The Gang Gets Invincible

"The Gang Gets Invincible" is the second episode of the third season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Synopsis
When the Philadelphia Eagles hold open try-outs à la the movie Invincible, Mac, Dennis, and Dee use the event for their own personal competition. Meanwhile, Frank and Charlie go to a tailgate party, where Frank gets high on LSD and the McPoyle brothers target Charlie yet again.

Recap
10:30AM on a Wednesday

As the Gang argues over the merits of a mouse winning a fight over a scorpion inside Paddy's, Charlie, frustrated, suggests a change of scenery to break up the monotony of hanging out indoors all day. They go to a local park, where Dennis, Dee, Mac, and Frank immediately regret it. Getting up to leave, an ill-thrown football fumbles up to Dennis, who attempts to throw it back to the sweaty, out-of-shape man who jogs up to retrieve it. The man informs the Gang that the "Philadelphia Eagles" are holding tryouts, similar to the 2006 film Invincible.

Back at Paddy's Pub, Dennis and Mac discuss the events of the tryout, including a motivational speech from Donovan McNabb, and inform Dee that they will use the tryouts as the marker to see who between the two of them the better football player is. Dee suggests that she, too, should try out and join in on the competition, but is chastised for being a girl and not being able to try out for the team.

Frank and Charlie come in and announce that they will tailgate the tryouts. Dennis asks Charlie if he is going to break out the Green Man costume, to which he persistently declines despite the spurs of the rest of the gang. He explains that Green Man got him through some tough times in high school, but is done with the character, and just wants to relax at the event.

Later at the Philadelphia Eagles football stadium, the Lincoln Financial Field, Dee approaches Mac and Dennis dressed as a man (named "Cole Armstrong"), and tells them that she will try out with them. Before they finish the conversation, all three learn that the tryouts will not be held at The Link as they had hoped, but at a small neighboring high school. They get on the bus, and Frank and Charlie follow them. On the bus, Doyle McPoyle, brother of the McPoyle twins, fusses with Mac and Dennis, angry that they don’t believe he can make the team.

At the high school, Frank and Charlie set up their tailgate, but the McPoyle twins invade their space with a large mobile home. Charlie, having a history with the McPoyles, is upset at their presence. When he asks them to move their mobile home, they decline because of the space they need for their family. A dozen members of the McPoyles family spill out of the old trailer.

Meanwhile on the tryout field, Dee, Mac, and Dennis anxiously await the arrival of Donovan McNabb, but are crushed to see an impersonator drive up in an old, inexpensive car. The man, who looks little like the Eagles quarterback, advertises McDonalds products, and abruptly leaves after demanding his paycheck.

Back at the tailgate, Frank ingests LSD for its hallucinogenic effects, and secretly puts it in a beer he gives to Charlie. He then goes to the restroom inside the McPoyle trailer, but as he attempts to leave, he becomes locked in.

As the tryouts commence, Mac and Dennis quickly learn the rigors of contact football are far too strenuous. Mac is forcefully tackled by Doyle McPoyle, and Dennis is hit in the head by a football. Dee, however, has found a unique skill: she is able to kick the football long distances because of her long, slender body and "stork-like" wide feet.

Upset, Mac and Dennis seek Frank’s advice at the tailgate. Arriving, they see Charlie, dressed as Green Man, dancing with the McPoyles family in an acid-induced trance. The McPoyle twins approach them, excited, and announce that their brother Doyle has been invited to the Eagles training camp. Uninterested, Mac and Dennis search for Frank. They find him nearby in a trash can, also under the effects of the LSD.

On the tryout field, Dee reveals to the remaining participants and coach that she is in fact a woman, and gloats that she will kick the football 60 yards to show that women can be as good a football player as men. As she punts, she shatters the bones in her foot.

