The It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Episode That Pays Homage To A Bruce Willis Movie

The gang on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" tends to view the world through the lens of pop culture, and that means there are a tremendous number of references to movies and TV shows throughout the series. Charlie (Charlie Day) has dressed up as Al Pacino's Frank Serpico from "Serpico," for example, and the whole gang made several "Lethal Weapon" sequels with some questionable choices (that led to the episodes being banned from streaming), so it's clear that movies are at the forefront of their minds. In season 3, we got one of the best tributes to a movie ever in the form of "The Gang Gets Held Hostage," which pays homage to the Bruce Willis-led action classic "Die Hard."  

In "The Gang Gets Held Hostage," Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Dee (Kaitlin Olson), Mac (Rob McElhenney), and Charlie get held hostage by the McPoyles, members of a massive inbred family who attended elementary school with Mac and Charlie. As Liam (Jimmi Simpson) and Ryan McPoyle (Nathan Mooney) hold the gang hostage and harass them with the help of their mute sister Margaret (Thesy Surface), Frank (Danny DeVito) is crawling through the air vents, just like Willis's John McClane in "Die Hard." It's pretty funny stuff, and there are several direct, hilarious references to the 1988 John McTiernan classic. 

While the gang is forced to battle against one another in ridiculous challenges, the McPoyles turn up the heat and get everyone in the bar nice and sweaty. Frank is up in the vents because he's looking for his will, which Charlie hid up there, and we see him crawling around in a white tank top, sweating, using a lighter to see and a walkie-talkie to communicate with Mac, just like John McClane chatted with Sgt. Powell (Reginald VelJohnson) in "Die Hard." After he and Charlie meet up in Charlie's bad room (where he goes to break bottles), they escape through the vents together, ending up in a stand-off with the McPoyles. Then, pulling another move from the McClane playbook, Frank duct-tapes his gun to his back, so when he puts his hands behind his head at gunpoint, he's able to draw the weapon and change the stakes. He even yells a version of McClane's most famous line, although he uses the TV-approved version from "Die Hard 2," shouting: "Yippee-ki-yay, Mr. Falcon!" as he aims for the McPoyles. 

It's a pretty big stretch to consider Frank as a hero in any context, but he does save the day in this instance, as the McPoyles begin to flee. There's one more great little tribute in store, and it's a fairly direct copy of villain Hans Gruber's (Alan Rickman) final moments at the end of "Die Hard." 

As a result of Frank firing his gun, Ryan ends up falling over the side of the building and Liam catches him by the arm, holding on for dear life. Frank pushes Ryan away with a plank of wood, leading to him falling, and it mimics the moment in "Die Hard" when Hans Gruber falls as McClane unclasps his wife's watch so Gruber loses his grip. Just like Hans, Ryan falls in extreme slow-motion, but he doesn't have the full length of a skyscraper like Nakatomi Plaza to fall from, and instead we see him land on his feet on the sidewalk below. The same cannot be said for Hans, however, who I imagine became something akin to a human pancake.

The McPoyles are some of the best side characters in all of "It's Always Sunny," and Liam's protracted scream as Ryan falls is hilarious, as are their line deliveries throughout the episode. (Simpson saying "start breaking bricks wet nips" is among the all-time greatest "Sunny" line deliveries, and this is a show with some incredible ones.) While "The Gang Gets Held Hostage" didn't spoof the movie quite in the same way as the gang's "Lethal Weapon" sequels, it's still a great tribute to an amazing action movie, and it helps set the stage for other action movie-based episodes. Action movies and "It's Always Sunny" are a match made in comedy heaven, and "The Gang Gets Held Hostage" gave us our first taste of how great that mix can be.