It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of the most popular comedy series of our generation. The show is about a group of five “friends” (although they often don’t act very friendly toward one another) who own and operate a failing bar. The entire series centers around this group as they drink themselves into oblivion, alienate themselves from any other potential friends, and get into all sorts of hijinks— most of them borderline illegal.
All in all, the show doesn’t really have a point. It’s Always Sunny is entirely about the characters and their idiosyncrasies, complexes, and delusions. Dennis (played by Glenn Howerton) is arguably the most delusional character of them all. Dennis fancies himself a lady’s man with the physique of Michelangelo’s David, a successful entrepreneur, a capable wide receiver with the stride of a gazelle, and a Golden God.
In reality, though, Dennis is sort of a loser, definitely a jerk, and, sometimes, a horrifying creep. Yes, one of Dennis’s defining traits is that he’s creepy. And, occasionally, his creepiness gets to such a level that it’ll make you cringe just as much as laugh.
So, in this article, we’re going to go through the entire series of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and recall 5 times when Dennis was the creepiest. If you’ve never watched the show and you don’t understand the context here, then this article is going to sound just awful. But just watch a few seasons of It’s Always Sunny, and maybe you’ll appreciate the humor. Or maybe you won’t. Who knows!
1. The Implication
Any true fan of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia knew that this was going to be the first item on this list. The “Implication” is a concept that emerged in the episode “The Gang Buys a Boat” from Season 6. Essentially, Dennis explains to Mac in a crowded hardware store that his entire motivation behind buying a boat was to get the ladies “tipsy topside” and then “take them to a nice comfortable place below deck,” where they “can’t refuse… because of the implication.”
If you’re not a sexual predator like Dennis, then that previous sentence may have been a bit confusing. Essentially, the “implication” is the idea that Dennis might hurt someone if they refuse to have sex with him and they have nowhere to run because they’re out in the middle of the water. Yeah. Doesn’t get much creepier than that. As he’s explaining this horrific concept to Mac, he’s overheard by an elderly woman who, understandably, stares at Dennis with pure disgust.
2. Stealing the Cruise Ship Girl’s ID
Yet furthering the argument that Dennis Reynolds shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a boat, one of the creepiest moments in the entirety of the show occurs in the “The Gang Goes to Hell” episode of Season 11, in which The Gang goes on a Christian cruise.
On the ship, Dennis spies a young-looking girl that he decides to creep on. During his first attempt to hit on her, he offers her “a virgin daiquiri… for the virgin.” That encounter alone is enough to send shivers down your spine, but things only get worse.
Later, in a corridor of the ship during a thunderstorm, Dennis corners the poor girl and introduces himself as “The Daiquiri Man.” He then tells her that he’s been watching her… and following her… in a good way. Then, just when we all thought it couldn’t get any creepier, Dennis produces her driver’s license from his pocket, which we can assume that he stole to make sure that she was at least 18 years old.
After scaring the living shit out of the girl even further, she runs away screaming, at which point Dennis says, “Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen.” This is the perfect example of Dennis’s delusion: his ability to act like a predator and be confused when women don’t respond well to it.
3. The Skin-Luggage Threat
The “Skin-Luggage Threat,” as we’re going to call it, suggests less that Dennis is a sexual predator and more implies that he’s a serial killer (or at least has fantasies of committing murder). In the episode “Psycho Pete Returns” of Season 10, Dennis, Frank, and Dee are sitting in a doctor’s office when Dee starts speaking in horribly executed accents.
Turning irate, Dennis threatens her, “Dee, I swear you would be of more use to me if I skinned you and turned your skin into a lampshade. Or fashioned you into a piece of high-end luggage. I could even add you to my collection!”
Horrified by this threat, Dee asks the obvious question, “Are you saying that you have a collection of skin luggage?” Then, Dennis’s demeanor only gets even more sinister as he replies, “Of course, I’m not, Dee. Don’t be ridiculous. Think of the smell. You haven’t thought of the smell, you bitch!” It was always obvious that Dennis was mentally unwell, but this is one of the first times he’s revealed his Ed Gein-like fantasies.
4. My Tools!
Now, to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with a little consensual BDSM. However, when Dennis pulled out a bunch of zip ties, rubber gloves, duct tape, paper towels, and a video camera from a secret compartment in the trunk of his Range Rover, I was definitely pretty creeped out.
To provide a little more context, this happened in the “The High School Reunion” episode of Season 7. After being belittled by his former high school classmates (who were meant to regard him as a Golden God), Dennis rushes out of the high school reunion in a whirlwind of fury.
When the rest of The Gang walks out into the parking lot, they find Dennis digging through the trunk of his car. When Dennis turns around, he’s holding all of his “tools.” Naturally, Charlie asks why Dennis has all of that stuff hidden in a compartment in his car, to which Dennis replies, “It’s fetish shit. I like to bind. I like to be bound!”
Like I said before, there’s nothing wrong with a little consensual BDSM, but using those tools on unwilling victims at a high school reunion is definitely not cool. I’m just glad The Gang was able to intercept Dennis before he got back inside.
5. Staring at an Interrogation Camera for Two Hours Without Blinking
In the episode “Making Dennis Reynolds a Murderer” (which is pretty obviously going to contain some pretty creepy moments from Dennis) from Season 12, a detective speaks about interviewing Dennis concerning the murder of his ex-wife Maureen Ponderosa.
The detective recalls Dennis being cordial and charming during their interview. He gladly provided all of the information that the detective asked for and even volunteered to provide a DNA sample. However, once the detective left the room and the surveillance camera was left on, Dennis’s behavior changed markedly.
For two hours straight, Dennis stared straight into the lens of the camera without moving or blinking once. The detective said that this footage gave him goosebumps. And despite the fact that It’s Always Sunny is a fictional show, I must admit that watching this clip also gave me goosebumps. This menacing stare alone doesn’t prove that Dennis is guilty of murder, but it definitely implies that he’s guilty of something.
