9x01 The Gang Broke Dee

[8.7/10] An excellent kickoff to Season 9. I’ve often bristled at the way the show escalated its “Dee is the butt monkey” gags over the years, but this episode almost makes them all worth it, both by exploring that idea and taking it to its simultaneously logical and absolutely deranged endpoint, as is the purview of IASIP.

I especially like Dee hitting rock bottom and then having an unassuming rise through the comedy world. There’s a lot of the usual tropes for this sort of thing, but Kaitlin Olson is on fire delivering them, the riffs on the world of stand-up comedy are pretty damn funny, and the editing and montages are perfect. Dennis’s frustration and eventual breakdown at his inability to control his sister makes for an amusing and revealing parallel journey for him. And it’s a nice episode for guest stars, whether it’s Borat’s handler from Borat, Dr. Taub from House, or Huell from Breaking Bad.

I especially enjoy the ending, which not only pulls out the rug from the audience and the conventional “star achieves success but then flops” narrative the show seemed to be deploying, but which turns into yet another insane, byzantine plot to return things to the status quo, while actually setting the Reynolds twins off even worse than before.

Overall, an excellent episode that starts Season 9 off right!