"Thunder Gun Express" is the eleventh episode of the seventh season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Synopsis
Traffic problems, as a result of the President's visit to Philadelphia, makes it difficult for The Gang to see the summer's biggest film - "Thunder Gun Express".
Recap
2:15 PM on a Wednesday
At Paddy's, Dennis announces that he has just purchased the final four tickets for the next showing of Thunder Gun Express, the latest action movie to hit cinemas. Thunder Gun express is about "This warrior from a postapocalyptic underground society who has to travel back in time to save his lover from an evil robot army." (Dennis). The gang has 28 minutes to make it to the theater so they pile into Dennis' Land Rover but grow anxious as they wait in traffic caused by President Obama's visit to Philadelphia. Everyone but Dennis bails on foot to the theater. After a cop tells them Thunder Gun is the best movie he's ever seen, the four run to catch a trolly. Frank can't run fast enough so he is left behind.
Charlie, Mac, and Dee continue and are just a few blocks away from the theater. The road they need to take is blocked off, so Charlie suggests they go through the sewers. Dee fits in, but Mac is too fat and is left behind. Dee and Charlie run through the sewers and Charlie warns of a giant wall of water that can come rushing by at any minute, full of garbage and bodily waste. Dee's shoe gets stuck in a grate and Charlie decide's she not worth waiting for so takes off for the film. A giant wall of sewage water rushes toward Dee.
Mac finds a motorcycle and tries to steal it, but crashes. He keeps the helmet and runs back to Dennis' Land Rover. Dennis has been stuck in traffic and while listening to a tape of him seducing an underage girl he accidentally hits an attractive spanish woman's car. He tells her he owns an auto-repair shop and a tow truck is on the way for her car, she tags along for the movie as she was on her way there too. As they get cozy in the car, Mac pops in, breaking the mood.
Dennis and Mac have made it to the theater and wait for the show to start. Charlie enters and yells toward them, causing people to switch seats so they can be next to each other. Dee makes her way too, covered in shit, causing other people to move for her. Dennis sits in the back row, getting a hand job from the attractive spanish woman. The gang is impressed with how quickly he is moving.
Troll's revenge
Frank, meanwhile, hijacks a tour boat on the Schuylkill River since he forgot his wallet. After narrating his whole life to an Asian tour group, he is arrested when he gets off the boat. At the police station he is allowed his one call: he calls in bomb threat to the theatre, Thunder Gunning the rest of the gang.
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
Co-Starring
- Mariann Gavelo as Elena
- Damian Achilles as Motorcyclist
- Marcus Choi as Moviegoer #1
- Claire Risoli as Moviegoer #2
- Tracy Esposito as Moviegoer #3
- Maria Russell as Police Officer
- Stephen Hill as Traffic Officer
- John Monforto as Captain Tom
- Lisa Schwartz as Usher
- Lyman Chen as Passenger
Trivia
- An alternate title of this episode is "The Gang Goes to the Movies".
- "Thunder Gun" is the name of the movie's main character.
- When Mac says he "hung dong" on the trolley, Sweet Dee says it "looked like a button in a fur coat". This is a reference to Ryan Dunn of "Jackass" fame. Dunn was a very good friend of Glenn Howerton before he died in a car crash three days before the start of shooting for Season 7 in Philadelphia, PA).
- The gang goes to see "Thunder Gun Express" at the TLA - Theater of the Living Arts - but when shown inside they are seated in a normal movie theater with rows of seats. The TLA, located on South Street in Philadelphia, is a live performance venue. The audience area is simply a large open space for standing. There are no seats.
- This is the first episode since the ending of Season 4 that contains the "20th Century Fox" logo and fanfare in it.
- Frank and Charlie hanging out in the sewer was first mentioned in "Dee Gives Birth".
- Frank, during his "quick tour", mentioned events from episodes 02x04, 04x07, 02x03, 03x01 and 04x13. Also, he said that his favorite thing to do is "bang whores" (the same thing he said in "Frank's Pretty Woman").
- "The D.E.N.N.I.S. System" is referenced when Dennis is listening to the tape of his encounter with Allison. After Mac comes into the room, Dennis complains that "Now I'm going to have to redemonstrate my value".
- This episode features a 24-minute countdown before the start of the movie. This is similar to the Fox action TV series 24 which shows a 24-hour countdown on screen during episodes.
- The tag line of "Thunder Gun Express" is 'No hesitation. No Surrender. No man left behind.' In typical fashion the gang leaves each other behind (first Dennis, then Frank, then Mac, then Dee), but they do it without any hesitation. Also, when Frank is confronted by the police for stealing the tour boat, he immediately surrenders. He did however surrender without any hesitation.
- In a scene with Mac sitting in the backseat, you can see a bug crawl across the camera lens.
- The Motorcycle Mac tries to steal is a Suzuki Hayabusa.
- Charlie is worried that Dee will stretch out his sneakers if she wears them. We learn that her shoe size is a women's 13 (men's 11) in "Who Pooped the Bed?", meaning Charlie's shoe size must be 10.5 in men's at most.
- In the Season 14 episode, "Thunder Gun 4: Maximum Cool", the Gang reveals that they did not end up seeing this movie in the theater, but instead downloaded a pirate copy off the Internet.
Images
.jpg "Booze for brave (1).jpg (209 KB)")
.jpg "Booze for brave (2).jpg (159 KB)")
Quotes
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— | “What the shit is a "Thundergun"?” |
| “Are you crazy, dude? It's, like, the greatest movie ever made! It's about this warrior from a post-apocalyptic underground society who has to travel back in time to save his lover from an evil robot army.” | — | 
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— | “I forgot about Obama!..” |
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— | “Look, I'm forging a connection with these women that will yield for them the most awakening and unforgettable sexual experience of their lives...” |
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— | “Shitty bike!” |
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— | “Oh, look at Queen Dee, who's too good to get naked with her buddy all of a sudden.” |
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— | “One of the things I like doing most is banging whores. I, uh, I go out and bang a lot of whores.” |
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— | “Plus, I hear the guy hangs dong and I' m very interested in seeing that.” |
| < Season 6 |
Season 7 | Season > 8 |
| 1. "Frank's Pretty Woman" 2. "The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore" |