Dee hurries to meet up with the rest of the Gang, who are all trying to coax Frank into giving up the firearm he is waving around. After Mac and Dennis brag that they were right about Dee not being good enough for the Eagles, Frank accidentally fires his gun at Doyle McPoyle, who screams because he is shot in his leg.

The episode ends with the Gang frantically running from the scene of the accident.

Alliances

 * Frank and Charlie do drugs together.
 * Mac and Dennis try to out-perform Dee.

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

 * Faizon Love as Coach
 * Jimmi Simpson as Liam McPoyle
 * Nate Mooney as Ryan McPoyle
 * Bob Rusch as Doyle McPoyle
 * Artemis Pebdani as Artemis
 * Geoffrey Owens as Middle Age Black Guy (McNabb Imposter)

Co-Starring

 * Steven Lee Allen as Fat Guy
 * Philip Newby as Nebbish Guy
 * Thesy Surface as Margaret McPoyle

Trivia

 * This episode is a parody of the movie Invincible starring Mark Wahlberg (the true story of a 30 year old bartender who attends open tryouts for the Philadelphia Eagles and makes the team).
 * The coach refers to "the New Kids on the Block" movie as being the reason they&apos;re having the tryouts, but Invincible starred Mark Wahlberg, who was not in New Kids on the Block—that was his brother Donnie.
 * In Season 7, the Donovan McNabb imposter will make an appearance in "Frank's Pretty Woman", this time claiming at first to be Tiger Woods, and then, after Dee recognizes him, as actor Don Cheadle.
 * According to Rob McElhenney, Charlie's Green Man character is actually a homage of a doctor friend who used to dress in a green body suit after Eagles games.
 * This episode has a production code IP03010, and was written to air after "The Gang Gets Held Hostage" which explains why Charlie says about Margaret "Oh, good to see her again. Good. She doesn&apos;t know what I&apos;m saying, right?".
 * In this episode, we get to hear the inner thoughts of every member of the Gang with the exception of Mac.
 * This is the debut of Green Man on Sunny.
 * Dennis&apos; prediction that Frank shooting Doyle in the leg will "bite us in the ass" comes true 2 episodes later, in the episode "The Gang Gets Held Hostage".
 * Though we have seen Frank being very careless with his gun, and even firing it in the episode "Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad", this is the first time he actually shoots someone with it. (The other time this happens in the series, so far, is in the episode "Storm of the Century.")
 * The football field the Gang practices on during this episode is located at Ulysses S. Grant High-school, a popular filming location for various movies, shows, and music videos.

Quotes
"This is going to be exactly like Woodstock..."

- frank

"Shut up about that! I survived on hand soap and toilet water for three days. The memory haunts me."

- frank

"I'm gonna make Mac look so bad. My form is perfect, I'm like Jerry Rice. Feel that stride. So fluid and fast. I've got the stride of a gazelle. A beautiful, beautiful gazelle person. My body is achieving a perfect symmetry right now. It's that long lean muscle that I've worked so hard to achieve. I should've popped my shirt off. Goddammit. I should've popped that shirt off. I wonder if any women are watching from the sidelines?"

- dennis

"Man, this is crazy. You're dancing with the entire McPoyle family. These people are freak shows, man, freaks! But you're keeping you're cool. You're keeping you're cool, you know why? Because you are the Green Man. Green Man is saving your life right now, bro. Just go with the flow."

- charlie

"WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! When the hell did I put Green Man on?"

- charlie

"That lizard talks!!!"

- frank

"We don't have time for this! Frank, just give us the gun!"

- mac


 * [Frank points the gun at Mac and Dennis]

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... !"

- dennis


 * Donovan McNabb Impersonator: Hey guys, I'm Donovan McNabb, and I play quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. And I'm here to tell you that you can too, if you start every day with a hearty breakfast from McDonald's. Like the new sausage/egg McGriddle Value Meal, available now for a limited time for under five dollars. Remember, guys, real champs eat at McDonald's. I'm lovin' it! (To the coach) Can I get the check?