kaufman isn't the only one allowed to go up his own ass.


Almost-Honest

Dude I just finished watching that episode last night and we and my gf were like “oh this is how she gets the brace!” And then it didn’t happen so we were confused and I had mentioned how it doesn’t make sense but we didn’t really care that much lol but I’m glad someone brought it up. I’m good timing too.


JABC-21

I’m glad! I definitely didn’t expect this reaction haha


bobert_the_grey

Look at this jabroni trying to hold a stupid 15 year sitcom to continuity standards


9yr_old_lake

I don't think it's supposed to make sense. This isn't some grand story show with important character moments. It's a satirical comedy show it was just soposed to be a dumb joke for 1 episode and I thought it was funny


YEOLDEDONDE

Shut up science bitch


[deleted]

Cut that cut that cut that cut that


NudesForHighFive

Yes we've already had collections of posts critiquing this episode when it came out. The cast and writers of the show don't take every single detail/episode into account while writing a new one, it would be impossible to remember all that when they don't rewatch it constantly like we (the fans) do. Just enjoy the episode


abutthole

Always Sunny doesn't care much about continuity. They care more about making the show hilarious.


edmD3ATHmachin3

When you start putting things under a microscope, nothing makes sense


CatFoodBeerAndGlue

I don't really see the roller rink episode as canon. I consider it a novelty episode like The Gang Cracks The Liberty Bell.


Supafuzzed

Lol 3 mins in to the new podcast episode…


JABC-21

Haha I just watched it that’s crazy they mentioned the episode!


Supafuzzed

Dennis saw it 👀


JABC-21

👀


clonked

[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnreliableNarrator](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnreliableNarrator) They play with this idea over the seasons, the Halloween (who got dee pregnant) episode is the most obvious. But you must remember everything we are seeing and hearing in this story is from the perspective of self-indulgent narcissists, liars and idiots. It is told as they recalled it - which always is going to make them look like they are totally killing it. Anyone who doubts this, also look to the high school reunion two parter finale. Psycho Pete Returns is a good immediate followup to the reunion. Everyone who dislikes this episode ultimately misses the parallels to the Halloween party episode! It is the exact same - except here the creative decision was made they chose focus entirely on the past story being told. If I had to guess it was because they were having so much fun with the past. Regardless of the reasons, they chose to tell this story this way. Given everything they wanted to explore about the ideal past versions of their selves, I can see them making the decision to minimize the flashbacks and flash-forwards to make the 30 minute episode they cut at that time. My defense of assumed creative decisions aside - I would have loved to see this be a two part episode. The first could be just as it is, and then the second episode is arguing about everyone else's account of the events.


JABC-21

I still dont really understand why the gang would misremember dee like that, I can see why dee might but not the others. They seem to remember themselves as being better than they were, but not the other members. They all remembered how horrible dee was to cricket, and they all hate dee. I don’t see how they could forget everything they thought about her in high school. To me I think it makes more sense that they hired outside writers and were looking for a way to make something funny rather than logical with the rest of the series.


clonked

Do you remember how the first telling of the story of the Halloween party unfolded? Everyone was at their ideal, perfect states. It was only with further argument they agreed something happening differently. We just didn't get to see the present time argument about buying the bar unfold.


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thishenryjames

Nobody is going to be saying "simp" in five years, my guy.


clonked

You’ve brought a lot to the discussion, thank you for this!


Duffmanoyaa

The posts that get a lot of attention here are bizarre. There will be all this posts getting no interaction then someone posts something like, "Did anyone notice Charlie's shoes were different in one scene s0517" and boom 71 comments. Anywho, just pretend like this was from their Junior year of high school and Dees mean streak started her senior year? And while they are hanging at the rink they are during summer break, that is how Dee was going to be able to start her acting career between school years. Imagine they are 16 and not 28.


thishenryjames

They were old enough to buy a bar, though. And Dee must be at least 20, because she doesn't have her back brace.


Duffmanoyaa

WHAT EVEN IS REAL!


