Wow... just wow. Before writing this, I have only given 3 episodes of sunny a perfect score: the gang solves the gas crisis, frank reynolds' little beauties, and the gang broke dee. All of these episodes were incredible, but this is on a whole new level. Almost the entire episode is perfect. And I think the reason it works so well is the characters. Throughout the show we've been watching these characters live their lives, and even though they're horrible people, you can't help but grow attached to them. After 9 seasons of following the gang around, we finally get a glimpse into their minds and we get to see their biggest fantasies. The concept alone greatly intrigued me, but what makes it so special is how fascinating these fantasies were, in part due to how well written the characters are. I'll start with Mac.
In the earlier seasons, I wasn't the biggest fan of Mac. I liked him, but he felt more like a support character, and he never really got to shine. Over the course of the show, as his character has been getting more attention, I'm now realizing how well written he is. His fantasy involves him fighting the Japanese mob using his Karate "skills." We see how truly delusional Mac is, and how he genuinely thinks he is a professional Martial Artist. Although it's played for laughs, I think it's really interesting to finally see the contrast of how Mac sees himself versus how he actually acts. There's something so fascinating about seeing a man with absolutely no fighting skills imagining themself take down a whole team of yakuzas. The direction was phenomenal of course, I loved how the editing made it truly feel like a martial arts film, it made it so much more fun. Things take a sharp turn when Mac is killed, and he goes to heaven as his friends weep for him. Really interesting how Mac is fine with dying as long as he gets to be "the hero" and have his friends cry over him, we see what he truly values. I can't make a serious analysis of the heaven segment cause it was just so goofy lol, but it was a great way to end a fantastic first segment.
Dee's fantasy does a great job at demonstrating just how egotistical and how obsessed with herself she is. The first thing she does when she has the slightest bit of power over her friends is shoot them. This is the first time she's actually been able to hurt them, as it is her who is constantly getting hurt by them over the course of the show. After being found out by the cops, she blames it all on the female robber, who previously thought they were friends. There is a prominent theme of betrayal in Dee's segment that I'll touch on more later. After finally being able to live her dream as an actress, she marries Josh Groban. Throughout their whole interview, it is Groban who is complimenting her, and not the other way around, which I believe is because she only cares about people making her feel good rather than making her partner feel good. The greatest example of this is in Groban's song, where he insists she doesn't look like a bird. Groban is the physical manifestation of Dee's consciousness trying to reassure her that she is good looking. The fact that Groban repeats the bird line so many times really shows how desperately Dee is trying to believe that she doesn't look like a bird. Although she always tells the gang that the bird jokes don't get to her, this scene makes it clear that she is deeply insecure about it despite her ego. The only way to make herself feel better is by imagining her literal husband reassuring her that she doesn't look like a bird. After the interview, Dee quickly divorces her new husband and finds a new man, showing just how much Dee uses people. Groban served his purpose: he made Dee feel better about herself, but that's all he had to offer. After that, Dee was done with him. Throughout the whole segment, Dee uses people until they're no longer useful for her, and then she stabs them in the back. From betraying her friends, to the robber, and then her own husband.
Dennis' fantasy is easily the most unpredictable, and therefore the most complex. After failing to calm the robber down, he gets shot in the head yet survives. A brief montage of moments where Dennis has felt the most powerful plays. I think what this means is that Dennis surviving getting shot in this head is the embodiment of his god complex, and how he feels like he can do anything. Rather than just attacking and defeating the robber like mac, Dennis' sense of power comes more from being able to take any challenge. Shooting someone isn't that impressive, but surviving getting shot takes true strength. He feels invincible, like a god: even a gun can't take him down. Mac's fantasy is more about his physical strength while Dennis' fantasy is about his spiritual strength, and how even though humans realistically shouldn't survive getting shot in the head, Dennis has ascended beyond a human. The news lady nursing him to health is where the story gets even more interesting. At first I thought it was some weird submissive fantasy of his, like about how he likes feeling helpless and being taken care of. But I think it's more about how even though Dennis' physical condition is horrible, all he really cares about is beautiful women. He could literally be paralyzed and unable to speak, but a woman with giant boobs would keep him going in life. The end of his fantasy where he smothers the woman after her breasts are destroyed obviously means that he thinks a woman has no value without their boobs. But I don't think it's just that. He could've easily just dumped her, but him killing her is what's interesting to me. I think he does this because he actually thinks he's doing her a favor. He thinks that women think of themselves the same way he thinks of them, and that she would also want to end her life once she realizes her breasts are gone. That's why he's genuinely sad rather than just indifferent. He doesn't "not care" about the woman when she loses her breasts. No, rather he still cares about her, he just thinks it's better for her to die because her life has no value now.
