It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia / Awesome

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

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General

Every time they sing. All the actors are trained singers, and in-universe the Gang loves to show off their voices (and dance moves) at every opportunity.

Season 1

1x06 - The Gang Finds A Dead Guy

Mac gets back at Dennis for usurping his chance at sleeping with a grieving granddaughter of a dead bar patron and then taunting Mac about it by casually revealing that Dennis' grandfather was one of Those Wacky Nazis.
You also have to take your hat off to the museum curator who gives Charlie and Mac a "The Reason You Suck" Speech when they try to sell him the Nazi uniform, especially after it became clear how rare it would be on the show for a character like this to not suffer any negative consequences.

Season 2

2x03 - Dennis and Dee Go On Welfare

Mac telling off Dennis and Dee for pretending to be drug addicts to get welfare. It's surprising given his usual self-righteous and hypocritical attitude.
Mac: Welfare is for people who need it, like drug addicts and single mothers. It's not for over privileged pieces of shit who want to waste millions in taxpayer dollars.

2x04 - Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom

Dennis threatens to have sex with the waitress unless Charlie stops making him do the grunt work (AKA "Charlie Work") at the bar. Charlie responds with a glorious Batman Gambit wherein he convinces Mac to... well, bang Dennis' mom, gets the Waitress to witness Dennis trying to cheat on her, and very nearly manipulates her into having sex with him instead. This plan would be impressive for anyone, but for Charlie, it's downright amazing.

Season 3

3x01 - The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby

Dennis creates an elaborate plot to get back at a smug environmentalist by sleeping with his girlfriend and having the guy willingly tie himself to a tree overnight during a storm. Then he informs the guy about the girlfriend-banging after letting a bulldozer destroy the tree he was trying to protect.

3x05 - The Aluminium Monster vs Fatty Magoo

Dee actually giving a shit about other people, refusing to work under the concentration camp-like conditions, and setting everyone free by staging a strike. Of course she’s still terrible and tries to get Ingrid arrested for slave labour, but the first part is good.

3x06 - The Gang Solves The North Korea Situation

When Mac first wears the duster, bringing it into the Gang forever.

3x10 - Mac Is a Serial Killer

When the gang is trapped in the serial killer's apartment with said killer at the end of the episode, Frank just begins revving the chainsaw as it cuts to the credits.

3x14 - Bums: Making a Mess All Over the City

When the cop car explodes with Agent Jack Bauer (A junkyard cat adopted and named by Dennis) still inside, Jack manages to jump out of the exploding car. This leads to Dennis to remark that the cat is indeed as immortal as his previous owner indicated.
Dee beating up the masturbating bum in the alley.

3x15 - The Gang Dances Their Asses Off

Firstly, Mac challenges Dennis to a dance off. Mac showcases an energetic dance routine, while Dennis continues to dance normally. The show then cuts to Mac wearing the punishment Keg.
Dennis is confronted by an angry man, whose fiancee Dennis has been dancing provocatively with. Dennis calms the man down, and offers to help with his dancing. While showing him how to dip, he lets go of the man, and drops him to the floor, then turns the man's fiancee against him by pointing out how angry the man is.
Later in the episode, Dennis is annoyed that Charlie is dancing with the fiancee (a woman named Gloria) in a gambit to make the Waitress jealous. The resulting sequence is both hilarious and awesome.
Dennis: You know what? You leave me no choice. [walks over to he Waitress]
The Waitress: Hey, asshole.
Dennis: Yeah, whatever. Wanna dance?
The Waitress: Yes!
Dennis: Yeah, take a load off. Let these strong, sweet, sexual arms hold you...
The Waitress: ...so strong...
Dennis: ...I got you, so strong, so strong... All right? Night-night. [drops her on the floor] (to Charlie) You made me do that.
Charlie: You piece of shit!
Dennis: (nonchalantly) Yeah, maybe.
The Waitress: You piece of shit! Dennis Reynolds, I trusted you!
Dennis: Why!?
Charlie tries to get back at Dennis for eliminating the Waitress, and Dennis again ends up on top.
Charlie: He's trying to have sex with you, I hope you know that!
Gloria: What!? I'm not gonna have sex with you! I'm engaged!
Dennis: Yeah, but engaged is just a word.
Charlie: It's a very serious word!
Dennis: (ignoring Charlie) I was getting somewhere with you though, wasn't I?
Gloria: No!
Dennis: Really? All right... [throws her onto the floor]
Gloria: You really are the biggest piece of shit on the planet!
Dennis: Are you still talking to me, I thought you were out?
Charlie finally taking down Dennis by using a dance-off with his song.
Charlie consumes enough sedatives to take down a rhino yet still stays on his feet far longer than every person present thought was even possible

