In It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Season 16, Gun Fever Is Still Hot

FXX's long-running comedy series "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" isn't afraid to tackle hot-button political issues. Over the past 15 seasons, the gang has solved everything from the 2008 gas crisis to the debate over gendered bathrooms. But there's one issue that's simply too hot even for the gang to solve: gun fever.

The first two episodes of "Always Sunny" season 16 debuted on FXX this week, and episode 2 — accurately titled "Frank Shoots Every Member of the Gang" — completes a trilogy that began all the way back in season 1 with the episode "Gun Fever." Guns have a pervasive presence in the series largely thanks to Danny DeVito's gun-toting patriarch Frank Reynolds, who keeps at least one firearm on him at all times. "Gun Fever Too: Still Hot" saw Frank's love of guns split the gang's opinion over whether or not guns are too easy to buy in the U.S. This latest episode finds them ultimately agreeing on at least one point: regardless of whether or not guns are too easy to obtain, Frank Reynolds definitely can't be trusted with them.

The episode's B-plot sees Mac and Charlie attempting to recover their precious family heirlooms (a bundle of wartime letters for Mac, a jar of teeth for Charlie). It's a welcome excuse to bring back some fan-favorite recurring guest stars: Lynne Marie Stewart as Charlie's adoring, ever-anxious mother Bonnie Kelly, Sandy Martin as that chain-smoking woman of few words, Mrs. Mac, and Gregory Scott Cummins — this time not as Mac's jailbird father, Luther, but as his kindly uncle, Donald McDonald. But while Frank-focused episodes can be hit-and-miss (see season 7's "Frank's Brother"), Danny DeVito is the real MVP of "Frank Shoots Every Member of the Gang."

Frank's love of guns and his extremely itchy trigger finger were established as far back as "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" season 2, when Danny DeVito first joined the cast. After finding out that Dennis and Dee were fathered by another man, Frank randomly fires his gun to express his frustration that MySpace won't show him their biological father's home address.

That moment kicked off a real-life gun debate behind the scenes, which arguably defined the course of Frank's relationship with guns all the way up to the hilarious image of him trying to open a can of anchovies by randomly jabbing at it with the barrel of his gun in "Frank Shoots Every Member of the Gang." Discussing "Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad" on "The Always Sunny Podcast," Glenn Howerton revealed that "we got into an argument in the editing room" over whether the gun should actually be firing in the MySpace scene, or clicking emptily.

15 years later, Howerton (who favored empty clicking) is still maintaining that the scene is "f***ing ridiculous" and "one of the dumbest things we have ever done." He argued, "First of all, it's not funny..." only to be interrupted by Charlie Day with, "First of all, you're wrong, it is funny." Howerton pointed out that it's absurd to have Frank firing a gun into the ceiling with no debris falling down. Day countered, "We didn't have a debris budget at the time." Howerton shot back, "Right, which is why we shouldn't have put it in."

In season 16, as in season 2, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is still erring on the side of the utterly ridiculous when it comes to Frank and guns. And so the gun fever debate rages on, still hot.