Frank's segment was easily the most disappointing. It felt like the writers knew they were short on time since the episode can only be 22 minutes, so they gave Frank's character the short end of the stick. His fantasy had the most potential but they just resorted to a cheap gag that wasn't even that funny. Haha frank doesn't care about the situation around him and only likes food, so funny.
Charlie's segment made up for Frank's because it was absolutely beautiful. We get an animated parody of the Up opening where Charlie falls in love with the waitress and they live their whole life together. In the other 3 fantasies, they all revolved around their insecurities, and proving the rest of the world wrong. Mac's fantasy was about his insecurity about his fighting skills, and proving everyone wrong about how good of a fighter he is. Dee's was about her insecurity about how good of an actress she is, and also proving the gang wrong that she doesn't look like a bird. Dennis' fantasy was about how insecure he is about how much power he has, and showing the world that he is actually a god. Charlie on the other hand, doesn't really care about how the world perceives him. All he cared about in the fantasy was living a simple, peaceful life with the woman he loves. It doesn't matter to him if people think his way of life is odd, he does what makes him happy. He lives a good life and gives his family love and kindness. Like the therapist recommended, it seems that in this fantasy, Charlie is truly comfortable in his own skin, and he is able to be himself around the waitress, rats and all, haha. We can see that he isn't insecure about himself, unlike the rest of the gang. In his fantasy, he lives his dream life without a problem, there is no outside force or "enemy" trying to stop his dreams from coming true. Unlike the rest of the gang's fantasies who all have something hindering their dreams, which is representative of all their insecurities. All this is sad because if charlie was in a good environment, I truly believe he could eventually become a good person, it's just that the gang tore him down to their level. Charlie has all the right elements of a good boyfriend or husband, but his eccentric lifestyle and the fact that the waitress is the only woman he cares about pursuing means that he will never be able to settle in that kind of peaceful life.
Although their fantasies are all very different, I noticed a common trend in them. In each person's fantasy, they leave each other. Mac doesn't care about being separated from his friends in his death because he gets to go to heaven. He's perfectly fine in the afterlife without the gang. Dee "leaves" her friends in the most direct way possible lol, by killing them. Dennis is left by his friends in the hospital, and then he never sees them again and chooses to spend all his time with the news lady. Even frank leaves the gang for food. And finally, Charlie leaves his friends to live happily with the waitress. It can't get any clearer than this. The gang is unhappy, and they clearly don't love each other. It's tragic how a show about 5 miserable people who hate each other is turned into a comedy. We are watching people suffer for our own amusement... because then again, can a sitcom truly be entertaining if all the characters are living their best life...?
In the earlier seasons, I wasn't the biggest fan of Mac. I liked him, but he felt more like a support character, and he never really got to shine. Over the course of the show, as his character has been getting more attention, I'm now realizing how well written he is. His fantasy involves him fighting the Japanese mob using his Karate "skills." We see how truly delusional Mac is, and how he genuinely thinks he is a professional Martial Artist. Although it's played for laughs, I think it's really interesting to finally see the contrast of how Mac sees himself versus how he actually acts. There's something so fascinating about seeing a man with absolutely no fighting skills imagining themself take down a whole team of yakuzas. The direction was phenomenal of course, I loved how the editing made it truly feel like a martial arts film, it made it so much more fun. Things take a sharp turn when Mac is killed, and he goes to heaven as his friends weep for him. Really interesting how Mac is fine with dying as long as he gets to be "the hero" and have his friends cry over him, we see what he truly values. I can't make a serious analysis of the heaven segment cause it was just so goofy lol, but it was a great way to end a fantastic first segment.
Dee's fantasy does a great job at demonstrating just how egotistical and how obsessed with herself she is. The first thing she does when she has the slightest bit of power over her friends is shoot them. This is the first time she's actually been able to hurt them, as it is her who is constantly getting hurt by them over the course of the show. After being found out by the cops, she blames it all on the female robber, who previously thought they were friends. There is a prominent theme of betrayal in Dee's segment that I'll touch on more later. After finally being able to live her dream as an actress, she marries Josh Groban. Throughout their whole interview, it is Groban who is complimenting her, and not the other way around, which I believe is because she only cares about people making her feel good rather than making her partner feel good. The greatest example of this is in Groban's song, where he insists she doesn't look like a bird. Groban is the physical manifestation of Dee's consciousness trying to reassure her that she is good looking. The fact that Groban repeats the bird line so many times really shows how desperately Dee is trying to believe that she doesn't look like a bird. Although she always tells the gang that the bird jokes don't get to her, this scene makes it clear that she is deeply insecure about it despite her ego. The only way to make herself feel better is by imagining her literal husband reassuring her that she doesn't look like a bird. After the interview, Dee quickly divorces her new husband and finds a new man, showing just how much Dee uses people. Groban served his purpose: he made Dee feel better about herself, but that's all he had to offer. After that, Dee was done with him. Throughout the whole segment, Dee uses people until they're no longer useful for her, and then she stabs them in the back. From betraying her friends, to the robber, and then her own husband.