Season 4

4x02 - The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis

Mac's Miles Gloriosus tendencies are subverted for once when it turns out that, despite Dennis being convinced that there's no way Mac can do it, he actually can blow fireballs to attract customers and is quite skilled at it:
Dennis: Wow. Okay, wow, I take back everything I just said. That was amazing!
Charlie proves exactly how much of a wild card he is:
Mac: [suddenly realizes the brakes of the van aren't working] Why aren't the brakes working?
Charlie: Because I CUT THE BRAKES! WILD CARD, BITCHES! YEEEEEEHAAAAAW! [kicks back doors and dives out]

4x13 - The Nightman Cometh

When Charlie tells off Dee for complaining about her song.
Charlie: Don't screw you? Oh, I'm sorry, Dee, let me try and remember something. Let's see, was it, did Dee write a musical and come to Charlie with it? No! Charlie wrote a musical and came to Dee with it, and the gang! And the gang likes to screw it up and make it about themselves, and take it away from Charlie, and ruin his hopes and dreams! So let me tell you something, Dee, let me break down a scenario for you. I could cut the song, OK, because I wrote it. I could have Artemis do the song, OK, because you did not write it. Or I could strap on a wig and I could do the song myself! So you tell me, Little Miss All That, what do you want to do? Song or no song?

Season 5

5x05 - The Waitress Is Getting Married

After finding out that the guy The Waitress was engaged to, Brad, was only doing it as part of a revenge plot to get back at all of the girls who dumped him in high school (he'd get engaged to the girls, then dump them right before the wedding), Charlie gives the guy a heartfelt gift—a box full of hornets.
- Granted, he was going to give him the box regardless, so in that light it's a bit less noble. But, at the same time, Brad made it clear to Charlie that Dee was next.

5x07 - The Gang Wrestles for the Troops

Rickety Cricket gets one, as a stereotypical Middle Eastern Islamist terrorist character, while the Gang are all dressed as bald eagles. And beats most of them, by blowing sand in their eyes, which causes Mac to run away in fear, before Frank comes in with a garbage pail and knocks him out.
Frank doesn't just knock him out, but also slashes Cricket's throat. In a later episode, Cricket's voice sounds scratchier because of it.

5x12 - The Gang Reignites the Rivalry

The gambit used in the flipcup competition. Why win at flipcup when you can trick the competitors into drinking poison?

Season 6

6x09 - Dee Reynolds: Shaping America's Youth

Lethal Weapon 5. Just... the whole thing.

6x11 - The Gang Gets Stranded In The Woods

Charlie wins fifteen grand in Atlantic City, so he and Dennis have an amazing night partying with celebrities, fly on a private jet back to Philly, and donate five grand to an animals right charity. It's probably the most unambiguously good thing two members of the Gang have ever done.

6x12 - Dee Gives Birth

Dennis' big damn speech to the nurse. Even he was impressed about it, and dismayed that he can't recapture the moment.

Season 7

7x02 - The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore

Dennis and Dee end up doing angel dust with a bunch of violent thugs and get stuck with them during a wild crime spree, including robbing a laundromat, getting shot by said laundromat's owner, going to a back-alley doctor to fix the wound, and killing the doctor to prevent him from talking. The two are pretty much terrified witnesses the entire time, until the leader of the thugs forces them, at gunpoint, to dig a grave on the beach for the surgeon. In the middle of digging, though, Dee grabs some sand and hurls it in the leader's face, blinding him and allowing her and Dennis to escape. Considering that she was high out of her mind and facing certain death, that took major guts.

Season 8

8x02 - The Gang Recycles Their Trash

Charlie cuts the brakes on the Gang's van again, but Dennis realizes Charlie would pull this, and has the brakes fixed.

