Let's Talk about the Bathroom Situation...

No, not The Bathroom Problem (that was solved in Season 13), and not Charlie’s bathroom reveal (and subsequent re-hiding) in Season 16, either; I’m talking about the bathroom debate that’s existed amongst Sunny fans for over a decade now: Mac and Dennis’ bathroom situation. 

For a show that loves to joke about piss and shit all the time, there’s a surprising lack of bathroom appearances in one of Sunny’s more-featured locations, Mac and Dennis’ apartment (Seasons 10-12 notwithstanding, yet still inclusive). In fact, over the span of sixteen seasons, we’ve seen only a few snippets of Dennis’ bathroom (in Aluminum Monster and Dee Gives Birth, though it’s mentioned a couple more times on top of that, i.e. in The Gang Gets Romantic), and there’s never been a single mention (let alone sighting) of another bathroom in their apartment. This omission has created a long-standing debate among fans of the show as to whether or not “Mac’s Bathroom” exists. 

The assumption that Mac has a bathroom hinges on two main ideas: 

1. It’s unlikely a two-bed, one-bath apartment has its only bathroom as an ensuite (though not unheard of, especially in a WWI-era rent-stabilized building like the one Mac and Dennis live in), and there are multiple doors in the apartment that we’ve ‘never’ seen behind, which could contain a second bathroom; and 
2. Mac exclusively refers to the bathroom in Dennis’ room as “your bathroom” or “Dennis’ bathroom." 

Addressing 1. the case of the apartment layout and the “mystery doors” in Mac and Dennis’ apartment...

The first door that could contain Mac's Bathroom is inside his bedroom: 

Most logically where his bathroom would be, however near impossible to actually be a bathroom due to the layout of their apartment. The other side of Mac’s interior wall is the living room, and the thickness of that wall would make room in that space for a shallow closet, at best: 

However, with some suspension of disbelief, it can be imagined that the room behind that door is large enough for a small ensuite (as Mac's bedroom logically must jut out deeper than the living room wall, this is only a slightly smaller stretch of the imagination). 

The second door that could contain Mac's Bathroom is the one opposite Mac’s bedroom door in the kitchen:

This could be a bathroom, however in the second season this door is actually seen to be leading to the interior hallway of the apartment building: 

Due to the set of Mac and Dennis' apartment being reworked in the third season and forward, the front door was reestablished to be the door in the living room we are currently familiar with. Though, since Mac and Dennis are fictional characters supposedly still living in the same apartment since 1998, is believing the kitchen door became Mac's Bathroom any different than accepting the layout of Mac and Dennis' bedroom doors changed? Some think not, but many prefer to believe that door is a blocked off exit to the hallway or just became a closet (once again thinking about the layout of the apartment, anything behind that door would intersect with the building's hallway).

Addressing 2. the case of Mac’s phrasing... 

This is damning evidence for some toward the existence of Mac’s Bathroom, following the idea that “Dennis’ Bathroom” is named as such because “Mac’s Bathroom” exists. The claim follows that it would be referred to as “the bathroom” or “our bathroom” if Mac was also using it. However, many see Mac's choice of language as nothing to do with the bathroom situation itself, but simply reenforcement of Mac and Dennis’ dynamic in apartment ownership. As established in Mac Fights Gay Marriage, the apartment is only in Dennis’ name, and Dennis believes that means he has a right to claim anything in it as solely his. The bathroom being inside Dennis’ room means it “belongs” to him whether or not it is also the bathroom Mac uses, the possessive language simply reenforces the idea that Dennis is in control and Mac is simply afforded the luxury of getting to live in his space (and he abides by that idea). 

There is another argument for/against Mac’s Bathroom that I've seen: the fact that in Mac and Dennis Move to the Suburbs the pair specify that they need an apartment with at least two bathrooms: 

As they’re looking for a place similar to their old apartment, this can be interpreted as what they used to have. However, it could also be just as true that they’re stating this as what they’re hoping to find in escaping living with Dee, as they’ve been dealing with sharing her ensuite between the three of them for well over a year at that point (with very little complaining, all things considered). 

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So there are multiple cases for Mac’s Bathroom existing, yet they all have reasonable rebuttals attached to them. Just pulling from canon, it really is up to personal interpretation and/or individual preference whether or not Mac’s Bathroom exists (hence why the debate is so long-standing). 

Personally, I’ve always preferred to take the one-bathroom side of the argument for a very simple reason: it’s funnier. There’s a heap of comedic potential built into their dynamic as roommates when you consider the fact that Mac always needs access to Dennis’ bedroom in order to use the bathroom (and the fact that Dennis can easily block Mac’s access to the bathroom if he wants to). Taking into account how often they get pissed at each other, how often they like to fuck with each other, and the fact that Mac has a tendency to burst into Dennis’ room uninvited and/or unwelcome, it’s hard to argue that Dennis being able to (quite literally) gatekeep the toilet from Mac wouldn’t make sense as a perfect part of their insane dynamic. 

However, I’m nothing if not desperate to know what the creators/writers/actors of this very dynamic believe, so when Glenn Howerton returned to my city this weekend to promote his whiskey, Four Walls, I had to take it upon myself to finally get the question across to him (and maybe get an answer). 

Not to lead Glenn any specific way, I simply phrased the question: “How many bathrooms do Mac and Dennis have in their apartment?” 

As you can imagine, his answer made me incredibly happy to hear, but of course Glenn is just one (albeit, major) cog in the wheel that creates canon, so I won’t claim this is definitive proof Mac’s Bathroom does not exist, but it is a great addition to the debate..…though I wonder how Rob would respond? I'll have to ask him one day (if the answer isn’t addressed on Sunny before I’m able to get the question to him). 

And, all that being said, are there any Mac’s Bathroom truthers still out there? Did I miss anything majorly-damning in the case-for?

Let me know,

Seth