The Gang Beats Boggs

"The Gang Beats Boggs" is the first episode of the tenth season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Synopsis
The Gang attempts to beat one of the most storied achievements in sports history: they are trying to beat Wade Boggs' record of drinking more than 70 beers in a single cross-country flight. Mac acts as Commissioner to try to keep everyone focused on the record, Dee gets off to an early start, and Frank and Dennis engage in a side bet to see who can join the Mile High Club first.

Recap
9:30 AM on a Thursday, Philadelphia, PA

While boarding a plane, Dee, Frank, Charlie and Dennis drink light beer and discuss Wade Boggs' drinking record of 70 beers drank on a cross country flight. Charlie incorrectly thinks he has since died, Dee thinks his name is Boss Hogg, and Dennis doesn't believe it can be done at all. Mac is acting as "commissioner" (actually just scorekeeper) because he lost a chugging contest.



Seated, Frank tells Dennis he's going to be the founding member of "The Air Sex Society," unaware The Mile High Club exists. Dennis counter bets that he'll bang someone somewhere other than the restroom before they reach the Great Lakes. Frank notices a college student ordering beer so he drops a handful of sleeping pills in his beverage. When the boy begins having a seizure Frank acts as Mantis and duct tapes him to his seat. Dennis describes like Sherlock his "suitable candidate" but ends up taking a trashy woman down into the cargo hold. She asks to sit by him until LA and he decides to leave the plane in North Dakota so he doesn't have to endure her. His score is 21.

Dee passes out at 29 beers but takes some uppers to get back into the game. Mac tells her he'll sweep it under the rug as commissioner. Charlie eats an entire roast chicken and orders a rum and coke against Mac's passionate advice. On her 40th beer Dee takes to the PA and gets the entire Gang cut off. Mac tells Charlie he has brought 100 extra beers in luggage and sneaks down to the cargo hold to retrieve them. After hallucinating about seeing the ghost of Wade Boggs and Boss Hogg, Dee and Charlie make a final push. Frank, at 18 beers and upset at not getting laid on the plane attempts to chug another and passes out in the aisle.

At LAX Charlie and Dee are tied at 70 beers. They each chug one more to beat Boggs' record and Dee passes out on the luggage carousel. Mac then tells Charlie he must bat 3/10 and they head to a ball diamond where Charlie ropes a line drive on his first swing. Mac says he doesn't have any more baseballs to pitch and declares Charlie the winner ("batting 1.000"). They find LA to be too gloomy so they decide to catch a red eye back to Philly--after grabbing another beer.

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

 * Wade Boggs as himself
 * Jennifer Elise Cox as Lizzie
 * Emily Wilson as Flight Attendant

Co-Starring

 * Kareem Ferguson as Young Husband
 * Jerry Hauck as Boss Hogg
 * Jamie Landau as Frat Boy

Trivia

 * Frank briefly brings back his Mantis Toboggan, M.D character during the flight when he accidentally gives a frat boy passenger 12 sleeping pills
 * Mac sitting out of the challenge due to his slow drinking is a reference to the beginning of the season 2 episode "Charlie Gets Crippled" in which he also loses a chugging challenge.


 * There are references to several scandals that have rocked the game of baseball along the years:
 * Mac's worry that Frank and Dennis' side bet on who can join the "Mile High Club" (or the "Air Sex Society') will "compromise the integrity of the game" references the fact that Pete Rose was banned from baseball for betting on games involving the team that he managed, the Cincinnati Reds.
 * Dee's use of "greenies" (amphetamines) references their rampant use throughout baseball, which dates back many years.
 * Mac's referring to Dee using "performance enhancing drugs" references back to the use of steroids and other PEDs by some of the biggest stars of the game, including Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, and many others.


 * Though the show has been primarily filmed in Los Angeles (with some location filming in Philadelphia), this is the first time an episode has had scenes actually set in Los Angeles (unless you count Lethal Weapon 5 and Lethal Weapon 6, which, at least in the universe of the show, were filmed in Philadelphia but set in LA.)
 * When Dennis describes the two women on the plane, he does so in the same manner of Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes on BBC's Sherlock.
 * Charlie Day has referenced this incident on Conan. Wade Boggs challenged Charlie he can drink 100 beers in a day.
 * Frank's story about being a pilot, and his claim that he landed a plane by "invert[ing] the bird and landing her in an open field" is a reference to the Denzel Washington film "Flight". This is not the first time that Frank has claimed that something that happened in a movie happened in his life; for example, see his multiple references to events from Rambo movies in "Mac and Dennis: Manhunters".
 * The frat boys sweater is reminiscent of the colors of students from North Dakota State University. A standout for the NDSU football team is quarterback Carson Wentz, who was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles.
 * The majority of this episode takes place on the plane. Only the final 2 scenes, at LAX airport and the baseball field respectively, do not take place on the plane. This episode could then be considered as a bottle episode.
 * Dennis getting off the plane in North Dakota is a reference to actor Glenn Howerton's role in season 1 of the television series Fargo. (Rob McIhenney also played a small role in Season 3 of Fargo.)
 * The events of this episode are recalled in "Dennis' Double Life"; specifically, what he gets up to in North Dakota.
 * This marks another time Charlie has left Philadelphia and most likely his furthest journey yet; considering he was 70 beers deep his potential fear of travel would be of little concern.
 * Here we see an example of Mac watching Dennis bang women (mentioned before in The Storm of the Century among others), albeit due to hiding in the cargo hold himself.

Quotes

 * Charlie: "I can't stop drinking now. I'll probably die!"
 * Charlie: "I got all numbers!"
 * Dee: "Well whaddya say Boss?"
 * Boss Hogg: "Now I know ya ain't quittin' on me! I need you to keep drinkin' those beers so you can help me stop them Duke boys from spoilin' all my crooked Hazzard County schemes."
 * Dee: "You got it Boss Hoss."
 * Boss Hogg: "Now I know ya ain't quittin' on me! I need you to keep drinkin' those beers so you can help me stop them Duke boys from spoilin' all my crooked Hazzard County schemes."
 * Dee: "You got it Boss Hoss."




 * Dennis: Frank, of the 206 passengers on this flight, 98 of them are women, but only one of them is a suitable candidate: 44G. Notice how she glances forlornly at the empty seat next to her. It was meant for someone special. And the tan line on her ring finger suggests the wound is still fresh, leaving her vulnerable. Furthermore, when we hit turbulence earlier, she giggled, telling me she's a bit of a thrill seeker.
 * Frank: You think she offed the guy and went on the run?
 * Dennis: Pretty tough to lay low in a dress like that. Granted, it's not a particularly remarkable garment. It's from the J. Crew Spring 2012 collection. Although it is a bit much for an airplane. Furthermore, if she were standing, you'd notice she's got no panty line, giving me about five extra seconds to enter her swiftly before she realizes I am not the answer to her problems.


 * Dee: (on the plane's PA, very drunk, waving a can of beer) Attention, passengers. This is your captain, Boss Hogg, speaking. And this cold slice of heaven is my 40th beer of the afternoon. So any of you dicknips think you can slug it down faster than me, you're welcome to get your fat asses up here to try...
 * Flight Attendant (grabbing the phone away from her, angrily): The Boggs group is cut off!