A Wedding and/or a Funeral...

 My post Tuesday night might have jumped the gun a little on making a prediction as to what the puppet plot is about, because the next morning, quite a few more photos were discovered in connection with the LinkedIn user's visit to set, revealing quite a bit more about what she saw being filmed!

The contents of these photos (which you can view on Instagram here, or see below) likely reveals that I was way off in my initial prediction of what a puppet plot could be (but hey, we can store it away for another day) as these new photos reveal not only the puppet himself, but the Kelly House, AKA Charlie's Mom's House (RIP) as a significant filming location (along with what appears to be a roof set)! 

These photos, understandably, blew up on social media among fans of the show, and so many comments and ideas about what all this could be about popped up throughout the day, I thought it would be fun to collect and compile the general thoughts/theories fans have come up with due to these new photos:

Mostly everyone seems to be in agreement that this set is a rooftop. Considering the surrounding blue screen (likely to be the Philly skyline you just can't replicate somewhere on-location in LA), the structure behind Mac jutting up and holding outdoor lights and satellite dishes, and the below photo showing a descending ladder and an industrial fan (for the creation of wind?), this seems to be a pretty solid deduction. 

But where, exactly, are they? And what's going on up there? 

Well, as we can see, the characters (excluding Charlie, who is of the Day variant in that photo and not Kelly) are wearing slightly disheveled tuxes, just like those we saw in Rob's parallel post from the bar, and those tuxes are also being worn in two other photo around the Kelly dining table:

Dennis and Mac are sat around the table with Uncle Jack (and the infamous puppet) but, interestingly, Charlie Kelly isn't seen in these photos either. This has led many to believe that whatever is going on in these scenes excludes Charlie. While he was wearing a matching tux in Rob's post, the only photo we see of him in this batch of filming photos is one in which he is on the same rooftop Mac and Dennis were on in his all-black, beanie outfit we first saw from LinkedIn:

The biggest factor dividing the theories as to what's going on here hinges on the idea of what the tuxes are being worn for—a wedding or a funeral? (A tuxedo is considered perhaps the only type of formal wear not appropriate for a funeral, however this is the Gang we're talking about, so we can't really rule out anything based on universal appropriateness.) Season 17's finale gave us a case for both events occurring this year, as Frank proposed only seconds before an in-memoriam for Lynne Marie Stewart played. While it has yet to be confirmed whether or not Season 18 will follow through on Frank's proposal or translate Lynne's death via the death of her character, there have been hints RCG intend to make Season 18 continuous, so fans are almost universally speculating based on one of these ideas, with many betting on both not only happening, but intertwining:

As Twitter user Boygeniusmac pointed out, we saw a champagne bottle and glasses in an earlier photo at Mac and Dennis' apartment, as well as the boys in suits in the bar. The tuxes and the champagne indicates that there was a celebration of some kind (and let's not forget this Season's graphic, confetti!), but the change in location with Uncle Jack seems to indicate that they're called over to the Kelly House for something related to Bonnie's death. She theorized that if this has something to do with Bonnie's will, the resulting roof moments (and Charlie's attire) could be related to a heist kind of plot taking place at the Kelly house, where the guys are all looking to obtain something valuable that was revealed in the will reading, screwing each other over in pairs. 

Tumblr user badn3w similarly theorized that a Frank wedding (or Dee & Dennis Birthday) might overlap with Bonnie's passing, with the guys celebrating in the bar only to rush over to the Kelly House upon hearing the news of her passing. They pointed out that if the celebration event was for Frank's wedding, then the culminating news that Charlie has lost his mother would send him into a flurry, and the resulting plot might be more uplifting, with Mac and Dennis being there for Charlie as he deals with losing Frank and his mom. 

Or, a resulting moment that's not as uplifting, as Tumblr user Sunnykeysmash theorized, "I thiiink maybe they had such a bad day (probably for bonnie's funeral?) that they want to jump off that roof."

But what about the puppet? That is where this all started, after all.  Well, Twitter user benkenobilover theorized that the doll could be Uncle Jack's representation of Charlie, which would explain Charlie's absence in the house and the puppet's matching tuxedo. (I definitely could get on board with this idea, especially seeing Uncle Jack is the puppeteer. If Bonnie is gone and Charlie has no reason to come around, this could be Uncle Jack's creepy way of coping.) Others think the puppet could be an heirloom of some kind, left by Bonnie in her will, while Tumblr user badn3w pointed out that the puppet could simply be Uncle Jack's latest scheme to lure in children... which, yeah. Fair assumption. But my favorite puppet theory came from Twitter user charliedayliker:

