The Darkest Thing Dennis Never Actually Did In It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Fans could potentially spend hours arguing about the worst things the gang on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" have done over the course of 16 seasons. They have locked their enemies in a burning apartment, willfully manipulated members of the opposite sex, intentionally gotten addicted to drugs in order to try and scam the welfare system, and much morel. It's also pretty easy to argue about which member of the gang is the worst human being because they're all pretty monstrous. But there is one truly horrible thing, according to star Glenn Howerton, that his character Dennis hasn't done.

That might sound impossible, seeing as Dennis is among the gang's worst when it comes to being misanthropic (though Howerton had argued that Dennis isn't a psychopath). Still, there actually is a terrible, awful thing that Dennis has spoken about a few times but hasn't done, at least not in any episodes of "It's Always Sunny" itself. In an interview with The Guardian in 2017, Howerton brought up one of the funniest (and darkest) Dennis bits — the "implication."

When asked by The Guardian about "the worst thing Dennis has ever done," Howerton explained that the worst thing was something Dennis planned but didn't exactly do:

"I'd say the worst plan he ever hatched — it's tough to remember, 12 seasons in — certainly, when he talks about 'the implication' in season 6. That's about as dark as it gets. He never did it, but he tried."

He went on to say that he might have to "come back to" answering a question about what Dennis has actually done, probably in large part due to the fact that season 12 contains "Making Dennis Reynolds a Murderer," which posits that Dennis killed his ex-wife, Maureen Ponderosa (Catherine Reitman), by pushing her off a rooftop. The police eventually ruled Maureen's death an accident, though Dennis has made it pretty clear in episodes since that he had something to do with her demise, especially in the season 14 episode "Paddy's Has a Jumper." He also probably killed his sister Dee's date in Ireland in "The Gang Carries a Corpse Up a Mountain," but prior to season 12, Howerton is pretty spot-on with his assessment. His D.E.N.N.I.S. system for seducing women (and his reversed system for men) is pretty diabolical, but "the implication" is especially dark.

In "The Gang Buys a Boat," the guys use their Dicktowel profits to buy a little houseboat that they intend on turning into a party boat (and possibly a shrimping vessel). While shopping for supplies, Dennis explains to Mac (Rob McElhenney) that women are more likely to sleep with them out on the open water because of "the implication." The implication, of course, is that there is nowhere for them to run if they decide to decline Dennis's advances, so they're more likely to just give in and have sex with him. It's extremely manipulative and pretty on-brand for Dennis, who also secretly films his sexual conquests and then rates them with a star system, which is also truly terrible (and depending on the state, extremely illegal).

Thankfully, Dennis has never gotten to use "the implication" in practice, as the houseboat went up in literal flames. A second attempt in "The Gang Goes to Hell," while aboard a cruise ship, was also thwarted when his target screamed and he was thrown in the brig.

Howerton's performance on "Always Sunny" is one of the best on any sitcom ever, and it's honestly one of the best on television. He's absolutely petrifying, a narcissistic, sociopathic individual whose obsession with appearances and legacy drive him to obscene lengths. Dennis is a working-class Patrick Bateman, so absorbed in his own delusions that he doesn't realize just how terrifying he can come across. In "The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods," Charlie (Charlie Day) tells Dennis that he's "like a serial killer" and Dennis takes it as a compliment. He sees other people as either pawns to be manipulated or targets to be dominated, with the exception of his dead mother and his twin sister Dee (Kaitlin Olson), whom he says he loves and threatens with very specific violence in equal measure.

While "the implication" is incredibly dark, it's not the worst thing Dennis has done (or planned) 16 seasons on, because he's probably guilty of murder and he's definitely guilty of a whole lot of crimes against women. We will have to wait and see if he ends up becoming an actual serial killer or if Maureen and Dee's date were just special circumstances, but with the "Sunny" gang, anything is possible.