It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia's 'The Gang Escapes' Is The Perfect Brexit Analogy You Didn't Know You Needed

Brexit has been a dark and absurd time in UK politics. The government is in disarray, tearing itself apart over its inability to manage the kingdom’s democratic decision to separate from the European Union. If Brexit were a show it would make for morbidly fascinating viewing. It's been comical, emotional and often brain cell depletingly (yes, it’s a verb now) frustrating.

If Brexit really were a show it would be lucky to last anywhere near as long as It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, now in its 13th Season. For the uninitiated, It’s Always Sunny features a group of constantly bickering friends and relatives: siblings Dee and Dennis, their father Frank and best friends Mac and Charlie. Together they somehow keep Paddy’s Pub, a bar with practically no customers, afloat. In each episode, the gang end up in some ridiculous situation or hatch a ludicrous scheme from which the hilarity ensues. Despite losing its way on occasion, the show has remained consistently black, provocative and above all, hysterical.

In Episode 2 of Season 13 - The Gang Escapes, US comedy and UK politics cross over thematically in what we're now calling Brexit X Sunny. Let’s take a look at the paralleled antics of self-obsessed, scheming, bar owners and power-mad, bungling, parliamentarians. SPOILERS ahead.

The Gang Escapes opens with Dee breaking the news to the rest of the gang that she’s signed them up to take part in a team-building Escape Room experience. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, a group of people are locked in a room, given clues to solve and the ultimate goal is to work as a team to escape the room.

For convenience, this particular Escape Room is located in Dennis’ apartment. This allows the gang to uncover aspects of his disturbingly warped personal life - something explored heavily throughout all 13 Seasons; hilarious but also horrifying. Upon entering the room, practically the first decision made is to lock away Dee, the woman, so the men can get to work. The four men then proceed to break into two teams, each concealing information from the other, directly going against the ‘work as a team’ ethic. The dynamics become more about who is in charge, manifesting itself as whoever is chewing gum, than tackling the task at hand.

These separate teams can be looked at as the butting heads of the UK Government and their opposition or even as the disparately warring factions within each of the leading political parties. When attention should have been turned to agreeing on a way forward and putting procedures in place for the UK to leave Europe, they instead chose to fight amongst themselves. The actual goal of delivering Brexit was made a secondary one. This led to a general election being called in an attempt to reinforce the Government’s grip on power but it completely backfired, weakening their position. Later, a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister was enacted, also failing miserably.

As the episode progresses, each team uncovers a critical clue to escaping the room; a heart-shaped lock and a heart-shaped key. After searching everywhere for clues (aka smashing the apartment to pieces) the teams discover they each have something the other wants. Despite this realisation, they continue to waste time by vying for power. As all this is going on, Dee is locked away in another room, negotiating her own escape from the game (and Dennis’ bizarre sex dungeon).

You could equate this situation to the political parties continuing to argue that each knows best and refusing to work together to come to a consensus on what would most benefit the country. Similarly, Dee’s separation from the rest of the group shares similarities with Theresa May’s efforts to secure a deal with the EU. Much of the discussions appear to have been conducted behind closed doors with no input from the other parties.

Eventually, the gang reluctantly sit down to discuss a way forward. First, they appoint a speaker, then decide in which order they get to eat their steaks (the literal stakes for success) and finally they open the lock with the key. But not before congratulating themselves on reaching an agreement, you've got to get your priorities right. Upon opening the lock, panic ensues as it reveals a message containing an enormous list of further instructions. This is not the end, it is only the beginning, and there’s no time left to do anything about it. They are ultimately bailed out, just before the time runs out, by the organisers of the escape room game who intervene in a bid to rescue Dee from a terrible fate. It doesn't work but she does survive.

This meeting of minds bears much resemblance to our own houses of parliament, a squabbling den of out of touch, faux civilised, egotists. In the fictional case of It’s Always Sunny, the gang are able to set aside their differences and agree on a clear way forward. In Brexit reality, there were a number of potential ways forward yet none could be agreed upon. This meant the time leading up to the original deadline was simply wasted and there was no due consideration of what would actually happen after an agreement was reached. Ultimately just before time ran out, the EU had to intervene, agreeing to an extension in a bid to rescue the UK from a terrible fate - crashing out of Europe with no deal.

Of course, now that there’s a new deadline of 31st October, surely everyone has focused their attention on delivering Brexit (or otherwise cancelling it). Well, you’d think so wouldn’t you? Quite comically though, the Prime Minister has been forced to resign (aka lock away the woman) and we’re back at square one. Potential new leaders are slithering out of the shadows looking to chew upon that sweet, sweet gum of power and ultimately the delivery of Brexit is, once again, taking a back seat.

With the new deadline far closer than it appears, there's a real fear that at the point of opening that heart-shaped lock with that heart-shaped key, there will still be much left to achieve with little time to achieve it.

We haven't quite reached that final moment of panicked realisation the gang experienced, but if the UK is leaving Europe this Halloween with all of the hard work still to be done, it could end up being a real horror show.

Quite a depressing thought. Why not forget your political and economic worries and just kick back and watch It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia instead? You're guaranteed to have a better time.

Peace.

This article is just a bit of fun and not intended to be a serious commentary on Brexit and is not written with the intention of expressing any political viewpoint. Just chill out okay?