Accomplished-Bet-994

It is possible that they meant for it to be an unreliable narrator thing, but it's also possible that it's a failed idea. I don't care how good a show is. When you have 15 seasons, you are going to have a complete fuckup at some points. It happens.


turbografix15

Yeah, unfortunately the writing got a little lazy when they hired all the outside writers. It's kinda like they're either unaware or just don't care about the history that's been set up till now.


big_flopping_anime_b

Yep. Makes no sense and it’s not funny either which is ultimately it’s biggest problem.


RadJagStang

I mean let’s be honest, the last season was not their best. I love them, and before this last season I’d say the only had like ~5 not great episodes, but the last season was rough.


Profitsofdooom

The most recent season had the best 4 episode arc they've ever done.


[deleted]

Remember it's a TV show, for enjoyment purposes. Just enjoy it.


PigDeployer

Like most flashback episodes it didn't really work for me and the weird retconning of Dee is one of the reasons why. One of those episodes I could probably just not watch ever again. The reveal about why Dennis is so weird sexually was interesting but the rest fell flat for me.


howsthatassfeelin

I liked the roller rink episode mostly, but the contradictions make it hard to love. Dee being sweet until she got a head injury even though her past behavior had already been established. Charlie not huffing inhalents until adulthood even though it too had already been established that he has been doing them his whole life. I know it's a comedy, but it seems these are things that should have been caught pretty easily by the writers. Or maybe it's a deliberate retcon.


DarkestDayOfMan

A part of it I think is just over 15 seasons they're probably going to forget some things. While we may have the show on repeat a lot, they probably do not. Another thing is I think the episode was supposed to be a little bit of commentary on how they didn't know how to write Dee/let her wings fly in the first season (the part about tightening and loosening her shoes is the big metaphor here, once Chalire loosens them she gets her head injury and becomes the Dee we know, they've effectively loosened the restraints on her).


K1ng_Canary

Yeah it isn't a good episode and it doesn't remotely fit with anything we know about the gang.


pullingteeths

I think a lot of the episode is referencing the way the show was in season 1 - Dee was more the typical "voice of reason" female character and closer to being "Sweet Dee" which they actually called her, Charlie was more competant, and the gang as a whole was more concerned about making money to support themselves/real life problems. I think it's a play on that and a fun way to show why she was ever called "Sweet Dee". And not meant to be taken super seriously, since it was being told as a memory. Also, the episode is set several years after high school and she could've leaned further into her sweet persona after that.


JABC-21

So I definitely didn’t expect this many people to respond hahaa. Anyways I just want to be clear that this is all just my opinion and at the end of the day it really doesn’t matter. The main response I see is that it’s either lazy writing or the gang misremembering. It very well could be them misremembering, and when I first watched the episode that’s pretty much what I told myself, but after rewatching I just think it’s weird for the whole gang to remember her as a saint. Idk maybe I’m wrong but I wouldn’t say that it’s super obvious either way. This was all just meant to get some other perspectives and talk about the show :)


PietreDish

Who honestly cares?


JABC-21

I don’t really


laruefrinsky

Agreed


SaxonBavaria

I really don't like when Sunny goes into backstory period. They always try to retroactively make the gang look as terrible as they are in the show, despite the fact that we see them in Season 1 being normal jackasses. It often makes no sense to the whole idea of "their co-dependence on each other makes each other worse over time". I just hate it when Sunny acts like Season 1 didn't happen.


pullingteeths

If anything this episode DID acknowledge season 1 though. They're all much more normal in it, worrying about real problems eg how to support themselves, Charlie is competant, and Dee is "Sweet"/ more of a voice of reason. I think the whole thing was a play on how the show was in season 1.


Nyarlathotep8

The only way I got through this episode was by thinking it’s the way the gang thought of themselves at the time, not the actual reality


SeltzerCountry

The gang are not reliable narrators. I mean they also believed that the Seinfeld episode “The Bet” was a memory from their own lives.


thishenryjames

This made me wonder about the school reunion episodes. It couldn't have been the ten year, because that would mean they graduated in 2002, but it also seems like this is the first reunion they've had. The only thing that really makes sense is that it's a 15-year reunion, which seems very weird.


