How Did the ‘Abbott Elementary' and ‘It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' Crossover End?

Cosmopolitan

10-07-2025

When something is nice, why not do it twice? That's precisely what FXX delivered this week with the second (and final) installment of the Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia crossover saga. During the Season 17 premiere of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, viewers were once again treated to the addition of ABC's beloved Abbott characters. So how did these two very different worlds end up colliding for a second time? The answer may surprise you.
Here's everything you need to know about the Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia crossover: Part 2.
The Paddy's Pub gang found themselves on the Abbott teachers' terrain back in January during an episode of Abbott Elementary, but it turns out that there was a lot more going on behind the scenes than anyone—even the Abbott characters—realized. Instead of having these two groups reunite for a second time under different circumstances, the crossover essentially reintroduced the same episode fans saw on Abbott, but with never-before-seen extra footage of what Charlie, Dee, Frank, Dennis, and Mac got up to during their time in Abbott's hallowed halls.
Throughout the episode, Ava guides viewers through various portions of what the camera crew were able to capture of their guests' deviant behavior. It wasn't that difficult given how often they all forgot they were being recorded and mic'ed. (Bless their stealthless hearts.)
Some of their antics ranged from Dennis creating his own fully functional coffee shop made entirely out of the school's science equipment to Frank peeing in a kid's locker, and all of them cutting the kids in the lunch line. They also auditioned kids for a boy band and tried recruiting some of the taller students for a different school's basketball team. But don't worry, Charlie assured them that they weren't creating a controversial Blind Side/white savior situation since it's a predominantly white school they were helping. And with sound logic like that, how can you argue?
Overall, most of the footage showcased pretty classic Always Sunny behavior, complete with an hours-long impassioned discussion about the importance of 9/11 and how kids today only think of it as a meme, which quickly spiraled into a whirlwind of conspiracy theories. (Did you know the government controls the weather?) They even recruited some Abbott teachers to perform an updated version of Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start the Fire' as a way to educate the students about 9/11—that is, until they found out Fall Out Boy did basically the same thing already, only better.
All in all, it's what we've come to love and expect from this band of miscreants. What wasn't expected—and what was undoubtedly the most shocking thing to come out of the episode—was seeing several Abbott characters do the unthinkable: use swear words. (Gasp!) F words, S words, even C words were thrown around by these usually very G-rated teachers. It was so strange and something I'm never going to be able to unhear. Methinks we aren't on broadcast television anymore, Toto. Welcome to the wonderful world of FXX, Abbott!
In the end, the gang did actually invite the Abbott teachers to Paddy's Pub, which felt like a rite of passage at this point. They even presented their new teacher friends with a gift: a brand new espresso machine, given how appalling the coffee was in the teacher's lounge. However, their kind gesture did come with an ulterior motive. While they entertained the teachers at the pub, Frank was busy stealing 100 feet of copper piping over at the school—something he knew right away could be a gold mine for them. But Ava wasn't sweating it since the state was going to make them remove those pipes anyway, so Frank actually ended up saving them some money. I guess crime really does pay—and if that isn't a fitting life lesson to come out of this show, then what is?