Dennis' fantasy is easily the most unpredictable, and therefore the most complex. After failing to calm the robber down, he gets shot in the head yet survives. A brief montage of moments where Dennis has felt the most powerful plays. I think what this means is that Dennis surviving getting shot in this head is the embodiment of his god complex, and how he feels like he can do anything. Rather than just attacking and defeating the robber like mac, Dennis' sense of power comes more from being able to take any challenge. Shooting someone isn't that impressive, but surviving getting shot takes true strength. He feels invincible, like a god: even a gun can't take him down. Mac's fantasy is more about his physical strength while Dennis' fantasy is about his spiritual strength, and how even though humans realistically shouldn't survive getting shot in the head, Dennis has ascended beyond a human. The news lady nursing him to health is where the story gets even more interesting. At first I thought it was some weird submissive fantasy of his, like about how he likes feeling helpless and being taken care of. But I think it's more about how even though Dennis' physical condition is horrible, all he really cares about is beautiful women. He could literally be paralyzed and unable to speak, but a woman with giant boobs would keep him going in life. The end of his fantasy where he smothers the woman after her breasts are destroyed obviously means that he thinks a woman has no value without their boobs. But I don't think it's just that. He could've easily just dumped her, but him killing her is what's interesting to me. I think he does this because he actually thinks he's doing her a favor. He thinks that women think of themselves the same way he thinks of them, and that she would also want to end her life once she realizes her breasts are gone. That's why he's genuinely sad rather than just indifferent. He doesn't "not care" about the woman when she loses her breasts. No, rather he still cares about her, he just thinks it's better for her to die because her life has no value now.
Frank's segment was easily the most disappointing. It felt like the writers knew they were short on time since the episode can only be 22 minutes, so they gave Frank's character the short end of the stick. His fantasy had the most potential but they just resorted to a cheap gag that wasn't even that funny. Haha frank doesn't care about the situation around him and only likes food, so funny.
Charlie's segment made up for Frank's because it was absolutely beautiful. We get an animated parody of the Up opening where Charlie falls in love with the waitress and they live their whole life together. In the other 3 fantasies, they all revolved around their insecurities, and proving the rest of the world wrong. Mac's fantasy was about his insecurity about his fighting skills, and proving everyone wrong about how good of a fighter he is. Dee's was about her insecurity about how good of an actress she is, and also proving the gang wrong that she doesn't look like a bird. Dennis' fantasy was about how insecure he is about how much power he has, and showing the world that he is actually a god. Charlie on the other hand, doesn't really care about how the world perceives him. All he cared about in the fantasy was living a simple, peaceful life with the woman he loves. It doesn't matter to him if people think his way of life is odd, he does what makes him happy. He lives a good life and gives his family love and kindness. Like the therapist recommended, it seems that in this fantasy, Charlie is truly comfortable in his own skin, and he is able to be himself around the waitress, rats and all, haha. We can see that he isn't insecure about himself, unlike the rest of the gang. In his fantasy, he lives his dream life without a problem, there is no outside force or "enemy" trying to stop his dreams from coming true. Unlike the rest of the gang's fantasies who all have something hindering their dreams, which is representative of all their insecurities. All this is sad because if charlie was in a good environment, I truly believe he could eventually become a good person, it's just that the gang tore him down to their level. Charlie has all the right elements of a good boyfriend or husband, but his eccentric lifestyle and the fact that the waitress is the only woman he cares about pursuing means that he will never be able to settle in that kind of peaceful life.
Although their fantasies are all very different, I noticed a common trend in them. In each person's fantasy, they leave each other. Mac doesn't care about being separated from his friends in his death because he gets to go to heaven. He's perfectly fine in the afterlife without the gang. Dee "leaves" her friends in the most direct way possible lol, by killing them. Dennis is left by his friends in the hospital, and then he never sees them again and chooses to spend all his time with the news lady. Even frank leaves the gang for food. And finally, Charlie leaves his friends to live happily with the waitress. It can't get any clearer than this. The gang is unhappy, and they clearly don't love each other. It's tragic how a show about 5 miserable people who hate each other is turned into a comedy. We are watching people suffer for our own amusement... because then again, can a sitcom truly be entertaining if all the characters are living their best life...?
