The 20 Best Frank Reynolds Episodes
Introduced in the premier of Season 2, Frank Reynolds is the reason why It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is not only well-known, but TV’s longest-running live-action sitcom. Of course, Sunny is no ordinary sitcom, with a looseness that makes it easy to see why Danny DeVito was interested in the first place.
And make no mistake, Sunny wouldn’t be a thing without DeVito. It also wouldn’t be nearly as good without his character, who has enjoyed his descent into the world of “Bangin’ wh***s” and general overall depravity. And then there’s watching Frank and Charlie bond, which has consistently proved to be one of Sunny‘s greatest dynamics. Furthermore, it’s remarkable both how many different wild things Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, and Glenn Howerton come up with for the character and how willing an actor of DeVito’s caliber is to play along. Like Frank, he’s truly a member of the Gang.
20 “The Gang Gets Invincible” (Season 3, Ep 2)
Of all the Sunny episodes to reference a movie, “The Gang Gets Invincible” is about as direct as they get. It’s also an early example of two things: The show breaking away from the bar for an entire episode and Frank Reynolds going further down the drug-fueled rabbit hole.
Frank’s experimentation with LSD is the funniest aspect of Invincible, which is one of the elongated third season’s best entries. His hazy waving of a gun and blurting of “That lizard talks!” are incredible, but better yet is his thinking he’s locked in a bathroom just because he’s stepped into a garbage can. The episode is important for the development of Frank’s character in another way: Artemis. Her looking on as he stumbles in the trash can is their first pairing, and it’s a pairing that would continue throughout the series’ run.
19 “The Nightman Cometh” (Season 4, Ep 13)
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of the best series on Hulu, and Season 4’s finale, “The Nightman Cometh,” is all the proof one needs. A masterpiece from front to back, the episode is buoyed by McElhenney, Howerton, and Day’s razor-sharp script and director Matt Shakman’s (Director of the MCU’s impending Fantastic Four) mastery of pacing.
It’s also a pretty darn good musical Charlie’s written. Horrifying and illuminating, but good. Not to mention, the fact he wrote it all thinking it would be the thing to win over the waitress is at one time charming, in character, sad, and obviously destined to fail.
18 “The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention” (Season 5, Ep 4)
It’s Always Sunny is TV’s longest-running live-action sitcom, which is a truly impressive accomplishment. And, again, it’s hard not to feel thankful to Danny DeVito’s star power for that.
For those who haven’t experienced the show and think it’s nothing more than crass vulgarity, “The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention” is the episode to show them. Is it crass? Sure. But the characters’ crassness does absolutely nothing for them, and it’s somehow more stone-cold hilarious than usual. For one, there’s the wine in a can. But then there’s the best scene to ever come from Sunny, where Frank is walking down a desolate suburban street “blitzed” out of his mind, going in and out of even realizing Mac is walking by his side.
17 “The Gang Wrestles for the Troops” (Season 5, Ep 7)
A top-tier episode not just for Season 5 (widely considered the series’ best) but for It’s Always Sunny as a whole, there’s never a dull moment in “The Gang Wrestles for the Troops.” It’s also the episode to introduce Ben the Soldier, and thanks to Travis Schuldt’s lovable performance he’s immediately one of the show’s best guest stars.
Dee, of course, gets most of the big moments with the character, but Frank has a moment of respect as well. Specifically, as he salutes the young man (to whom he’s just gifted a pair of jean shorts) while Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” blasts on a boombox just behind him. It’s one of Frank’s most iconic moments, but it’s arguably not even the character’s funniest moment in the episode. That’d be when he enters Paddy’s Pub with the massive clang of a thrown trash can and an exclamation about being “The Trash Man!”
16 “The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods” (Season 6, Ep 11)
Each season of Sunny is notable for an individual reason, and for Season 6 it’s the fact that it was the first to be shot in HD. It also took the Gang away from Paddy’s.
That episode, “The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods,” is fairly average for the series, but it’s a lovely one for Frank. As for the episode as a whole, Charlie’s fear of leaving Philly had been covered in the previous season’s The Gang Hits the Road, and his and Dennis’ trip to Vegas on Frank’s dime (where they meet Chase Utley, much to Mac’s chagrin) is funny but unspectacular. The same could be said of Dennis, Dee, and Frank’s being stranded in the woods, but there’s little doubt Frank’s stare down with a rabbit (and subsequent change of heart on animals) is a nice exploration of his sensitive side.
