The next day, strange events start happening: Dee (Kaitlin Olson) wakes up with Bell's palsy, Dennis (Glenn Howerton) is unable to fully express his thoughts, and Frank (Danny DeVito) finds blood in his egg.
Among many things that may have contributed where when Dee insulted her neighbor, Bertha Fussy (Rhea Perlman); Frank killing a seagull who entered the bar; and Cricket (David Hornsby) literally cursing Mac for his mistreatment.
Charlie asks Bonnie (Lynne Marie Stewart) about Frank's curse, and she suggests that he should give the seagull a proper burial since it could possess the spirit of a sailor.
In May 2023, FXX reported that the third episode of the sixteenth season would be titled "The Gang Gets Cursed", and was to be directed by Richie Keen and written by executive producer David Hornsby.
[1] In February 2023, Rob McElhenney teased that Chase Utley would return as a guest star for the series, having previously appeared in the sixth season's episode, "The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods".
[3] In its original American broadcast, "The Gang Gets Cursed" was seen by an estimated 0.279 million household viewers and gained a 0.13 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Ray Flook of Bleeding Cool gave the episode a 8.5 out of 10 rating and wrote, "There is no other sitcom out there that could tackle the heavy topic of faith vs. fact and how, even in the face of what we know is common sense, we will still lean on our superstitions for comfort.
"[7] Rendy Jones of Paste praised the use of returning characters, writing, "You can sense how everyone in the show heavily missed their presence, and they make up for it by giving them ample screen time in multiple episodes.
"[8] Emily Zemler of The New York Observer considered the batch of episodes as "slightly more hit or miss", but highlighted the return of Chase Utley and Jack Kelly.