It’s never a good sign when you can’t see what the Golden God is doing. It means that someone might be paying the ultimate price.
The highly anticipated crossover between Abbott Elementary and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia that started tonight on ABC has a novel structure — when It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 17 premieres later this year, the Always Sunny half of the collaboration will tell the story of tonight’s Abbott Elementary episode from The Gang’s point-of-view, and one of those unseen angles is more mysterious and concerning than the rest of them put together.
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In tonight’s Abbott Elementary episode, Dennis Reynolds was conspicuously absent from most scenes in the first half of the crossover event. Spooked by the documentary film crew following the teachers of Willard R. Abbott Elementary School, Dennis ducks behind the cameras during the Gang’s introductory scene, and he’s little seen again for the rest of the episode, even in the closing credits:
Naturally, the first question Dennis has for his hosts at the top of the Abbott Elementary episode titled “Volunteers” is, “What’s the deal with all the cameras?”
And, when Ava informs him that the diegetic film crew shooting the mockumentary is just the school having a “Vanderpump thing going on,” Dennis’ reflexes kick in.
“No!” the Golden God snaps. “No. I don’t think so. I know quite a bit about filming and consent, and I think I’ll be spending my time on the other side of the camera, thank you very much.” And, with that, Dennis slinks back to join the film crew, where he presumably and hopefully stayed for the entire court-ordered volunteer week.
Obviously, it’s not like Dennis to remain passive when a scheme is in place — even if that scheme is grinding out volunteer hours after massively polluting the Schuylkill River – so we can only assume that every second of screentime that Glenn Howerton missed in the first part of the crossover special will be an extra moment of cold, calculating, serial-killer-ish, behind-the-scenes manipulation to be revealed when Always Sunny tells its side of the story.
Hopefully, the teachers of Willard R. Abbott Elementary are diligent about their morning roll call — Dennis’ record with minors would make them jump out of their fascinating skin.