Lynne Marie Stewart Was the Least Awful Parent on ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ By A Mile

Without the late, great Lynne Marie Stewart keeping him safe, we fear for Charlie Kelly’s life. Now who is going to flip those light switches on and off three times?

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is, on the whole, not a show about happy families and protective parents — with one exception. While Dennis, Dee and Mac certainly struck out in the upbringing department, Charlie lucked out with his parental guardian, even though he only had the one, and despite the fact that an absolute train of “Santas” turned every Christmas morning into The Polar Express. Bonnie Kelly may not have been a perfect parent, she may have tried to abort Charlie and she definitely didn’t spot the bright, waving red flags when it came to Uncle Jack’s “sleepovers,” but, by God, she did her best with her son, and that’s more than any other mother, father or Frank can say.

On Friday, Stewart passed at the age of 78, prompting heartfelt eulogies from the Always Sunny family. The makers of Always Sunny haven’t yet revealed whether Stewart will have one final posthumous appearance in the series’ upcoming 17th season, which wrapped filming back in December, 2024, but given this opportunity to reflect on Stewart’s immense contributions to the series, let us unofficially declare her character, Bonnie, to be the very best of the very bad Paddy’s Pub parents.

Considering the “competition,” Ms. Kelly’s case for being the “best” parent on Always Sunny is open-and-shut based on the simple fact that she actually loves her son Charlie. While it may seem entirely ordinary and certainly not cause for superlatives when a mother loves her child, let’s look at all the other parents on the show and see if they have even uttered the big-L about their own progeny.

Obviously, Frank doesn’t love Dennis or Dee, and he’s also not their dad anymore — not that Bruce Mathis has particular affection for his bastards, seeing as he’s on the record as calling the twins “the most horrible people alive.” The late Barbara Reynolds clearly considered Dennis to be her ”favorite,” but the mother of the Golden God was as averse to “feelings” as she was to her worst first child Dee. And, as for the McDonalds, Mac has been trying to coax an “I love you” out of his entirely apathetic parents for 16 seasons and counting.

Now, Dee and Dennis are both kind of parents in their own right, but neither of them can hold a candle to Bonnie’s paranoid, obsessive-compulsive and often weepy fondness for her son. Dee acted as Carmen’s surrogate, but resolved never to go through the whole pregancy thing again given that having the one child “sucked a bag of dicks.” Dennis (very briefly) acted as a father figure to his own flesh and blood whom he conceived off-screen under the Brian LeFevre alias, but it took just one episode, “Dennis’ Double Life,” for “Brian” to drive Brian Jr. and Mandy out of both lives.

So, sure, Bonnie effectively raised Charlie in a brothel, and, yeah, she never taught him how to read. But would any other parent on Always Sunny pull out their own teeth to replace their kids’ inheritance? Has any other mother wept at her son’s fake funeral in the last 16 seasons? Attempted abortion be damned, Bonnie loved her Charlie, and that deserves some recognition. In fact, I’d recognize her three times, if I could.