15 “Frank’s Pretty Woman” (Season 7, Ep 1)
The real highlight of “Frank’s Pretty Woman” is Alanna Ubach’s work as Roxy, but she’s also just one of many reasons the episode is one of the series’ most rewatchable. Charlie and Frank’s plot, where the former attempts to set the latter up with a woman classier than Roxy, is a particularly strong thread.
For instance, as funny as it is to see Charlie accidentally vomit up fake blood on a screaming, unsuspecting woman, that’s not what makes the bit so amazing. What makes the bit so amazing is Frank’s sincere question of “Can I offer you a nice egg in this trying time?”
14 “The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore” (Season 7, Ep 2)
While “The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore” features a great Charlie Day performance, it’s Frank Reynolds who runs away with the episode. Whether it’s his hollering of “Rum Ham! Rum Ham!” or his partying with “the Guidos!,” Frank (and by extension DeVito) appears to be having the absolute time of his life throughout their journey to the Jersey Shore.
Mac and Frank aren’t usually paired up, but this Season 7 episode revels in the match. Once the two end up on a needle-ridden beach, it’s pretty obvious they’re going to get into some stuff. Fortunately, that stuff is more fun than the contents of Dennis and Dee’s evening.
13 “Frank Reynolds’ Little Beauties” (Season 7, Ep 3)
Easily one of It’s Always Sunny‘s funniest episodes, every scene in “Frank Reynolds’ Little Beauties” is gaspingly funny. The audience fully believes that Frank would throw in for a beauty pageant just hoping to “ogle” some women just as they believe he wouldn’t do his due diligence regarding the age of the contestants.
Frank’s efforts to distance himself from his now-incarcerated “diddler” of a business partner are the episode’s highlight. On one hand, there’s his constant declaration that his dressing room is on the opposite side of the area than the children’s. On the other there’s his post-mortem makeup and the mortician who applied it. Neither one helps.
12 “The Gang Gets Analyzed” (Season 8, Ep 5)
In no universe does It’s Always Sunny need a movie, because the show has consistently found ways of expanding its characters’ life stories in ways that are so bizarre they reek of a movie pulling off what a show could not (for example South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut). “The Gang Gets Analyzed” manages to be that extra-deep deep dive without a longer runtime or more exclusive rating.
It’s a solid episode, with a few good gags for Mac and a solid bit where Charlie keeps a (now-suffocated) pigeon in his green jacket, but it’s Frank who owns Analyzed. His screaming of “You unzipped me!” is an all-timer, as is his long story about the “Frog Kid,” Frank’s buddy at the “Loony Bin.”
11 “Mac and Dennis Buy a Timeshare” (Season 9, Ep 4)
If there’s an official top five images of Frank Reynolds floating around out there, there’s no doubt him being trapped in the coil in “Mac and Dennis Buy a Timeshare” is on there. Frank has the least amount of screentime in the episode, yet he runs away with it.
The sight of Danny DeVito in his tighty whities inexplicably jammed within a group of bars is laugh out loud funny no matter how many times one watches the episode. The fact that it’s never explained? Even better.
10 “The Gang Gets Quarantined” (Season 9, Ep 7)
Back when COVID was raging, Season 9’s “The Gang Gets Quarantined” found itself experiencing some renewed popularity. And that’s good, because it’s one of the series’ best episodes.
Everything about the 20 or so minutes works, from Mac and Charlie’s pairing to the Gang’s physical deterioration. But it’s Frank’s mental deterioration that steals the show, with his ramblings about hair standing as some of the character’s most memorable dialogue from this season or any other.
9 “The Gang Misses the Boat” (Season 10, Ep 6)
Containing some of Frank’s most hilariously awful behavior, “The Gang Misses the Boat” is an analysis of who they are and why they need one another (not that any of the five would ever admit that). It’s a packed episode, but everyone gets a moment to shine.
In Frank’s case, he ingratiates himself into the lives of a trio of young new bartenders. And, in efforts to replicate the Gang’s schemes he missed in Season 1, he ruins the sweet trio’s lives. After all, what’s the alternative? He’s Frank.
8 “Frank Falls Out the Window” (Season 11, Ep 2)
“Frank Falls Out the Window” is a hilarious delight from the beginning, which features Frank hanging his butt out the window as the result of a Grilled Charlie and Rum Ham-caused “Stomach Bomb.” From there, it becomes a revisiting of Season 2, particularly its premier: Charlie Gets Crippled.
