The Gang Goes to Hell

"The Gang Goes to Hell" is the ninth episode of the eleventh season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The episode's story concludes in "The Gang Goes to Hell: Part Two."

Synopsis
The gang tries to take a vacation from their usual dynamic by going on a cruise, but old habits die hard.

Recap
Unknown time, unknown place

The gang is in white bathrobes, in a white room, presumably Heaven. Mac mentions that before the cruise ship went down, they all prayed. He asks for a chance to walk through what happened, and once he's finished, to be judge accordingly. Cue title card: The Gang Goes to Hell

The gang is on a Christian cruise because Mac won tickets in a raffle at his new church. They express concern over the fact that it is a dry cruise, but Frank has packed a suitcase full of beers and Mac says they'll drink mouthwash just to "stave off the shakes". Mac heads off to bible study, while the rest unpack. Dennis instructs Dee to control her wrath, Frank and Charlie's gluttony, and his own lust (which he is concerned about, given the implication ). Frank's cross is "burning him to shit" and Dee jokes that he might "actually be the Devil". The boat's horn blows, and they stop joking, so as not to upset God.

Mac is at bible study talking with David, a member of the congregation that has been helping him adjust to the new church. They begin to rehearse "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" for the talent show, but Mac objects because the hymns aren't dreary enough. David convinces him to keep an open mind, but Mac "guarantees that [he's] not going to like it". Jump cut to him very enthusiastically solo-ing (for the third time in a row).

Elsewhere, Frank and Charlie walk around the deck with jackets under which they hid all the beer. Charlie gets confused when he thinks orange juice is a screwdriver, and is weirded out that people would "drink straight mixer". They get busted by the captain and all the beer is confiscated.

Dee heads out to sunbathe, but her chair is taken by a woman before she can sit. She is having trouble going into "vacation mode". She sits next to Dennis, who asks her how managing her rage is going. He is having trouble controlling his lust, and is set on a girl whose ID he swiped in order to make sure she's of age. Dennis explains the "implication" to her and she describes an "insinuation" of her own. If a guy "gets skittish about banging", she'll insinuate that she'll make a fake rape accusation. A bird then craps in her mouth, and Dee gets very upset that she is "literally getting shit on".

Mac is playing shuffleboard with David and another guy on the deck. After he doesn't score well, he believes he has failed God. Mac pulls out a cat-o-nine-tails and asks to get punished in order to make him a "better boy". David suggests he just appreciate the day in order to get closer to the Lord. Mac tries shuffle board with "no guilt" and scores. His happiness is interrupted by seeing David kiss his husband. He blames a storm in the distance on God's anger at them.

The whole gang meets on front of a stage where a magic show is going on. Dennis is still being creepy to the girl, and he sends her "a virgin daiquiri for the virgin". Mac shares his concerns about the cruise and the storm, which keeps flickering the lights ("First the queers, then sorcery! This cruise is going straight to hell!"). Charlie and Frank leave to steal back their beers. Dee gets called up to the stage as a volunteer by the lady who "stole" her chair. Later, Charlie and Frank are in costume, Frank as the captain and Charlie as first mate Gilligan. Frank brings along a wrench to bust the pipes with. He plans on drinking boat fuel, cut with mixers. Mac is on the rainy deck, praying for God to send him a sign as to his purpose. Dee can't control her wrath and punches the magician in the face, knocking out her tooth. She gets escorted to the brig by security ("What is this, boat jail!?!"). Frank and Charlie are in the bridge and very drunkenly, also get thrown into the brig. Dennis tries to seduce the girl he's been following, but it sounds like he is threatening to rape her. He gets sent to the brig as well, but objects because "the storm made it seem way worse than it is".

Mac shows up at David and his husband's room, soaking wet. He claims that he was sent this church not for them to open his mind, but for him to close theirs (convert them). They suggest that they convert him, which he claims is impossible. 5 minutes later: Mac enters the brig and comes out to them ("Well, I'm gay."). They already knew. He also renounces God, because there's "no way he would make me queer". The rest of the gang is upset that he just walked into the room and shut the door. Dee started banging on the door and screaming that all she wanted was a vacation from them and that "hell is right here!". The storm knocks the boat and starts flickering the lights.

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

 * Brian Doyle-Murray as Captain Garcia
 * Tuc Watkins as Scott
 * Ed Ledjin as David
 * Brooke Baumer as Marlene

Co-Starring

 * Sloane Avery as Christina
 * Marc Fajardo as Steward

Trivia

 * A first in the series, the time and place of the episode are introduced as "Unknown" with gentle piano music, to add to the ambiguity of the Gang's fate.
 * Previous two-part episodes include Season 3's "The Gang Gets Whacked (Part 1)" and "The Gang Gets Whacked (Part 2)", Season 4's "Mac and Charlie Die (Part 1)" and "Mac and Charlie Die (Part 2)", and Season 7's "The High School Reunion" and "The High School Reunion, Part 2: The Gang's Revenge".
 * Dennis says that he will have trouble avoiding lust "because of the implications of being on a boat." This sounds very much like his infamous reason for wanting a boat so women can't refuse his advances once they hit international water "because of the implications" from "The Gang Buys a Boat".
 * Dee has her own take on the "implication": "It's like when I'm alone with a guy, and he gets all skittish about banging, so I "insinuate" that it'd be a shame if my account of what happened was different than his, and he ends up getting a call from the sheriff. And then boom, we plow."
 * Captain Garcia is portrayed by Brian Doyle-Murray, Doyle-Murray's younger brother Joel Murray guest starred in "Frank's Back in Business" portraying Andrew Kane. Both are brothers of actor Bill Murray.
 * Mac tells The Gang that they should drink half a cap of mouthwash a day "just to stave off the shakes." In the episode "The Gang Gets Quarantined", we saw Mac, Dennis, Charlie, and Dee get violently ill due to alcohol withdrawal from not drinking for a few days.
 * The room The Gang stays in on the cruise is H666.
 * It was originally thought that Dee accidentally refers to Mac as "Rob" during her freakout when the whole gang is trapped in the brig, but she actually yells "Wrong!" not "Rob".
 * Dennis warns the Gang not to do "anti-God" stuff and try to avoid pissing God off, while the others agree. This implies Mac's argument against evolution in "Reynolds vs. Reynolds: The Cereal Defense" did rattle the Gang's views somewhat.
 * The outfit with the red shirt and white hat that Charlie wears, is a reference to the outfit that the main character Gilligan wore on the 60's TV show "Gilligan's Island".

Quotes
"There are two guys in this church... that are gay."

- mac

[Charlie, Dee, Frank and Dennis laugh]

"I don't get the joke."

- mac