8x04 - Charlie and Dee Find Love

Dennis has a big one in this episode for correctly figuring out that Trevor was doing a whole Dangerous Liaisons-type stunt with Mac and Dee, who was filming them during embarrassing moments and then showing those embarrassing clips to his frat buddies. He then takes the stage at the TaftCo gala with video evidence that Trevor had given Mac insider trading tips prior to the announcement that the company was going public, thus siccing the SEC on TaftCo and likely the entire family as well.

8x05 - The Gang Gets Analyzed

Charlie curb-stomping Dennis after the latter slaps him.

8x10 - Reynolds vs Reynolds: The Cereal Defense

Mac manages to convince Charlie, Frank and Dee that evolution isn't real.

Season 9

9x05 - Mac Day

Country Mac, when encountered by two angry men, does a successful ocular pat-down, takes the knife out of the guy's shoe, and calmly tells him to back off.
Subverted. Mac blocks a hit from a black belt. However, he gets so wrapped up in his own ego that he doesn't notice said black belt trying to kick him and gets knocked out. And then, he keeps on bragging about the one point he got from that incident.
Dennis does get one as a result of Mac's bragging: after an entire day of dealing with Mac's pious, self-congratulatory bullshit, Dennis has enough, calling Mac on getting only one point on the guy, and pointing out to the gang when they try to stop him that Mac will likely never shut up about this if he's not stopped.

9x06 - The Gang Saves the Day

Mac's fight scene dream sequence. Sure, it was All Just a Dream, but it was incredibly well choreographed and legitimately badass.

Season 10

10x01 - The Gang Beats Boggs

Charlie not only breaking the Wade Boggs drinking record of seventy beers on one cross-country flight, but then managing to hit a baseball while completely wasted. After being the Butt-Monkey for ten straight seasons it's nice to see him beat the rest of the gang at something.

10x02 - The Gang Group Dates

Charlie and Mac scoring higher than Dennis on a dating website.

10x04 - Charlie Work

The entire episode is an absolute tour de force for Charlie. Against all odds Charlie has managed to get perfect scores from the health department every inspection, and this episode shows how. Charlie manically directs the gang to seemingly ridiculous tasks that turn out to perfectly hide any of the bar's glaring code violations and simultaneously manages to pull off the rest of the gang's stupid scam involving airline miles, beef and about twenty chickens, and after Dee spends the whole episode being unhelpful and not doing the one task that would have gotten them a perfect score, he rigs her bar stool to collapse under her, his sabotage of which had been a Running Gag throughout the episode.
An additional moment: throughout the first half of the episode, the Gang ignores Charlie as he runs around in a panic, more interested in their own scheme than helping him. When Dennis remarks that Charlie doesn't even know what "the plan" is, Charlie instantly details the entirety of the ridiculous idea, breaking down each step and pointing out the flaws that will inevitably cause it to fail. He then delivers a focused, intense speech which makes it clear that they're going to pass inspection, no matter what. This is the same Charlie who once risked the entire bar by misreading "prize" as "pride" and can't control himself around cheese—but he is not missing out on a perfect score. The change is staggering—and awesome.

Season 11

11x03 - The Gang Hits the Slopes

Dennis, Dee, and Mac showing off their impressive skiing skills in the cold opening.

11x06 - Being Frank

Frank getting Dennis' car out of impound, without even knowing that's what the plan was.
Frank: (thinking) Think of something cool to say.
Frank: (out loud) Anybody need a ride?

11x07 - McPoyle vs. Ponderosa: The Trial of the Century

The Lawyer losing the case to the Gang after Charlie successfully uses bird law to prove that Bill Ponderosa and the Gang weren't responsible for Liam losing his eye.

Season 12

12x06 - Hero or Hate Crime?

Charlie saves Mac's life by kicking him out of the way of a falling piano. Also counts as a heartwarming moment, as it was clear that everyone was concerned for Mac.
What did it take for Mac to finally come out and stay out? Winning $10,000 on the lottery scratch-off.

12X10 - Dennis' Double Life

Charlie BANGS THE WAITRESS.
Dennis has a moment of maturity and decides to leave for North Dakota to be his illegitimate child's father. If you are among the viewers who don't like this turn of events, a cathartic moment follows soon after with the remaining Gang firing Dennis' RPG, blowing up the Land Rover in the process.