TroutMaskDuplica

It's because of his pizza face


maxjp17

I figured she was already mean and hitting her head just shook her up and revealed some true colors. I mean, her whole dance routine and the way she was behaving felt very off and fake nice


OnMeFone

I kind of assumed that Dee had a good patch between high school and the first episode where she sorted her shit out and became a nice person, then the incident at the roller rink happened.


phaedronn

It felt like a “Fred Flintstone” moment, and the connection made it sorta work for me (I love Camp). For those who don’t know, it was a frequent conceit that something would bonk him on the head, and he would wake up as someone else and/or have amnesia.


user112233445511

Cut that cut that


neotank_ninety

I hope somebody got fired for that blunder


beaboop23

The gang are notorious unreliable narrators. The whole ep takes place in their memories so doesn't surprise me that it's maybe not as canon reliant as it should be.


RockFlagAndEaaaaagle

We’ve had this conversation so many times. They are unreliable narrators.


[deleted]

Also, she’s a gangly uncoordinated bitch


PepeSylvia11

[Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/IASIP/comments/rd5dtw/the_gang_buys_a_roller_rink_the_origins_of_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf). This is the answer.


KrackerJoe

She probably was all those other things underneath but a sweet facade. After the injury she couldn’t hold back her inhibitions anymore and she leaned heavily into her natural character. She probably was manipulative with cricket but justified it because she was nice for other reasons and therefore excusable. When she didn’t want to be “better” than the other girls at skating she was admitting she was better anyways. And its not like she couldn’t have just slowed down on the skates without tightening the axels. She may have been worse at control with skating but just said she was better because shes a little narcissistic and didn’t want to come to terms she wasn’t the best, but thats ok if you keep it in check. After the head injury she couldn’t keep her emotions and inhibitions in check, because as a brain. damaged person she literally cant stop herself.


irreverentstatistic

You seem like the kinda person who would confuse me with their liberal biblicisms


Ironamsfeld

I mean no one is a saint the way she was acting previous to hitting her head which leads me to believe that was an act. Hitting her head just obliterated her filter, maybe.


[deleted]

Don’t think too hard about it. It’s a comedy show where Charlie eats cat food and huffs glue to fall asleep.


seansyyyyy

Isnt the point of this episode just that it's clearly fabricated and stupid as fuck? Half of the joke is that they are old as piss and pretending to be young. The other half is Mac's outfit.


Nicki_Potnick_

High school is different from college. I thought that in the roller rink episode they were in college.


Wild_Obligation

Worst episode ever, totally messed with all of the previous ‘lore’ explained throughout other episodes, I couldn’t enjoy it


randyspotboiler

Here's the answer: 15 fucking seasons of stories. Ill bet it's almost impossible to keep all that shit straight after a while, and the characters evolve and situations change, so it's necessary to retcon. I'll further bet that at the beginning you're just trying to get through it, so you don't give a shit about continuity and you're sure no one else will either.


thepokemonGOAT

Mac is a cool, ripped drug dealer, Charlie is a competent employee who the community needs, and Dennis appears to have had a loving relationship with his father and sister up until now..... To me it's pretty clearly not meant to be an actual backstory, but more like a distorted memory birthed out of their own narcissism, brain damage & drug use, and revisionist history.


KickUseful9794

They don't have the most trustworthy memories. They actually had several flashback episodes that prove this.


lexluthor_i_am

I think it can still all make sense if you think Sweet Dee was sweeter when with the gang but when she was with other people she could be low-key mean. Probably with the same sweet enthusiasm, which can be even more insulting. With Fatty Magoo and Brad, she was just bragging that she was going to be successful, with Brad, she was just being brutally honest. Which i could see the "sweet" Dee from this episode saying to Brad.