There’s an innocence to DeVito’s portrayal of the shaken-up Frank that’s about as endearing as it gets. Take, for instance, when he first comes into the bar, obviously thinking it’s 2006. The Gang questions his health, to which he spins around with a cheery “I feel fine!” revealing a garish cut across the back of his skull. Solid gold.
7 “Being Frank” (Season 11, Ep 6)
Shot in the first person, “Being Frank” is an inventive episode for the series and is about as intimate as a show can get with a character. The episode is all Frank’s, and seeing the Gang’s schemes through his eyes is a fresh perspective that works very well.
Better yet is his decadent and madcap misadventures with Bill Ponderosa, who makes Frank look like a coked-out saint by comparison. And for those craving more of Frank and Artemis, the episode has that for them too. Not to mention, the episode ends with the biggest hint yet as to just what on Earth ‘Nightcrawlers’ is.
6 “Time’s Up for the Gang” (Season 13, Ep 4)
One of Always Sunny‘s more timely episodes, “Time’s Up for the Gang” finds each member getting a little hot under the collar. That is, save for Dennis, who’s secretly arranged the whole thing.
The sweat is especially applicable to Frank, who consistently thinks he’s gotten away with his misdeeds only to keep getting dragged back into the conversation thanks to key details like the doing away of some states’ statute of limitations. Any time there are hints of Frank’s past, it’s a joy, as they’re further revelations of a man who has truly never given a thought to ethics.
5 “The Gang Gets New Wheels” (Season 13, Ep 5)
“The Gang Gets New Wheels” is a mixed bag of an episode as a whole, but it has a solid plotline for Frank and a few laugh out loud moments for him as well. For instance, the moment when he attempts to purchase a Range Rover, only to hand a ridiculously out of date ID to the salesman.
From there, Frank acts as a pseudo-mentor to a fellow student of his new driver’s ed class. But, his efforts to impress the young man fall flat when the ace up his sleeve turns out to be a stack of ancient pornographic magazines hidden in a tree stump.
4 “Mac Finds His Pride” (Season 13, Ep 10)
“Mac Finds His Pride” predominately follows two members of the Gang: The titular Mac and Frank. It’s also an episode with two distinct halves, and both are equally great for Frank but in very different ways.
The first half has a visual gag where, as he’s rushing around trying to get Mac to be the lead of their Pride float, his face is gradually (but rapidly) swelling. Then, once all the blood’s been drained out of his face onto his shirt, he sits for a different Pride demonstration. And, by the end of Mac’s performance, Frank is a changed man (though, only up until Season 16’s Frank vs. Russia).
3 “The Gang Chokes” (Season 14, Ep 4)
It’s Always Sunny has become a comedy staple because it consistently has its characters butting heads, yet learning nothing. But things nearly unravel entirely in “The Gang Chokes,” one of the 14th season’s best episodes.
Frank nearly chokes while at dinner with the Gang at Guigino’s. They fail to lift a finger, leaving the task to the perpetually put-upon waiter, with whom Frank then moves in. The Gang Chokes shows Frank as his best: Barging into someone’s life with an utter lack of self-awareness as to the ramifications of his actions.
2 “Dee Sinks in a Bog” (Season 15, Ep 7)
While the title (and the scenario it lays out) would naturally lead one to believe Dee runs away with “Dee Sinks in a Bog,” it’s actually Frank. Charlie meeting his father was a big deal for the show, but so too is Frank’s reaction.
When the elder Kelly passes, it’s Frank who’s still there with genuine emotional support, even if Charlie again pushes him away. But before then, there’s Frank’s attempt to push Charlie’s father away. The latter is much funnier, especially considering it backfires and Frank has to eat the very meatballs (poops) he created.
1 “Frank vs. Russia” (Season 16, Ep 4)
For fans who find Frank to be It’s Always Sunny‘s funniest character, “Frank vs. Russia” is a pretty darn good example to prove their point. Much of the season is actually pretty solid for Frank, especially the surprisingly tender “Frank Shoots Every Member of the Gang.”
But only one episode has Frank playing chess while a long string of anal beads is inserted to help him cheat. And that episode is “Frank vs. Russia.” It’s not high art, and Sunny has certainly had objectively superior episodes, but it still shows a series (and its actors) ready and willing to have fun.
