"Frank's Brother" is the fifth episode of the seventh season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Frank's long-lost brother shows up unexpectedly and spills family secrets.
Recap
As the Gang makes fun of Frank as he makes a hoagie inside of his mouth, an old man arrives. Frank and the man begin fighting. After Frank smashes a beer bottle on his head, he introduces him as his older brother Gino.
The two bicker with each other about stealing the love of each other's lives from each other. The rest of the gang pulls up seats to hear about the story which takes place in the 1960's. When Frank was 19, Gino got him a job at a jazz club and he fell in love with a girl named Shadynasty.
The Reynolds brothers eventually opened up their own club. Shadynasty's former lover Reggie came to politely yell at Frank and Gino beat him up. Gino and Reggie were sent to prison, and once they got out Gino was addicted to cocaine which Frank didn't approve of. Reggie later came to the club as a Black Panther to politely give a pamphlet to Gino, but Frank was worried he was reaching for a gun so he shoots Reggie in the arm.
From BTS-video
Frank flees to South America where he worked in quality control at a cocaine farm. He missed Shadynasty too much after two years so he returned to find her in the arms of Gino. She is also addicted to cocaine and he makes her choose between him and drugs and she chose drugs.
Gino says that she left him soon after. He says that he found love letters that he believed to be Frank's. The gang then reads in a letter that she will be at the airport. The gang then goes to the airport to find Shadynasty with Reggie. Reggie is detained by airport security just for being black, and Frank and Gino leave, saying that Shadynasty didn't really age well anyway.
Guest Stars
BirdCop!
- Jon Polito as Gino Reynolds
- Naturi Naughton as Shadynasty
- Lance Reddick as Reggie
- Matt Corby as Airport Security
- Clara Golidy Holmes as Old Shadynasty
- Mike Ivy as Old Reggie
- Nicholas Grad as Clubgoer
Trivia
- Promotional photos for this episode contain an illustration of Dee's fantasy from the very beginning: "...if I were a cop, I would have an Uzi".
- From "The Gang Gets Invincible" we learn what Frank was in Woodstock (he spend 3 days locked in the bathroom of his cousin's Winnebago, survived on hand soap and toilet water).
- Actually, Danny DeVito is OLDER than Jon Polito by six years.
- This episode muddled up the timelines of Frank's life a little bit based on what we know from earlier seasons (and even things we learn in episodes that come afterwards; for example, it's very hard to imagine that Frank could have founded Atwater, as shown in "Frank's Back in Business", in the timeframe that this episode establishes.)
- Initially, this episode was supposed to contain some scenes with the
Gang members as an old-school cops. By the way, back in Season Three Dennis has tried on the police uniform, too - of modern design though. [3x14] - "I Love the Nightlife" by Alicia Bridges plays in Shadynasty's when Frank comes back from Columbia.
- The scene in which Frank repeatedly yells "You son of a bitch!" at Geno as he attacks him at the club echoes a scene in the Coen Brothers movie Millers Crossing, in which Johnny Caspar (also played by Jon Polito) attacks his enforcer, "The Dane", believing that he's betrayed him. (That's a spoiler, by the way, and an awesome movie.)
Quotes
|
— | “I'm going to open a jazz joint of my own. An integrated place. Where blacks and whites can get along. No Orientals, though.” |
|
|
— | “You did not want to be caught out in the street in those days with a negress. They'd tear you apart!” |
| “A negress?!” | — | 
|
|
|
— | “Whatever the proper word was...” |
| “Well it's not that! It's a different word.” | — | 
|
- Shadynasty: Drugs! I choose drugs!
| < Season 6 |
Season 7 | Season > 8 |
| 1. "Frank's Pretty Woman" 2. "The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore" |