"Bonnie Kelly has passed away, but Jack Kelly claims that her ghost has possessed that puppet. There is a dispute with Jack Kelly on who should continue to live in Charlie's childhood home, and Mac and Dennis are attempting to negotiate with him (and the puppet) about the future of the house/its residents. This attempt is unsuccessful, likely due to the objections of the puppet, and Mrs. Mac is forced to move out of the house. Mac immediately moves her in with him and Dennis, creating a situation Dennis finds untenable. It's possible this leads to the scene with Mac and Dennis on the roof--maybe an argument about Mrs. Mac staying with them? Dennis hatches a plan with Charlie to trick Uncle Jack into believing that he was either wrong about the ghost haunting the puppet (by creating a separate haunting) or that the haunted puppet has changed its mind about the house. (In my wildest dreams, this scheme results in Uncle Jack's death)."

This sounds like a very fun "coping with death" episode; I would love to see it. 

(And I think it probably goes without saying that many are speculating that the scene on the rooftop with Mac and Dennis alone could be a romantic confession of some kind.)

My thoughts? Well, while I had already become emotionally invested in my puppet show PBS commentary episode idea, these photos have me rethinking a lot, especially given how much we have to work with and the varying theories other people have provided. 

First things first, I believe very strongly that these set moments are all confined to one location — the Kelly House. While the brick facade and green door are certainly indicative of Paddy's, they're also traits belonging to the Kelly house: 

In addition, the rooftop of Paddy's has been seen across numerous episodes, and the surface area is much wider than the room they've given on this new set, as well as the fact that the satellite dish affixed to the exit really belongs to residential property:

And... interestingly enough, the actual house the show uses as the exterior B-roll was sold in 2022, and the listing photos are still visible, revealing an actual roof deck juts out of the attic: 

This looks pretty similar to the set built for this scene (with the exception of the door being blue, but based on the photos in the listing, the real owners repainted the front door from green to blue, something Ms. Kelly never did), down to the wooden railing on the rooftop. I initially thought the railing part of the set was just built for the actors’ safety (ok, it’s for sure in part for the actors’ safety), but seeing this photo of the IRL deck makes the Kelly house even more of a damning location for this rooftop set. 

And given their wardrobe, the scene of Mac and Dennis on the rooftop most likely occurs during the same visit as the scene in which they're around the table with Uncle Jack and the puppet. (Mac is clearly holding something in this scene, and while it could be a prop, I am inclined to believe this is actually Rob holding a script based on crew members being visible on the monitors:

(In fact, I think all of these BTS photos were taken before/after "cut" was called.) 

However, this doesn't have me ruling out the theory that the guys are there in connection with some kind of will reading or estate planning due to Bonnie's passing, pulled in from a separate event that would call for tuxes (like others, the leading theory being Frank's wedding). 

(Something benkenobilover pointed out as well is that Mac is wearing a different tie (bolo) than he was in the picture Rob shared (bow), which could indicate that the actors specifically altered their wardrobes to match their Underage Drinking selves for the parallel... So it might be a real possibility that Charlie Day put on the tux for the photo despite Charlie Kelly not wearing one in any scene. In which event, this leads even more toward the idea that two plots have merged, with Charlie dealing with his mom's death while Mac and Dennis are dealing with Frank's wedding (hence the champagne in their apartment), and their roles either swapping for a minute or merging.)

I theorize that, once at the Kelly house, Mac and Dennis meet with Uncle Jack, who is an attorney and most likely the executor for (in charge of) Bonnie's will (I mean, the Gang did jail the only other attorney they know). The two of them learn of something regarding Bonnie's estate (or come up with an idea) that calls for a sidebar, and they retreat to the roof to speak alone. (Potentially, the puppet is the "something" related to the will, but, yeah, seeing it connected to Uncle Jack, I am appropriately worried that it's actually just a creepy child lure.) Following this, we see Charlie and Dennis in what I originally assumed were puppeteer outfits, but could also pass for spy/burglar outfits, on the same rooftop set belonging to the Kelly house. Based on the lighting through the monitors, it's clear that the scene with the two of them is set at night:

I think it's conceivable, then, that the two of them have returned to the house to steal whatever the "something" is that Mac and Dennis learned of. 

And just as my prior puppet plot idea was biased, this one certainly is too, because The Gang Gets Trapped is one of my favorite episodes and I've been dying for another heist plot.

Thanks to everyone who contributed their thoughts/ideas for what this episode could be! We could be close, but I know for certain that we haven't managed to deduce close to the actual insanity RCG have cooked up here... (But look, I'm keeping all of the submissions, and if anyone was right on the money, I'll mail you a script of your choosing.)

-Seth