The bright side of the Lawyer’s absence throughout the past six seasons is that we could tell ourselves his eye healed and that perhaps he’d moved on from his need for vengeance. Tragically, season 17 confirms his eye was indeed lost for good, and he’s still been reduced to a bitter man. His interactions with Frank in season 17, episode 3, “”Mac and Dennis Become EMTs,” really highlight how futile his hate is; for the Lawyer, that season 11 courtroom episode was the worst day of his life, but for Frank, it was another Tuesday. Frank is a terrible person, but he doesn’t hate the Lawyer. In fact, he doesn’t think of him at all. The Lawyer, in other words, is obsessed with five people who don’t remember he exists when he’s not in the room.
This time around, though, the gang doesn’t just gouge the Lawyer’s eye out: They poison him, throw hot fryer oil on his face, break multiple bones, leave him in a burning vehicle, and frame him for multiple crimes that they themselves committed. “Mac and Dennis Become EMTs” then ends with the Lawyer going to jail, while the entire gang once again gets off scot-free.
It’s funny but depressing. The gang has ruined the Lawyer’s existence about as much as they’ve ruined Cricket’s, but at least Cricket has developed a Zen-like attitude with his life of squalor. Cricket barely seems to understand the negative impact the gang’s had on him, whereas the Lawyer knows exactly where it all went wrong.
What’s also notable about the Lawyer is the clear mid-series shift in how the “Always Sunny” writers approached him. At first, they seemed to prefer him in a voice-of-reason role, but at some point, the show’s creatives must’ve figured it’d be funnier to punish him for his distaste for the gang instead. It’s a surprising change in approach — one that highlights how the gang has grown even more depraved and dangerous over the years — but it’s not one I hope the writers keep doing.
By this point, I say the Lawyer’s suffered enough. Let him be like Carmen from the early seasons, who let her success be her best revenge. Ruining the Lawyer’s life was a fun subversion of expectations, but let’s hope the show subverts them yet again and gives him another win. At the very least, let the poor guy move on.
New episodes of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” premiere Wednesdays at 9pm EST on FXX and drop on Hulu a day later.