#the janitor always mops twice

[silverview]

🥧

[not-roboto]

"And that's when trouble walked in like it always does... on a great set of legs."

[charlieshorseshirt]

a "The Janitor Always Mops Twice" gifset i never finished

[charliework16]

what in the world was in the water this episode

[dick-chugger]

Charlie was so real for this

[ierofrnkk]

Dizzy. Room is spinning ougghhhh I am unwell

[gothmacbookpro]

noir deetress 🖤 for @lesbee-dee

[mac-n-den]

The Janitor Always Mops Twice

[gayclubsoap]

"travelling with charlie

my detective darling

my agent hasn't solved a case

my agent never finds a trace

but charlie has always style

charlie is always nice

(poor charlie)"

[nightcrawlerzincorporated]

i hate times up me and all my homies hate times up

also gonna throw the janitor always mops twice in here cuz i wanna hear u talk abt it. disappointment central right there

Oh boy. Disagree. I like BOTH those episodes. Sorry, I know you wanted hate but I can only give love.

I will explain myself.

Times Up: I actually in my drafts have a huge essay about Times Up half finished that I hope to finish some day soon because I have so many thoughts about it but for this post I will try and keep it brief. Key word being TRY as I could talk for days about Times Up haha.

I get a lot of people hate it for shipping reasons but if you take a step back from that it's a really good episode about sexual assault imo. (tw for discussions about fictional sexual assault and how the episode comments on real assault ahead)

The fact that the episode takes place in a sexual assault seminar about workplace sexual harassment highlights the fact that the gang are all coworkers, reminding the audience that that adds a specific dynamic to the ways the gang treat one another, even as lifelong friends. Now, I will talk about the shipping more in that essay I'm writing, but for now I want to talk about the episode outside of that. Each character represents a different version of sexual harassment/assault.

Mac is careless, doing things like lifting Dee into the air by her crotch or trying to kiss Dennis not because he wants to harm either of them, but because he does things without thinking a lot of the time and is very impulsive (which is very in character for him imo!). But regardless of his motivation, those two things are still both sexual harassment.

Charlie thinks he stalked (is it actually canon that he stopped stalking her after they slept together or does he still do it? that was always unclear to me) The Waitress as a sign of love, as a lot of stalkers do. Again, something that's been very consistent with his character. But just like with Mac, his motivation doesn't matter, his actions do.

Frank is of course our stereotypical Quid Pro Quo case, more obviously in your face about the way he harmed women who worked under him at his old company. I get why some wouldn't find the way they use that for comic relief funny, but I personally like the way they handle it--there's never a doubt in anyone's mind that Frank hurt those women, and the joke is always on Frank finally feeling the heat he deserves for what he did to them and not on the victims. It doesn't matter that that was "what the times were like back that", Frank deserves to at the very least feel shitty for what he did. His part also highlights exactly why some states want to get rid of statute of limitation laws--which yeah! They should get rid of them! Because of the exact reason the episode shows--just because it happened years ago doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Dee spends the whole episode on her high horse because she sees the issue as a women vs men issue (as a lot of people do!) and doesn't think that she could ever possibly be persecuted since she's a woman. But that doesn't matter--she's still canonically assaulted multiple men! And I know some people don't like that they had it be that she raped Charlie specifically but I think it was a good writing decision. Here me out. The vast majority of rape is perpetrated by family members or close friends, because those are most often the people who are close enough to us to cause that kind of harm and manipulate victims into staying quiet. The reveal that Dee raped Charlie is another hard hitting point the episode is making about SA--that you can be friends with someone, even have romantic chemistry with them, but that doesn't excuse raping them. Even if, as in Dee's case, she didn't really think about what she was doing or conceptualize it as rape until it was pointed out to her. The point is that none of the characters THINK they are perpetrators, that they all have reasons and excuses that justify the things they do (just like real life perpetrators always have some sort of internal reason justifying their actions), but that doesn't change the facts of what they did. If the fact that all the characters are perpetrators to some degree makes you comfortable--good! It should! It's trying to challenge perceptions about assault, challenge the idea of what a victim looks like, what a perpetrator looks like, how the same person can be both a victim and a perpetrator, and to show how normalized assault is in the gang's lives and in society in general.

Now, savvy readers may have noticed I haven't mentioned Dennis yet. And that's because I think a lot of people misunderstand the way Dennis is being used in this episode, so I wanted to lay the groundwork for his section first. A lot of people dislike that Dennis is the one to point out the flaws of the others and the fact that Dennis is the one who set up the seminar when he's the worst of them all but--that's kind of the point. Dennis commits serial sexual assault and is able to get away with it because he cloaks himself in the progressive language of the MeToo movement and falsifies evidence. Dennis is the most dangerous of all because unlike the others, he DOES understand consent, he is FULLY AWARE that what he's doing is assault and therefor knows exactly what he needs to do to legally hide it. Dennis is NOT supposed to be in the right here. Like the audience surrogates (the people hired to teach the seminar), we are supposed to think Dennis is an idiot and kind of terrifying, not agree with everything he says just because he knows which words to use.

A lot of people call this episode "wildly out of character" but I don't understand that at all--it follows up on things which have been previously established with each character. The whole point is that the world is changing, they can't keep treating people and each other the way they do and keep expecting to get away with it. Even for someone like Dennis who has a whole system of manipulation and all these practiced ways not to get caught Time. Is. UP! The point is that, while Dennis may be better at getting away with shit than the others, that doesn't mean he's safe and that's a good thing. It feels very hopeful to me. And yeah I think it's funny. I know that's very subjective so I don't really know how to explain beyond "it makes me hahaha".

Mops Twice: I'm not sure why this episode would be considered "disappointing" (I'd love to know why you describe it that way!) because I think it's super fun. I love the references to the way old films were edited and shot, I love the whole grey-scale with red thing the episode has going on--it gives it a very unique flavor. I love the costumes, I love the way Charlie's narration is written like he's a detective in an old serial. I love the twist that The Waitress is running things and poisoning people It's so girlboss of her and one of the most fun things they've done with her character imo. I know people don't like that The Waitress is flirty with Charlie, but that's because the episode is from Charlie's perspective, it's how he interprets their probably not at all actually flirty interactions. Plus this episode is just really funny to me. My wife and I quote "bleach, the universal poison antidote" at each other all the time. I love Charlie focused episodes and this is no exception. And I love when they do new and more out there things like this too. I think it's part of what gives the series it's personality and I love it.

[silverview]

category five charlie tummy moment

[chaotictomtom]

april 2020

still doesn't think this portrait is shite so 😏 that's cool

film noir always sunny episode you'll always be famous

[hewouldntbeafuckingpoolguy]

i dont know cause im not lookin at ya

[charliework16]

babygirl!

[gaydennisreynolds]

have I publically lost my shit about Dennis in the janitor always mops twice yet or has that all been in my head. because. have you ever been in a storm Tumblr mutuals...

[gothmacbookpro]

mac and dennis dancing?

Here you go 🖤🖤🖤