"Frank's Brother" is the fifth episode of the seventh season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It aired on October, 13, 2011.
Synopsis[]
Frank's long-lost brother shows up unexpectedly and spills family secrets.
Recap[]
3:50 PM On a Wednesday
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, Frank 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 1960s. When Frank was 19, Gino got him a job at a jazz club and Frank fell in love with a backup singer named Shadynasty (pronounced "sha-DYE-nuh-stee"), who was also the lover of the jazz club owner Reggie. Gino made money working as a bookie at the club, with Reggie often owing Gino money. When Shadynasty and Reggie have a quarrel one night, Gino breaks them up and tasks Frank to drive Shadynasty home. On the road, Frank flirts with Shadynasty and vows to open his own club one day and make Shadynasty the star.
The Reynolds brothers eventually opened up their own club with Gino's money. Frank makes good on his promise and Shadynasty becomes a main attraction at the club, and the club is named after her. He and Shadynasty's relationship flourish, but Reggie comes to confront them. Although he is upset he lost his former lover, Reggie concedes and goes to shake Frank's hand. Gino, however, mistook Reggie for intimidating Frank and beats Reggie with a bat. As a result, Gino is sent to prison for 2 years while Reggie gets 6 years due to racism.
When Gino is released from prison, the 1970s have arrived and the Shadynasty club is now a disco hall. Upon welcoming Gino back, Frank learns Gino picked up a cocaine habit over the years. While Frank runs the business, Gino indulges in his addiction and spreads the use of cocaine in their club. This attracts the attention of Reggie, who has joined the Black Panthers during his time in prison, and wants to remove drugs from the neighborhood. Reggie confronts Gino, and as Reggie reaches for a pamphlet to give to Gino, Frank mistakes Reggie for pulling out a weapon and shoots Reggie in the arm with a pistol. In the ensuing panic, Gino ushers Frank away from the scene to go hide with his cocaine contacts in Colombia to avoid law enforcement.
Frank is flown to a cocaine farm in Colombia to hide and work as "quality control" for the products. He sorely misses Shadynasty and writes her letters that go unanswered, and eventually succumbs to cocaine addiction himself. After a few years, Frank calls Gino to tell him he wants to return to Philadelphia, but Gino disagrees. When Frank returns anyway, he finds that Gino has claimed Shadynasty as his lover and gotten her addicted to cocaine. When Frank gives Shadynasty an ultimatum to choose between him or Gino with the drugs, Shadynasty chooses the drugs.
Back in the present, the story has led to the brothers fighting again. Gino is incensed that Frank is apparently writing letters to Shadynasty again, which was the reason for confronting him about a letter declaring to meet up with her at the airport later today to run away together. Gino also accidentally reveals he destroyed the letters Frank wrote to Shadynasty from Colombia when he intercepted them. Frank says he has not written to her since Colombia, and Charlie encourages him to go meet her at the airport to find out who wrote her and to try to win her back.
Frank, Gino, and the Gang all arrive at the airport terminal detailed in the letter on time to find Shadynasty. Both Frank and Gino plead for Shadynasty to choose one over the other, but Shadynasty reveals the letter was written by Reggie and she chooses Reggie as he shows up to the terminal himself. At this point, airport security confronts Reggie and declares he has been placed on a no-fly list and needs to come with them. Reggie refuses, and is promptly detained, ironically, for a third time due to the Reynolds brothers. As Shadynasty runs after Reggie being taken away, the brothers agree that she "has not aged well", and they go off to get food.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Charlie Day as Charlie Kelly
- Glenn Howerton as Dennis Reynolds
- Rob McElhenney as Mac
- Kaitlin Olson as Dee Reynolds
- Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds
Guest starring[]
- Jon Polito as Gino
- Naturi Naughton as Shadynasty
- Lance Reddick as Reggie
- Matt Corby as Airport Security
Co-starring[]
- 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".
- An Uzi fires at a rate of 600 rounds per minute, 100 times slower than the "1000 bullets in one second" that Dee suggests.
- From "The Gang Gets Invincible" we learn that Frank was at Woodstock (he spent 3 days locked in the bathroom of his cousin's Winnebago, surviving on hand soap and toilet water).
- Danny DeVito is older than the actor for his older brother Gino, 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 old-school cops.
- "I Love the Nightlife" by Alicia Bridges plays in Shadynasty's when Frank comes back from Colombia.
- The scene in which Frank repeatedly yells "You son of a bitch!" at Gino 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.
- In reality, neither the Gang nor Reggie would've been able to get to the waiting area at the airport. Following 9/11, a ticket is required to access such areas; as well, anyone with a ticket would've still had to check in, which would reveal whether or not someone is on the no-fly list, as Reggie was.
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!” |
| “'Negress?!'” | — | 
|
|
|
— | “Whatever the proper word was...” |
| “Well, it's not that! It's a different word.” | — | 
|
| Shadynasty | — | “Drugs! I choose drugs!” |
Images[]
| < Season 6 |
Season 7 | Season > 8 |
| 1. "Frank's Pretty Woman" 2. "The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore" |