Thinking about the way Mac misremembers Dennis leaving. In his own mind, he wishes he left with Dennis, but in reality he didn't. He let Dennis walk away and out of his life. He didn't chase after Dennis, but he wishes he did.
A theory for why Dennis acts different towards Mac after returning from North Dakota is that Dennis is resentful towards Mac for this very reason. Mac let him walk away. He had always thought Mac would be there by his side, to catch him when he faltered, but Mac had failed him. Dennis was waiting for someone to chase him, and it should have been Mac, but Mac didn't. Mac didn't even bat an eye. Mac let Dennis slip away, and this is something he will never forget.
When Dennis was away, he never checked in with Mac. We know he gave Mac a fake number, so Mac couldn't contact him, but Dennis has Mac's number memorized. He could've called Mac, but he never did. Maybe he was avoiding Mac. Maybe he didn't want to show that he cared for Mac when, in his mind, Mac didn't care about him.
I wonder if Mac is aware of this. I wonder if this is why Mac wishes he had chased after Dennis. I wonder if Mac remembers that night this way because it's what he so badly wishes had happened. He wishes he had followed Dennis, but he didn't.
Maybe he thinks Dennis would love him if he had.
how did the most uncomfortable show in the world end up being my comfort show
my favourite thing about macdennis is their weird domestic habits like wdym they rented all their furniture for more than two decades instead of buying them. they rented the predator movie each time too even though it's their favourite movie that they've watched 30 times in the last two months. mac peels dennis' apples for him and dennis isn't allowed to eat apples with them. they have monthly dinners that they look forward to where they dress nicely and go to fancy restaurants. MONTHLY. mac only knows how to cook boxed mac and cheese and dennis screams at him for this but doesn't consider taking up cooking himself ofc. they make a room in their suburbs house a trash room and paste fresherners all over the room bc they don't know how to just take out the trash like normal people. they need two rooms and two bathrooms at minimum as a home, and bc they can't find that, they'd rather sleep with dee and an old man in one bed in a house with only one bathroom. the fact that basically nothing in their house before the fire belonged to mac, and dennis supposedly hates living with mac and yet still does even though they're pushing 50. they seem to share their finance, and dennis tells mac to stop buying the rock drinks using it. dennis lets mac massage his pecs and dye his hair. they do all this and yet dennis acts like mac is insane for acting like they're a couple.
it's me, i'm people
[screencaps and dialogue taken from the original Sunny pilot. Crazy that the nature of Mac and Dennis' relationship was already coming into question before the show even existed.]
When ppl don’t genuinely ship macden/ think they wouldn’t be romantically involved it’s like… are you watching the show? What season are you on??? … they’re literally so in love? They’re literally desperate for each other. It’s sooooo obvious.