It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 18 Episode 9 Review: Frank’s Team: A Dark Day for Baseball

We may have just witnessed another villain origin story. Once again, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 18 Episode 9, “Frank’s Team: A Dark Day for Baseball,” proves the gang taints everything they touch. 

Pleasant volunteer Coach Bob turns into a complete menace: He calls ICE on some innocent children. His “let’s just have fun” attitude turns sinister.

The quest for glory is too overpowering. 

The gang should definitely be on a watch list of some sort with all their corruption and traumatizing of children. In fact, “Frank’s Team: A Dark Day for Baseball” may be the gang’s most tame interaction with youngsters. They’re more annoying than dangerous in this encounter.

However, that doesn’t mean the children leave without some emotional scars. The gang physically injures a few of them, while also inflicting some emotional and psychological damage.

Additionally, you can’t help but feel slightly uncomfortable when they’re near anyone under 18. 18+ is also a risky age group for the gang to be around.

“Frank’s Team: A Dark Day for Baseball” has one of Season 18’s strongest cold openings. It’s hilarious while setting up the premise well. Dee, Dennis, Charlie, Mac, and Frank are at their best when it’s just them yapping to each other about nonsense.

From there, the episode has some mixed results. Dee as the heavy hitter is a surprising development that works. This plays on some of the past true-life scandals of having children play who aren’t age-appropriate for the team. The gang smartly plays on sexism.

This is the loophole to get Dee on the team. Dee is the MVP until she destroys her arm. Young Dee would have thrived if she realized her talent earlier.

It’s always nice to see Dee succeed. Then agonizing to see it all come crashing down, but who would she be if not a consistent failure?

Speaking of failure, this is one of the few episodes where the gang succeeds at something. They’re pretty good at running a baseball team. They lose their way because of the greed of success. 

This also happens to Coach Bob. Their success turns him into a monster and leads to an even bigger question: What is too far for glory?  

The answer is that there should be some limits, especially involving children.

Overall, “Frank’s Team: A Dark Day for Baseball” is another all-right episode. It has plenty of funny moments, but this isn’t one that’s going to be remembered for being a top-tier episode. 

Next week is the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 18 finale. The season starts strong but feels like it’s lost some of the momentum towards the back half. Nonetheless, last season’s finale was the season’s strongest episode. The show could repeat that success.

Additionally, it involves a sleepover, which just spells a million and one gang diabolical shenanigans. 

Stray Thoughts

• I had a feeling some of the actors’ children may appear in this episode. They do, but not in the scenes I expected.
• I would like to see Coach Bob again. Give him the Cricket treatment. 
• The episode starts so strong that I was hoping it kept that momentum. 

What did you think of this episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

Critic Rating:

Audience Rating:

 

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia airs Monday at 9/8 C on FXX.

Check out our latest TV recommendations, updated weekly!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!