Dennis Finally Admits That Frank Is the ‘De Facto Leader’ on ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’

Years ago, Dennis and Deandra Reynolds furiously refused to allow their father Frank to join the Paddy’s Pub Gang. Today, Frank ain’t their father – he’s the gang leader.

For the last two decades, the main characters of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia have been in a constant power struggle over who gets to call the shots at their bar, who gets the last popper, who belongs on the billboard and who pooped the bed. Fighting, arguing, angling for credit and demanding to be in charge of that week’s scheme is essentially the entire group dynamic on Always Sunny, which makes the best manipulator the most powerful member of the Gang.

Now, Dennis Reynolds is no stranger to the intricacies of manipulation, as he prides himself in his ability to make the people closest to him do his bidding. In fact, it’s Dennis’ long-standing obsession with control over human beings that makes one throwaway line in the second episode of tonight’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 17 premiere double-header, “Frank is in a Coma,” so strange.

While gazing upon Frank’s comatose body, Dennis remarks to his compatriots, “This man was our de facto leader and now he is literal dead weight!” I guess even the Golden God must bow to someone.

In terms of influence over the business side of Paddy's Pub, there's no question that Frank is the leader, seeing as he's owned the very land underneath Paddy's since the Season Two episode “The Gang Goes Jihad.” Against the urging of Dennis and Dee, Charlie and Mac not only admitted Frank into the Gang upon learning of his purchase, but Mac even named Frank the leader of the group. Ever since then, Frank has fashioned himself as the group's puppeteer, guiding the Gang with his purse strings and easily influencing their alcohol-damaged minds.

Even still, Dennis has, historically, refused to bow to authority and has seen himself as a master manipulator without equal. Through his eloquence and his charisma, Dennis regularly acts as the orchestrator of the Gang's schemes, often to Frank's ire. And, while their most direct conflict came to a stalemate in “Reynolds vs. Reynolds: The Cereal Defense,” seeing as it was Dee's donkey-brained idea to recreate the events of the car crash that caused the dispute, up until now, Dennis has not exactly shown deference to his fake father's leadership.

Perhaps it's the personal growth he experienced when he went on a mind journey to lower his blood pressure and calm his anger in the Season 16 finale. Maybe he's just grown tired of trying to be the top dog as he's gotten older. Or, alternatively, Dennis could simply be waiting out the elderly, whoring, sewer-exploring millionaire who raised him until Frank passes away for real so that Dennis can take the reins and the riches from his old man.

Whatever inspired Dennis' admission, clearly, he's correct about the power that Frank wields over the group – after all, Frank wasn't even in a coma when Dennis declared him the leader. He was cake!