The Gang Gets Held Hostage

"The Gang Gets Held Hostage" is the third episode of the third season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and parodies the reality TV show Survivor and the movie Die Hard.

Synopsis
Paddy's Pub is held hostage by the McPoyles, who are still pretty pissed off with gang for ruining their brothers chance of football. Meanwhile, Frank crawls through the vents to find his will, which Charlie hid.

Recap
1:30PM on a Wednesday

Frank is heading into the vents to get his will, which Charlie hid, with Mac helping him prepare. The rest of the Gang shows up, bickering over Charlie supposedly being their brother, when three armed strangers show up in the front door. It's revealed that they're the McPoyles, ready to take them hostage. They make demands over the phone, and Liam says he may kill one of them. They start worrying about Stockholm's Syndrome, and immediately form alliances against each other, and then break those alliances. Mac talks to Frank, telling him the situation and claims it's too late to save anyone but Mac. Frank will only help him after he finds the will. After the McPoyles realize they won't get their demands, the make the Gang dig a hole into the next building, where they will then fly by helicopter. Two can rest at a time in the bathroom.

Frank is having trouble deciphering Charlie's clues, when the heat turns on with him still in the vents. Mac and Charlie are in the bathroom with Margaret, but since she's a deaf-mute, they can talk about whatever they want. Mac gets Charlie to help with the map he made. Liam offers milk to Dennis and Dee, which they turn down. To prove they're serious, Liam tells Ryan to stab somebody, and he stabs his own brother. They leave to take care of it, and Dennis plans to manipulate Margaret to help them escape. Meanwhile, Frank calls into the radio and tells Mac to make sure if anybody dies, it's Charlie first, right in front of Charlie. He and Mac plan to kill Frank and share the money. The McPoyles force everybody to wear their clothes to confuse the police.

Everybody's gathered, and hold a contest: Whichever team can destroy the most stuff in the bar wins, Dee and Charlie versus Mac and Dennis. Dee tries to defect to the McPoyles, but it immediately fails. During the contest, Dennis leaves Mac to seduce Margaret. Mac and Dennis win, and when they check the office (Charlie had convinced Dee he'd destroy it to save them both), it's shown Charlie left through the vent immediately. Frank enters Charlie's "bad room," where Mac claims Charlie goes to break bottles when he's angry. Charlie shows up behind Frank with the will, destroying it (which is actually what Frank wanted) and threatens to kill him. He stops immediately when Frank pulls out his gun. He leads them out.

Dennis succeeded in seducing Margaret, although it was completely fruitless. Charlie and Frank are stuck in the vents, with everybody else on the roof. The McPoyles are ready to show up, when Charlie and Frank actually made it there too. After a series of crazy laughter, Frank shoots at them, missing every time, but making Ryan fall off. He's completely unharmed because it's not that far a drop. They run off, having humiliated and screwed with the gang enough, and it's revealed that the guns were rubber.

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

 * Jimmi Simpson as Liam McPoyle
 * Nate Mooney as Ryan McPoyle
 * Thesy Surface as Margaret McPoyle

Trivia

 * This is the first episode to take place entirely in Paddy's Pub. The Season 3 episode "The Gang Dances Their Asses Off", the Season 7 episode "Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games", the Season 10 episode "Charlie Work", Season 12's "The Gang Tends Bar" and Season 13's "The Gang Solves the Bathroom Problem" do the same.
 * Instead of the standard Sunny soundtrack dramatic-action music plays. This would also be seen later, in "The Gang Gets Trapped" and "Thunder Gun Express."
 * The McPoyles take their revenge against the Gang from the events of "The Gang Gets Invincible" episode.
 * In the beginning of this episode, Charlie calls himself Dennis and Dee's "big brother" because Frank could be his possible biological father.
 * Kaitlin Olson's pinky toe was broken at the time of this episode's shootings, limiting her movement throughout.
 * Sylvester Stallone and Dan Aykroyd are both mentioned in this episode (as possible owners of Planet Hollywood reversible leather jackets).
 * Charlie believes that Stockholm syndrome is a physical disease.
 * The episode parodies several moments in Die Hard.
 * Frank crawling through the vents in his vest with a lighter.
 * The climax where Frank has a gun taped to his back and laughs with the McPoyles.
 * The part where Ryan McPoyle falls off the building.
 * Frank's line when he pulls the gun on the McPoyles ("Yippie ki-ay, Mr. Fuckin'") is a reference to the infamous censorship of Bruce Willis's line "Yippie ki-ay, motherfucker" in the TV version of Die Hard 2.
 * This episode contains the first (and so far only) appearance of Paddy's attic and specifically Charlie's "Bad Room" - a place in the attic where he "goes to be alone and break bottles."
 * The McPoyles barricade the door from the inside, but Paddy's pub front door opens out not in, so barricading from the inside wouldn't do any good.
 * Dee doesn't notice the shotgun is rubber when she loads it getting ready to shoot the gang. Presumably, Liam licked Dee's face in order for her not to notice.