Season 13

13x02 - The Gang Escapes

Dee sets up an escape room game for her and the guys to play in Dennis and Mac's apartment. She reveals to the game-runner (but no one else) that she actually played the puzzle already and did the whole thing so she could look cool in front of them—but the guys, hating the idea of a woman being in charge, instead lock her in Dennis's bedroom...which, given his horrific idea of sex, is a virtual prison. And that's when Dee—the Butt-Monkey and unfavorite of the show—finally gets her time to shine. She's able to out-think Dennis because of their connection—something no one else has ever been able to do—and successfully free herself by climbing out the window of the bedroom and walking along the building's edge to the living room. Though she does end up in the hospital, the whole Gang praises her for being such a badass (Dennis in particular celebrates the fact that she's the first woman to ever get out of his room). To top the moment off, Frank bought expensive steaks for the whole Gang when Dee arranged the escape room, with the understanding that whoever was the true leader of the group would get to take the first taste. The guys unanimously declare Dee the winner, and she proudly takes a huge bite as the episode ends. It took thirteen seasons, but she finally got a moment of respect. Amazing!

13x03 - The Gang Beats Boggs: The Ladies Reboot

Even when she’s pretty damn drunk, Dee is able to do hard math in her head, as she converts beer alcohol content into wine.

13x04 - Time's Up for the Gang

Mac putting his hand between Dee's legs and lifting her off the ground. While everyone else at the seminar was horrified, Charlie was impressed and Dee herself admits it was amazing.

13x10 - Mac Finds His Pride

Mac's presentation to his dad about coming to terms with his sexuality is an insanely impressive, physically taxing five minute interpretive dance routine performed by Rob McElhenney and professional ballet dancer Kylie Shea.
- Additionally, the stunned and awed reactions of the inmates watching the dance? They were REAL. The only thing the actors were told about the scene before they watched it was that it was going to be a dance, and then the pre-recorded dance sequence played on a projector in front of them with the cameras capturing their genuine reactions.

Season 14

14x03 - Dee Day

Dee almost never gets a win, which makes "Dee Day" glorious for her. She gets her revenge on the rest of the Gang by making them focus more on her day, has Dennis and Charlie kiss each other as her racist characters, makes Dennis try to get with a woman without his makeup (where he looks terrible and has low confidence), and succeeded in getting the councilwoman who was going to vote against the public urination bill on missing the vote. When they mock her for her idea and how she can't understand their plans because she's a woman, she tells them that she pushed the cuckoo clock ahead by 1 hour when it rang, which means they technically insulted her on her day, which caused the Gang to get a second Dee Day.

14x05 - The Gang Texts

Dee calling Mac a bird.

14x07 - The Gang Solves Global Warming

Charlie’s smile after revealing how terrible Dee is to service workers the whole episode. Extra points for her being abusive to him for most of the ep, and being unapologetic for assaulting him.

Season 15

15x02 - The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 7

The return of Pepper Jack, a fan-favorite One-Scene Wonder, over 12 years after his initial appearance, is a sight to behold.

15x08 - The Gang Carries A Corpse Up A Mountain

After leaving Charlie to carry his father's body, the gang finds themselves in a bar commiserating about their terrible trip and talking about how they wish they'd never have to see each other again. When the discussion starts escalating, they get shushed by The Waitress. (Her shushing them is an awesome moment, but so is their absolutely unhinged response)
Waitress: You...are screaming! Haven't you noticed that everyone else in here is speaking at a normal volume? Shut up! Shut up. Shut up.
Dee: Listen to me, you bitch.
Mac: Get her, banshee.
Dee: I will speak at whatever volume I choose, and if you don't like it, you can suck my big fat dick!
Dennis: One volume? For every single person in the whole wide world? That's socialism, and I won't stand for it!
Mac: We should be able to speak at whatever volume we identify with! Because that is the American way!
Waitress: But you are not in America!
Frank: We are America, sweetheart! And we carry our country with us wherever we go! Because we love her! And when you love someone, you can't bear to leave them behind! Not ever!

Awesome / It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia