Reviewing every episode of American Dad!

99 - You Debt Your Life
Season 6, Episode 12

99. You Debt Your Life.jpg

Original air date: February 20, 2011

Stan and Roger’s relationship is arguably the heart of American Dad. I’m sure I’ve bleated in previous reviews about how much I love the premise of a patriotic, xenophobic C.I.A. agent taking in a literal illegal alien, in defiance of his boss and government, so obviously I’m a sucker for an episode which revisits their origin story and brings it full circle, with this almost acting a sequel to ‘Roger Codger’. After Stan saves Roger from getting hit by truck, they realize the life debt (a.k.a. the reason Stan allowed Roger to move in in the first place) has been repaid, and Stan doesn’t owe Roger anymore (we’re treated to a flashback and some exposition, as it really does feel like forever ago and the show has changed so much since season 1). Just like Roger, I’m sure we’d all assumed that Stan didn’t care about that anymore as Roger has firmly cemented himself into the fabric of the family, for better or for worse, but Stan immediately seizes this opportunity to kick him out, which is actually understandable considering, as Stan points out, Roger is nothing but hard work and trouble.

This feels like classic Stan and Roger. Stan’s reluctance to admit he cares about Roger in spite of how long they’ve known each other (just like in ‘Roger Codger’), and Roger reacting the way he always does in these situations, with strong hurt feelings and a reckless scheme which will probably only prove Stan’s point. As I’ve mentioned in episodes like ‘Family Affair’, I’m fascinated by how co-dependant the Smiths have become on Roger despite the him being annoying at best, and abusive at worst. He offers them nothing good, but they’ve all grown weirdly attached to him, especially Stan, so much that after he kicks Roger out he (either subconsciously or due to his stubborn refusal admit he regrets his decision) replaces him with a new house guest that’s exactly like him, proving that despite how inconvenient and stressful it is, Stan is addicted to the chaos, and he doesn’t know how to function without the dysfunction that Roger brings. Despite how badly they can treat each other, there is something very genuine about their connection, and I often get the impression that Stan is Roger’s favourite, and in multiple episodes we’ve Roger care about what Stan thinks of him and feel insecure over whether Stan actually loves him. Plus, episodes where Stan and Roger are friends are among the most adorable in the show.

Now we need to talk about Andy Dick. I never think of American Dad as a show that goes after celebrities. That’s more South Park and Family Guy’s speed. Besides the odd pop culture reference, AD is a show that likes to stay within its own world. But someone in the writer’s room obviously made the brilliant realization that Andy Dick is like a real world Roger, and they just had to put that into an episode. And it works, even if it’s a little weird and uncharacteristic of the show, but if you have to target a celebrity for ridicule then Andy Dick (“another fey pansexual alcoholic non-human”) deserves it, and I love the comparisons the episode draws between him and Roger. Being brutally honest, Andy Dick’s behaviour in this episode is pretty accurate to how he acts out in public. It’s not even taken to a surreal extreme, because Andy Dick’s life is a surreal extreme, and the episode is weirdly prophetic, because he would eventually end up living in some random guy’s house who would bring him drugs and use him for his own devices before tossing him aside, just like Stan does.

My only complaints really are of a technically sense, because all the character-based stuff is flawless. Naturally the episode brings Stan and Roger back to where they first met in Area 51 so they can repair their relationship, but it’s very convenient that Roger’s fanny pack was in the lost and found box and no one had investigated its contents. And not only do the Area 51 staff recognize Roger immediately despite him wearing a disguise, but they see him with Stan (a C.I.A. agent who’d just checked into the building with his ID), and Roger calls out his name as they run. Isn’t their secret exposed now? They also escape from the most guarded facility in the country very easily. But those are just my nerd nitpicks. This is an episode overflowing with pure American Dad DNA and why Stan and Roger stories still have mileage in them.

  • The B-plot is about Steve and his friends doing the morning announcements at school, with the main joke being that the power of the job always goes to your head and you forget the microphone is on. It’s not bad, and is significant for its use of Principal Lewis. He’s made a few noteworthy appearances in the last two seasons where we’ve seen hints at his future characterization (almost peeing on a fire hydrant in ‘Roy Rogers McFreely’ and drinking beer at school in ‘Bully For Steve’) but this feels like the first example of “crazy messed-up Lewis” with his soliloquy about coke and underage girls. The writers obviously saw potential in him and start using him more frequently from now on.
  • “Enjoy that, fancy birds!” I normally don’t laugh at poop jokes, but the delivery of this line is what makes it funny.
  • I love how understandably angry Francine gets when Roger refuses to take Stan to a hospital. “You son of a bitch! I’m gonna rip your f**king throat out!” In fact, I love it whenever Roger pushes a family member too far and they just stop putting up with his shit, even if it’s just for a moment.
  • Roger “Weekend at Burnie-ing” Stan to get into Area 51 is comedy gold. Seriously, the entire bit so freaking funny.
  • In a pretty sweet call back, Gertie from ‘Roger Codger’ is seen floating in a tank in Area 51. If you recall, Stan tricked them into thinking she was Roger (even though the C.I.A. were still hunting Roger in ‘Office Spaceman’, but whatever).
  • “I’m Safari man Hubert LaGrange, and this is my sidekick Wheelbarrow Tim, a.k.a. Baby Legs O’Houlihan.”
8.5/10​
 
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100 - 100 A.D.
Season 6, Episode 1

100. 100 A.D..jpg

Original air date: October 3, 2010

If there are two times AD goes hard, it’s Christmas and milestones, and not only is this a celebration of American Dad, but they also take a massive risk that changes the show forever. I try in these reviews not to reference future episodes or seasons, and give my opinions mostly based on past and present, however I can’t deny that this episode is better with the hindsight that their decision here ultimately paid off. I am of course referring to Hayley marrying Jeff.

Unfortunately I’m going to sound negative for the first half of this, so let me preface by saying that I enjoyed this episode overall and I think it’s aged well, but at the time I was both surprised and confused, and while I appreciated the twist and subversion of our expectations, with Jeff conning Stan and Francine, actually marrying Hayley, and the status quo not being reset by the end of the episode, I can’t be the only one thinking that this wouldn’t last, that Hayley would break up with Jeff eventually because she always does, possibly even in the very next episode, and normal service would be resumed. I mean, if this is permanent then what happens next? Either Hayley moves out or Jeff moves in and we have a new main character? Not to mention, (and this is something I’ll talk more about after Jeff does move in) Jeff has hardly been what you’d call a writer’s pet lately, with him barely featuring since his spotlight in ‘Joint Custody’ over 50 episodes ago. To suddenly upgrade him to this major role after he’s been out of focus for so long seems like a very random and strange choice from a writing perspective. Compare this to Butters in South Park, whom the writers fell in love with during seasons 4 and 5, found themselves using him as much as they possibly could, and then upgraded him to a main character in season 6. But again, this criticism is without the added benefit of hindsight, and I was happy to be proved wrong, because Jeff is one of the best parts of the later seasons and I’m looking forward to having more opportunities to talk about him. And if you look at this from a different angel, this was the writers making a concious effort to develop two unfairly neglected characters, who they realized actually had a lot of potential, by doing something interesting and unexpected with them.

But I’m not quite done moaning, because this could’ve been executed a lot better too. This episode is the next chapter in Hayley’s arc from last season, where Jeff was reintroduced into her life, making her question her new relationship with Reginald. The episode starts out with Jeff trying to win Hayley back, until he’s approached by Reginald, who says that Hayley broke his heart and told them both she needs space (advice Jeff doesn’t even follow). Again, frustratingly, this happened off-screen between ‘Bully For Steve’ and now, and we only learn it through exposition. The last time we saw Hayley and Reginald together he confessed his love to her and it left on a cliffhanger, and this is just them quickly brushing that under the rug instead of resolving it properly. Hayley seems to love doing stuff off-screen, as just in this episode, she gets engaged, rips out her tracking device and puts it in a dog, and even the actual marriage itself all take place off-screen!

There’s also the obvious problem that Hayley and Jeff’s relationship has been so underdeveloped and out-of-focus that it’s difficult to get invested in their story here or celebrate Jeff winning Hayley’s heart and flying off into the sunset at the end, but it doesn’t help that what we have gotten in the past was Hayley getting annoyed by Jeff most of the time and dumping him repeatedly (which was why I originally assumed their marriage was doomed to fail). Even within this episode, she already seemed to regret her decision, which they imply she made on impulse, and still finds him annoying, although that may have just been done to mislead us and make the ending more surprising. Why would she even say yes in the first place after she hasn’t seen him in so long? She says that when he asked her to marry him “it was like my heart started up again”. Okay…? I guess a romantic gesture was all she needed to decide what she wants? If you want to make this believable we needed to see Hayley wrestling with her feelings and struggling to choose between Jeff and Reginald, or if she even wants a partner right now. It’s implied that’s what she’s been going through internally, but again, it all happened off-screen.

(Petty rant over, onto the good stuff)

Despite the episode being structured around them, Hayley and Jeff eloping is more of a plot device for the episode’s ‘It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World’ send-up, as Stan and Francine offer the money they were saving for Hayley’s wedding as a cash reward to whoever can stop the marriage. Now I can finally start praising the episode, because all this is so much fun, and it’s an excuse to get all of our regular characters in on the action in a race to find Hayley and Jeff, including Wheels & The Legman and Principal Lewis (who the writers are very quickly falling in love with). This really is where the episode feels like a celebration of American Dad, with lots of Easter Eggs and our entire cast involved. Even in the set-up we’re given a sense that this is a very important episode of the show, and not just because it’s the 100th, but because things will never be the same afterwards. I’d already noticed a shift in tone and improvement when the show switched to HD and this feels like a continuation of that, as I know the shows peak run is on the horizon. They obviously sacrificed a little bit of the story and character stuff so they could pack in as much comedy as possible. Stan and Francine’s dialogue pops so much throughout this, it’s filled with great jokes, I like the twist ending, and I again applaud the show for taking a gamble in shaking up the status quo and at least attempting to do something interesting with Hayley (and in the 100th episode no less, which you would expect to be a Stan or Roger episode). We’ll see how this pays off, as I’ll no doubt have more to say as this storyline continues.

  • A running bit throughout is that in celebration of the 100th episode they’re killing off 100 characters we “know and love”, the gag being that they’re all minor characters who appeared in one episode, such as Bobby the Bullet and Pillow-Hands McGraw, and most of them die in the bus crash. Although I’m surprised they decided to spare the Spring Break girls and the paedophile from ‘The 42-Year-Old Virgin’. It’s also a good way for them to litter the episode with callbacks only hardcore fans will get.
  • “You got a limo. Are you rich?” “Yeah Jeff, I’m rich! I’m a millionaire! That’s why I wear this stupid hat and drive this long bitch!” Damn it, Reginald’s starting to get funny right before he drops off the face of the show!
  • “Which way is north?” “That way!” THUD! “It’s a dead end!”
  • “Where’d this scarf come from? Oh… That was the liner of my purse.” Francine needs to be this dumb in every episode. It’s hilarious. Dumb Francine is my favourite version of her and it’s so refreshing to see a show do these kind of jokes with the mom instead of the dad.
  • Buckle and Sharri appear to still be living in a treehouse or cabin despite moving to the neighbourhood in ‘An Incident at Owl Creek’. I sure hope somebody got fired for that blunder!
  • AD completely rips off an old Family Guy joke by showing an artist’s rendering of Hayley and Jeff as Velma and Shaggy. FG did the exact same joke years before with Peter and Lois as Fred and Wilma. These are nice nods as MacFarland’s shows are meant to emulate the style of Hanna Barbera.
  • “Ananaway! Ananaway-nana!”
  • Maybe I’ve been too hard on Reginald, because my friend and I joke saying “we gonna fight in the field” all the time. He’s growing on me.
  • “Shut up Garfield! Why do you hate Mondays? You don’t even work!”
  • Man, these episode can’t scrape by without one awful character moment? This time Stan telling Francine to her face that he almost slept with another woman and still wished he’d gone through with it.
  • “Hey, I see Hayley! Don’t marry Jeff!”
  • “Totally makes up for my small penis, huh?”
  • I know it seems like I had more to say on the cons than the pros, but the pros are so good they elevate this episode to at least an…
8/10​

(Only 240+ to go and counting…)
 
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Not sure how up to speed you are on the current episodes, but recently in one of the many cases of plot demanded continuity errors it was stated that Hayley was the one to propose to Jeff whereas I seem to remember he was the one that proposed.

As for Hayley being used more as a plot device and not as a character, there's a rather more egregious example of this next season. Once again, it's not until Season 8 where it felt like they finally made an effort with making more plots about her that she actually is a part of (to varying degrees of success).

Stan already slept with another woman before this episode, so in the warped minds of the writers that probably justified him saying that he almost did it again being considered a "Joke". Personally, I had a bigger beef with his Never My Fault self-deflecting by stating Francine was the one who lost Hayley. Stuff like this are just adding more and more into my ever-growing hatred for Stan which only gets worse the more lead roles he's given and further Flanderized into becoming Peter 2.0.

Regarding the episode itself, haven't seen it in a long time but I remember it being fine. Certainly better than a lot of other episodes this season, like the very next one. With all this talk about this possibly being the original finale for Season 5, I would've preferred that over Great Space Roaster.

And remember that proposed ongoing arc they were planning to do with Hayley this season? Well, I'll finally get to talk about that tomorrow though it's possible you might've already figured out what it was gonna be.
 
101 - Son of Stan
Season 6, Episode 2

101. Son of Stan.jpg

Original air date: October 10, 2010

This episode picks up right where the last one ended, with Hayley and Jeff having stolen $50,000 from Stan and Francine so they could “elope in style”, and now Stan and Francine are left to deal with the aftermath. Stan is of course angry and disappointed with Hayley for stealing from them and marrying a loser (despite him seeming to come around to Hayley’s decision at the end of last episode, impressed that Jeff was able to con them). Emotions running high causes Stan and Francine to blame each other, with Stan claiming that Francine didn’t discipline Hayley enough and Francine claiming that Stan’s strictness is what drove her away, so they resolve not to make the same mistakes with Steve.

Pitting Stan and Francine’s conflicting parenting styles against each other is already a solid premise for an episode which they manage to connect to the events of the previous, while still being a standalone story. But things get even better when some classic C.I.A. sci-fi is added into the mix, and you know how much of a sucker I am for that. When Stan loses a BMX race and agrees to let Francine raise Steve her way, he clones Steve (naming the clone Steve-arino) so that they can both raise him, and whichever one turns out best had the better parent. Again, I praise this because it is a plot only American Dad could do (at least at the time), and not only is this an ideological battle between Stan and Francine, but it’s also a commentary on conservative parenting vs. liberal parenting, which is essentially what their two approaches are, and the flaws of both. And it’s also very entertaining watching the same character go off in two completely different, but equally absurd, directions.

The resolution to their conflict is unsurprising. Both styles severely mess up the two Steves, and Stan and Francine realize that they need a healthy balance of both (Stan learns to be a little less strict, Francine learns to be a little stricter). Because this is AD, things naturally escalate to Steve-arino (a.k.a. the disposable one) becoming a cat mutilator and capturing the real Steve, forcing the warring Stan and Francine to work together (and I love how they symbolically show them making-up through Francine rescuing Stan in a physics-defying gag during the epic BMX sequence). The final act is like a thriller, with Francine releasing all the cats who get revenge on Steve-arino, and just like in most thrillers the action is always never quite over, with him coming back two more time before eventually dying. That’s commitment to the genre they’re riffing. Overall, it’s got all the elements of what makes AD great.

  • The B-plot is about Roger trying to steal the $50,000 Hayley and Jeff (currently honeymooning in Thailand) stole from Stan and Francine. Roger has even less right to this money then they do, but Roger gonna be Roger I guess. His tactic is to make them give him the money in order to stop him from making a very annoying noise, which is the main source of comedy in the plot, and honestly, it’s a pretty damn funny concept, along with the face he makes while doing it, and it knows when to end just before it gets old and annoying to anyone other than Hayley and Jeff.
  • For some reason the clips in the recap are all reanimated. Why would they waste time and resources doing this instead of just taking the clips from ‘100 A.D.’?
  • I didn’t mention this in the last review but Hayley really feels no remorse for stealing a shit ton of money from her parents, does she?
  • I do like that the bus crash is actually acknowledged and not treated as a throwaway gag from the last episode. Let us never forget Brett and Coco.
  • Excellent use of ‘Electric Feel’ by MGMT (and one of my favourite songs).
  • Jeff acts like he knows who Roger is. Obviously he doesn’t know he’s an alien, and I can’t think of an example of them interacting before outside of ‘Joint Custody’ when he was Horse Renoir, but here he’s just a generic stoner persona, but Jeff still immediately knows his name and that he’s someone Hayley knows. Weird. I would’ve assumed that when Roger tracked them down in Thailand Hayley would have to introduce him to Jeff as her friend/cousin/uncle like they usually do with people outside the family who don’t know the secret.
  • The BMX chase is a phenomenal sequence. Really well animated (and bikes are super hard to animate) and the background designs are all beautiful.
  • This isn’t necessarily a critique of this episode, or the show, because Family Guy and HD Simpsons are even worse for this, but there’s a trend in these shows of characters describing what we can clearly see for ourselves on screen as if the audience are babies who need everything spelled out for us. Here Steve-arino rides into a building signposted “MAGAZINE FACTORY”, followed by Stan’s line “He’s heading for the old magazine factory!” Thanks Stan. How could we possible understand this complex narrative without that input? It’s not a big deal and it doesn’t hurt the episode, but this isn’t an isolated incident.
  • “I KNOW YOU WANNA BREAK GROUND IN 2012! BUT IT’S NOT GONNA HAPPEN! WE CAN’T GET THE PERMITS!” So much passion in this delivery.
  • Among the cats are Simon from ‘Choosey Wives Choose Smith’ and Buffy from ‘Brains, Brains and Automobiles’.
  • Another Francine’s vagina joke, this time it’s… clown hole again? Come on guys, you’ve used that one.
  • “MYAAAAAAA!!!”
9/10​
 
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And now here we come to what I've mentioned before about the original plan they had to give Hayley another ongoing arc this season.

Originally, Hayley & Jeff were going to be shown spending all the money over the course of several episodes (I dunno how many were produced between this one through There Will Be Bad Blood by the way because I've never really paid attention to the production codes, other than knowing Fartbreak Hotel was produced during that period). But for one reason or another (either once again not putting any effort into plotlines regarding Hayley or wanting to avoid another potential schedule fuckery by FOX), it was condensed down into one single episode. Though one part of this original idea still remains which is Jeff apologizing to Stan in There Will Be Bad Blood for "Blowing all the money while having fun!" which is a line that no longer makes sense in the current context that they forgot to change.

As for the actual episode, it sucks. Well OK, the subplot sucks which is one of those times where it's the episode's ultimate undoing with how shit and repetitive it's very one-note idea is (and for me, it instantly got old). And this is more of an in retrospect thing, but I hate how because the show treats everything post-Hayley & Jeff returning like they still went with the original plan, they're the only ones blamed for wasting the money while never acknowledging why or maybe they had a reason for doing so.

The main plot was "Meh" from what I remember about having not seen it since maybe it's original airing more than 10 years ago. Though from what I recall, this was probably one of the earliest signs of Steve's later Flanderization into becoming an insufferable brat.
 
John95 said:
And now here we come to what I've mentioned before about the original plan they had to give Hayley another ongoing arc this season.

Originally, Hayley & Jeff were going to be shown spending all the money over the course of several episodes (I dunno how many were produced between this one through There Will Be Bad Blood by the way because I've never really paid attention to the production codes, other than knowing Fartbreak Hotel was produced during that period). But for one reason or another (either once again not putting any effort into plotlines regarding Hayley or wanting to avoid another potential schedule fuckery by FOX), it was condensed down into one single episode. Though one part of this original idea still remains which is Jeff apologizing to Stan in There Will Be Bad Blood for "Blowing all the money while having fun!" which is a line that no longer makes sense in the current context that they forgot to change.

As for the actual episode, it sucks. Well OK, the subplot sucks which is one of those times where it's the episode's ultimate undoing with how shit and repetitive it's very one-note idea is (and for me, it instantly got old). And this is more of an in retrospect thing, but I hate how because the show treats everything post-Hayley & Jeff returning like they still went with the original plan, they're the only ones blamed for wasting the money while never acknowledging why or maybe they had a reason for doing so.

The main plot was "Meh" from what I remember about having not seen it since maybe it's original airing more than 10 years ago. Though from what I recall, this was probably one of the earliest signs of Steve's later Flanderization into becoming an insufferable brat.
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Seasons five and six sound like complete nightmares in terms of production, at least after they decided to give Hayley a storyline. Now I know why FOX had a mandate that none of the animated shows use continuity because they wouldn't be able to maintain a consistent schedule. This was still around the time Halloween episodes were airing in November every year because of baseball.
 
@Dr. Nihilistic Not counting what happened with The Simpsons in 2020 because that was completely out of their hands, 2010 would actually be the last year where Halloween episodes (or at least the ones I'd recall seeing) spilled into November.
 
102 - Best Little Horror House in Langley Falls
Season 6, Episode 3

102. Best Little Horror House in Langley Falls.jpg

Original air date: November 7, 2010

It took AD until season 6 to finally do a Halloween episode, so expectations were high, and I’m pleased to say they were met. The premise is fairly simple. Stan, known for always having the scariest haunted house on the block, is threatened by new neighbour Buckle (continuity!) and his even scarier haunted house, so in order to outdo him he brings in serial killers from the C.I.A. (always applaud the show for using their C.I.A. premise to their full advantage) whom Roger of course releases from their cage putting everyone in danger, with things culminating in a send-up of 80s slasher movies.

While future episodes will delve into the supernatural, I think this ones strength lies in its grounded reality, meaning it can produce even more threat and scares. It’s another case of Stan putting his loved ones in danger to placate his own fractured ego, but the episode also doesn’t shy away from calling out Francine’s lack of loyalty, as Stan only went to such lengths because she chose Buckle’s haunted house over her own husband’s and wasn’t being a supportive spouse, and I always appreciate episodes where Stan actually values what Francine thinks.

The A-plot can’t really afford to be as narratively packed as usual, as almost 50% of the episode is taken up by the more-meaty-than-usual but equally enjoyable B-plot, which is about Steve going trick-or-treating with Akiko, and Toshi coming after them when Steve doesn’t bring her home by sunset. It’s also really good, arguably more fun than the A-plot, with Toshi donning a samurai outfit and trying to kill Steve with a katana (probably the best use so far of the most neglected member of Steve’s friend group). And Steve getting screwed over at the end by Akiko having a crush on some nine-year-old because he’s a good dancer is just the icing on the cake. And after leaving us feeling cheated by Toshi unable to exact his wrath on Steve, they migrate him over to the A-plot as their solution to getting Stan, Francine and Roger out of the perilous situation they’ve written them into, cornered in the woods by five serial killers, and we get to watch Toshi slice them apart Kill Bill style in arguably the goriest sequence so far in the show. AD would eventually come to rely too much on senseless gore as a cheap resolution to their plots but here it works because it’s Halloween. It’s meant to be guilty gory fun.

  • Despite being a Halloween episode, this aired a full week late, much like The Simpsons Treehouse of Horrors often do.
  • Despite leaving Hayley’s story on a cliffhanger last episode (with her and Jeff in China after spending all of the stolen money) they neither appear nor do we get any update on where they are, what they’re doing or why she hasn’t come home yet. They won’t return until ‘There Will Be Bad Blood’. Until then we’re just left to wonder “Where the hell has Hayley gone?” and “Are they even planning to bring her back?” As mentioned by @John95 they were planning to have Hayley and Jeff spending the money over the court of several episodes but it was all condensed into one subplot. I personally believe it was because they didn’t think Hayley could carry that many B-plots and decided to give them all to Steve instead, which resulted in her being inexplicably absent for four episodes straight. As if she wasn’t already severely underused.
  • The noise Steve makes while playing tennis in his dream are, of course, fantastic.
  • “Oooooh boy.” (Another line I quote too much)
  • The episode features two Flack Eye Fleas Black Eyed Peas songs. I don’t know why, but I’m not complaining, they’re good songs.
  • “Head for the woods! It’s always safe there!”
8.5/10​
 
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J.J.Watts said:
I personally believe it was because they didn’t think Hayley could carry that many B-plots and decided to give them all to Steve instead, which resulted in her being inexplicably absent for four episodes straight. As if she wasn’t already severely underused.
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If I'm remembering correctly, the promos for those episodes which ended with a shot of the main cast next to the Animation Domination logo were changed to remove Hayley from them. Or at the very least, they did it at least once during those four episodes. Though personally, I would've preferred touching base with Hayley again in the next episode versus the kinda dumb one-note subplot we ended up with.

Haven't seen this episode in a long time but from what I remember it was fine. Definitely one of the better episodes to come from such a boring season as well as better than the Halloween episode from last year Steve's Franken-Out (or at least from what I heard since I never watched it as I wasn't sold on the premise plus it was the finale which the show usually has a terrible track record of).
 
This episode is just so much fun, I love it
Also I find it interesting that both Family Guy and American Dad took ages to do Halloween
FG took until Season 9 to do one.
 
I absolutely LOVE this episode! The whole premise of Francine peeing when she gets scared too was great. This is a reallllly good one

@Snowy Wow, that's actually wild, I wonder why it took FG so long?
 
103 - Stan’s Food Restaurant
Season 6, Episode 4

103. Stan's Food Restaurant.jpg

Original air date: November 14, 2010

This is one of those episodes where the plot really is only a vehicle for the jokes. I don’t mind this. Not every episode needs to tell an engaging story. A mere fun romp can be a relaxing change of pace to break up a season, but that means it really has to deliver on the jokes, and fortunately this episode does. It’s a laugh riot that rarely slows down, and a lot of consideration went into crafting these jokes, such as how several connect back to each other (like the pregnant cow, Father Roy and the buildings exploding).

The episode is about Stan trying to realize his lifelong dream of becoming a published author selling holiday-themed teddy bears finding Ollie North’s gold building a Delorean opening a restaurant like the one he went to as a kid (flexible continuity, it’s fine). Francine suggests he asks Roger for help, which is of course a terrible idea not only because of how untrustworthy he is but because he’s generally incompetent, but we need him involved for this plot, so the show lampshades this (“Roger’s the perfect person to talk to about opening your restaurant. He’s always doing new things he knows nothing about.”) Predictably, Roger ends up stabbing Stan in the back and making the restaurant his way before cutting Stan out completely. How other characters still don’t see this coming every time I don’t know. I suppose I should be perturbed that Roger has little motivation for betraying Stan since it was never his dream and he wasn’t even planning to open a restaurant until Stan asked for his help, but again this isn’t a very deep episode (even with the connection to Stan’s childhood). And if jerkass Roger annoys you, the writers spend most of act 3 punishing him by having his restaurant fail while Stan’s is a success, and watching him get more and more frustrated is satisfying. The episode relies a lot on how well Stan and Roger bounce off each other, both as allies and as enemies, and the strong jokes means I can overlook some of the narrative shortcomings, such as how the story kind of peters out in the third act, not really going anywhere, and then it just ends abruptly with Roger destroying both restaurants, restoring the status quo. But as far as filler episodes go, it’s among their better ones.

  • The B-plot is about Steve trying to have sex with a girl who thinks her doll Julia is real. Snot then gets Julia pregnant and the doll gets an abortion. Yeah, it’s stupid. It reminded me of the B-plot from ‘A Jones For a Smith’, with things starting out too good to be true for Steve (Ashley was kicked out of her old school for having too much sex and always goes all the way on the first date), but the doll just keeps getting in his way. Honestly, it’s a little gross and uncomfortable. Ashley has legit mental health problems which they play off as a joke and Steve is trying to take advantage of her, even to the point of exacerbating her condition by staging Julia’s “suicide”. Sex pest Steve is not my favourite Steve.
  • “At that moment, I was 100% sure I was about to be molested, but it was even better!”
  • “Oh my god! Your story has moved me!” I still love Roger. I don’t care how much of a bastard he’s become.
  • Qui-Lo, who appeared briefly in ‘Rapture’s Delight’, returns here and I think he makes one more appearance after this. It’s kind of like they wanted to give Roger a sidekick but just forgot about him. Then they created Rogu later down the line.
  • “Here’s my home number, my cell, and the women’s shelter where I’m either volunteering or dropping off my stupid whore wife.” I know this joke is excessively dark, even for AD, but damn it, it never fails to get a shock laugh out me, helped by how nonchalant the deliver is.
  • Another great joke: Stan and Roger (and by extension the episode itself) pausing in the middle of their fight so they can go and see the cow give birth, and then resuming their fight exactly where they left off upon returning to the restaurant as if nothing happened.
  • The Father Roy joke is another example of perfectly sick humour, and so much to potentially unpack regarding Stan, so let’s just leave it as a great one-off bit and swiftly move on.
7.5/10​
 
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I actually really liked the sub plot for this episode, it was pretty creepy tbh, and I loved Steve's and Snots reaction to some of the stuff Julia pulled. Good review :)
 
I feel like the subplot doesn't even take itself seriously. It's like Ashley has an imaginary friend and she just expects everyone to believe that she's real. Steve trying to have sex is like Wile E. Coyote trying to catch the Road Runner, so the joke's always at his expense.

The Father Roy joke is probably the greatest example of what American Dad was capable of in its prime. If it was Family Guy, the joke would have just been that Peter got molested and that's it, but the fact that they used misdirection three times, kept escalating it to the point where it became absolutely ridiculous, and then brought it back when nobody was thinking about it anymore makes it an amazing joke.

I'm surprised there was no mention of Stan's characterization here. This show has always been good of showing us completely different sides to the characters while keeping them in-character. Stan is really just a little kid in this episode trying to make his restaurant work, and you want him to succeed just because of how earnest he is. When he told Roger that he didn't want to build the restaurant because then he wouldn't have his dream anymore, it felt like something that a lot of people could relate to. I know this wasn't supposed to be the 100th episode, but there are way worse choices they could have went with over this one.
 
104 - White Rice
Season 6, Episode 5

104. White Rice.jpg

Original air date: November 21, 2010

Over the last 103 episodes, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve pointed out a lame, shoe-horned in Asian joke. AD has a bizarre obsession with them, favours them over all other ethnic stereotype jokes, they’ve all aged terribly, and usually end up being more lame then they are offensive. So you know what I didn’t need? An entire episode dedicated to them. And if that weren’t bad enough, the set-up involves one of the worst things Stan has done to his wife since ‘Four Little Words’. Spoiler alert: This is another one of those outliers I have very little positive to say about.

So Stan has been taking Francine to a hypnotist for 20 years who represses everything Stan wants her to forget (wanting to move her parents to town, getting a puppy, that time he sleep punched her). It’s basically just so Stan can get his own way all the time. He’s an irredeemable piece of shit in this episode and this is extremely abusive and marriage destroying behaviour, kind of like framing your wife for murder. Not to mention they’ve done this premise before, and better, in ‘Francine’s Flashback’, where you can chalk up Stan erasing Francine’s memory as a lapse in judgement, not a continued pattern over two decades. And at least that involved C.I.A. technology, not some random therapist. Francine discovers the truth when the hypnotist makes her remember everything. So is the episode about the fallout of this horrible betrayal? Well, not really. It’s brushed over pretty quickly when Francine remembers her dream of being a stand-up comic, and the episode struggles to barely connect these two plots (the second half feels like a different episode). Did we need 20 years of repressed memories to do “Francine the stand-up comedienne”? Or was the episode too short, because the stand-up stuff is also really thin and just as painful to watch.

Francine’s stand-up routines are GOD AWFUL! Her material is one-note, focusing only on the fact she was adopted by a Chinese family, and all her jokes are tired and racist. In the episode’s defence, this might’ve been intentional. FOX executives eventually order a show based on Francine’s routine. If I’m being generous, I could say her sitcom, White Rice, is meant as a commentary on the many cheap, lazy live-action American sitcoms which rely mostly on stereotypical humour (think 2 Broke Girls), and based on what we see of the filming I think that was their intention (we’re not expected to laugh at the “inside out banana” gag or “I’ve got desert!”). But the episode barely commits to this angle, unless you count the end when Francine’s show is cancelled because the Asian community found it offensive. Well no shit. Plus there’s the fact AD has been doing these jokes unironically for the last 5 seasons, they were just easier to ignore in isolation. Still, their attempt to satire terrible live-action sitcoms is the only glimmer of value and potential in this.

And if Stan’s behaviour over the last 20 years wasn’t enough, he’s still determined to ruin Francine’s dream (even though I hate her dream) due to his own selfishness and fear of her leaving him if she becomes successful. Right before she’s about to perform for the FOX execs her tells her “Don’t blow it! Your material’s as tired as your face!” I mean, technically he’s not wrong, but still, this is emotional abuse. There’s nothing else you can call it. The marriage crisis plot is clichéd and unpleasant, the jokes are groan-worthy and taken straight from the type of sitcoms they’re parodying, and the episode is tonally and structurally messy. And this season was on such a roll.

  • The B-plot is about Klaus marrying a fish Steve brings home from the carnival. It’s probably the only bright spot in this episode, even if it is pretty underdeveloped and not as funny as it could be.
  • The episode begins a year in the past before skipping to the present (with Libby having been born in between), but for some reason they decide to start the B-plot, which doesn’t appear to take place over the course of a year, before the jump forward. Confusing.
  • Lazy gay jokes combined with Francine’s vagina joke. Even the jokes not about Asian people are easy.
  • Wasn’t ever expecting Stan’s plate room from ‘With Friends Like Steve’s’ to return. Of all the dreams/hobbies they’ve piled onto the character this was the one they remembered.
  • They do nail Francine’s 90s look.
  • Seth MacFarland would go onto make Dads, which was unironically as bad as the live-action FOX sitcoms they parody in this episode.
  • I didn’t laugh once.
3.5/10​
 
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I wasn't expecting you to be in love with this episode, but I didn't expect you to hate it this much. If nothing else, "Four Little Words" is still the worst episode you've reviewed so far (in terms of score), so that's progress.

I was going to mention how Stan's characterization here is completely the opposite of "Stan's Food Restaurant," but I still believe it because Stan is capable of being a vulnerable man child and a huge asshole at the same time. I don't remember being crazy about this episode, but every season has a couple filler episodes anyway. Roger was in rare form, though. I loved his Sweeps character. Talking about kidnapping Raven from a park in Philadelphia and putting her on The Cosby Show without her parents knowing, giving Dana Plato the drugs that eventually killed her, being up to date on the latest protocols in sexual harassment in the entertainment industry. It was the perfect stereotype of an evil Hollywood executive.
 
105 - Fartbreak Hotel
Season 6, Episode 9

105. Fartbreak Hotel.jpg

Original air date: January 16, 2011

I don’t think this one gets credited enough for just how different it is from other episodes (at least so far). I honestly didn’t know how I’d feel upon re-watching it, probably because every time I’ve watched the episode before I didn’t know how to feel either. First a positive, this is a Francine episode, entirely independent from Stan (this might be his most minor role yet). We follow Francine on a journey of self-discovery and they really commit to it, like they wanted to do a deep dive into her character the same way they’ve done for Stan in the past and figure out what makes her tick.

The episode starts really strong, showing us Francine’s monotonous, mundane life from the moment she wakes up (set to ELO’s ‘Mr. Blue Sky'), as she becomes more and more depressed as the week goes on. Then, a series of events involving farts leads the family to spending two weeks at a luxury hotel where Francine is suddenly absolved of all her domestic responsibilities and finally has free time to do what she wants. Problem is, she doesn’t know what she wants. Her identity has been that of a home-maker for so long that she doesn’t know who she is once separated from that, and that’s the most interesting part of this story, and reminded me a lot of the situation Marge found herself in in ‘You Only Move Twice’. Most of these family sitcoms follow the same stereotypical formula regarding the wives. They’re the most overworked yet under-appreciated character on the show and Francine is no exception, only she’s a stereotype taken to extremes, a Stepford Wife who rarely thinks for herself, but this is a role that’s been thrust upon her by marrying a Republican man and she often feels suffocated by it and rebels. Obviously this can flip-flop depending on the episode (and there’s of course her party girl past I won’t go into here), but this episode features my preferred characterization of Francine.

Francine feels such a lack of identity while independent from her family she assumes the role of a woman named Sarah Blanch, someone who failed to turn up for a concrete convention at the hotel. This is again, very interesting, as Francine quickly just becomes someone else because figuring out who she is was freaking her out. The episode naturally compares this with how Roger also creates personas, but Francine has no desire to make her Sarah character as crazy or unique as Roger makes his characters. Sarah has five hobbies, makes lame puns, and works for a concrete company. Her life is ordinary, but it’s exciting to Francine purely because it’s something different to the last twenty years. Unfortunately, the episode fails to have Francine confront why she assumed someone else’s life rather than forge her own identity. There’s unresolved issues there, and Francine’s inner-conflict over whether she should return to her old life or become Sarah full-time is a tad rushed and underdeveloped, but they still do a great job of making us empathize with Francine and the type of women she represents in this story.

But regarding the overall package, the episode has a very unusual tone, and I think it must be by design. It’s very chill and low-energy, with odd pacing, and an almost intentional lack of jokes (at least the typical AD jokes). Spinning this is a positive way, this shows confidence in their premise and in Francine to carry a story on her own, and I’ve said before that Francine is the most underrated character on the show and deserves more episodes like this, but I can’t say it’s the most thrilling episode to watch. If you prefer a quiet character-study and melodrama over quick-fire gags and action set pieces then you can appreciate ‘Fartbreak Hotel’ for what it is, but of course AD has shown that it can do all those things in one episode. Still, I can’t deny this episode sticks out purely for how unique and almost un-American Dad it is.

  • The B-plot is even stranger, with Steve travelling back in time using a brochure (???) to meet a woman in a painting, only to find out the woman was him all along. I was equal parts entertained and baffled.
  • I do appreciate the Sarah Blanch fake-out. After seeing she survived the car crash we’re briefly led to believe that the real one will show up and Francine will get busted, but a rogue log had other plans.
  • After last episode I was hoping for a break from the Asian bashing, but Francine gives a really weird anti-Chinese speech at the concrete convention. In order to stop them from finding out she knows dick about concrete, she instead goes on a racist rant which for some reason they all love. Strangely, the episode doesn’t acknowledge the irony of this, as Francine was raised by Chinese parents, and it can’t be that the writers forgot this little detail because we literally just had an episode about it.
  • Adding to the weirdness of this episode, Héctor Elizondo, a relatively obscure actor, plays himself as a concierge at the hotel. He’s not without his charm, the best part being his painting at the end of the B-plot.
  • During the montage at the start, three days of the week appear to pass, by the end of which Francine is at breaking point. Then at the end of the episode, she makes Thursdays her day to do what she wants. Nice touch.
7.5/10​
 
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106 - There Will Be Bad Blood
Season 6, Episode 6

106. There Will Be Bad Blood.jpg

Original air date: November 28, 2010

Just as ‘Best Little Horror House in Langley Falls’ was the show’s first ever Halloween episode, this is their first ever Thanksgiving episode, and finally explores the untapped well of Stan’s half-brother, first mentioned in ‘Meter Made’ (we’ll have a wait a while longer for Francine’s sexy sister Gwen), although in that episode he lived on a lake is Wisconsin and they were estranged, whereas in this episode he lives on a cliff side in Arizona and his family has apparently been coming to the Smith’s house for Thanksgiving for years, but retcon aside this episode has a solid premise and says so much about who Stan Smith is as a man. He’s been inviting his half-brother to Thanksgiving for years not out of kindness like a normal person, but because he gets off on rubbing Rusty’s face in how rich they are (literally rubbing his cashmere sweater in his face the second he walks in the door). Francine also gets dragged down to his level, probably caught up in the fun of lording it over these people, who are too humble to let the Smiths know they’re actually the more wealthy family.

The episode is never explicit about this, but I can’t ignore the racial elements here, and you could argue this episode is a commentary on white privilege. Rusty and his family are Native American, and Stan automatically assumes they’re poor and live in a “gross tipi”. There’s no denying this is the most racist we’ve seen Stan (“I’m glad that when my dad walked into that nightclub in Santa Fe, eyes damaged by the New Mexican sun, he bedded your Cherokee mother having mistaken her for a person.”) But this harsh characterization serves the reveal, when they discover Rusty is the one with the nicer house and Stan’s ego is once again, and deservedly so, shattered. Because that’s what this was always about. Having someone to look down on and make himself feel like a big man. Stan acts like his family is superior to Rusty’s, and even after the reveal that Rusty is rich Stan plays the victims, believing that because he’s their grandfather’s white legitimate grandchild then everything Rusty has should be his, or at least that’s the implication behind his reasoning. Stan is chauvinistic and pitiful in this episode, but for some reason it doesn’t aggravate me like it does in ‘White Rice’, maybe because it’s directed at a new character, and doesn’t try to pretend like Stan’s behaviour is anything other than despicable. The Smiths all suck in this episode but it surprisingly works, like we’re laughing at them, not with them.

The episode never directly confronts this but Stan really seems to have a problem with the fact that his Native American brother is doing better than him, and I can’t imagine he’d react the same way if Rusty was white. Out of pure jealously and entitlement, the Smiths ether Rusty’s family in the night and swap houses with them. It’s a terrible plan and fails laughably quickly, because Rusty just goes back to his house and kicks the Smiths out. Like what did Stan think would happen? Unfortunately the episode then sort of trails off, with the third act just the family wandering the desert waiting to die with no resolution to the main plot. Their very meaty theme abandoned for disconnected desert hi-jinx, which aren’t bad (my favourite jokes in the episode are here) but it’s like they didn’t want to put in the work to write a satisfying ending. Finish Rusty’s story! What is this?

This is also the episode where Hayley and Jeff return, but honestly this feels like an afterthought, as they show up right at the end to rescue the family from freezing to death in the desert, in one of the biggest deus ex machinas the show has ever done. Francine asks how Hayley and Jeff found them and Hayley replies “It was totally random.” They just happened to be living in the same desert in Arizona near Rusty’s house and came across the family in their moment of need by complete coincidence?! Really?! This is terrible writing! I’m sorry, I love the first 2 acts of this episode but this is so dumb! Here, I can fix this right now: Francine asks how Hayley and Jeff found them and Hayley says “We went to the house first and Klaus told us where you’d gone. When we got here we saw the crashed helicopter and figured you were in trouble.” Done! It’s fixed that easily!

I’m not sure why they chose this episode to have Hayley and Jeff return since they’re not relevant to the plot or theme but it’s nice to have them back regardless. Stan invites Jeff to move in with them because he’s poor, essentially replacing Rusty with Jeff and giving him someone to look down on all the time, meaning he hasn’t learned anything at all from this experience, which I’m fine with. “Stan learns a lesson” are overused endings anyway. But this reason why Stan let Jeff move in is never revisited and he’s back to disliking him again in a few episodes. This was a very hard one to score because it has some really great stuff and some really stupid stuff. The ending desperately needed a rewrite though, and Hayley and Jeff moving in deserved its own episode. We don’t feel the gravity of this significant status quo change, which I’ll talk more about over the next few episodes, because here it just feels tacked on.

  • So apparently Hayley and Jeff have been prostituting themselves for the last four episodes after spending all their stolen money trying to get away from Roger. Why the writers left Hayley out of the show, unexplained, for four episodes right after her big status quo change I don’t know, but they certainly didn’t seem to struggle without her, and as we know, Hayley loves doing stuff off-screen.
  • Rusty’s son Glenn is voiced by Jeff’s VA, which is the only time that I know of when he’s provided the voice for a character other than Jeff.
  • We get a nice stop-motion sequence as Stan tells the story of Thanksgiving. Have I mentioned yet how Stan’s always rewriting American history? Because they’ve done this joke like five times now.
  • The episode actually has several cutaways (even a cutaway within a cutaway) but it still doesn’t feel like Family Guy. Maybe because they’re executed different and are mostly still related to the plot.
  • Taking the award for most unexpected characters to return are the airport staff from ‘Home Adrone’ (“Orbit gum, Orbit gum, Orbit gum”). Roger apparently knows them, and is always sending them pictures of butts. Not gonna lie, I liked the bit.
  • In the broadcast version after the family kidnap Rusty’s family, his barman is wearing Hayley’s clothes. On the DVD he’s wearing BDSM gear (probably Roger’s). It’s honestly not that risqué and they’ve gotten much worse on the air. Surprised this was censored.
  • “Oh my God! It didn’t break! Oh my God! You got all the balls in! Oh my God! It isn’t fun!”
  • Another unexpected callback: Roger’s wolf Felicity from ‘Finances With Wolves’.
  • “That feels amazing.” “I’m not touching you.” “I am.” “…That feels amazing.”
  • “Hey Mr. S! Sorry I stole your money! If it makes you feel any better I spent it all having fun! You look terrible!” The era of Jeff is already off to an amazing start. I can’t wait to talk about him more.
  • I’m disappointed they still haven’t brought Rusty back. They’re always periodically revisiting Stan’s family so this is an untapped well, plus there’s so much about Rusty’s backstory we don’t know, specifically in relation Jack, who has never mentioned his bastard son in any of his appearances. Have they even met? And how did Stan find out about Rusty? The flashback shows they knew each other as kids. I’d love an episode with Jack and Rusty both in it.
7/10​
 
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Technically, Hayley and Jeff coming back isn't out of nowhere. When the episode starts, it's Thanksgiving 2009 and Hayley lives there (which gave us the immortal line "Hayley, you have no idea what gets me off. And you never will."). They make it a point to mention that Thanksgiving 2010 is the first one without Hayley, and Steve is acting out because he's being a bratty only child. Hayley's lack of presence technically drives the episode, if we're being honest. So when her and Jeff return, it's earned because you're somewhat expecting it. If they didn't mention Hayley, or go out of their way to use her in a flashback, I could understand your confusion more.

That's also why I don't care that much about Hayley and Jeff finding the family through circumstance. If the episode was worse, it might bother me, but it's not like them going home and finding out where the family is improves the episode. It makes things connect more, but everything would pretty much be the same regardless of the route they took. And the third act deviated from the rest of the episode, but it was hilarious so I'll give it a pass. I don't know, this episode was really entertaining from start to finish and a big step up from "White Rice" so whatever story issues it had can be excused by the wall-to-wall comedy. No point in caring that Rusty's gone when Roger thinks he's about to reconnect with a wolf and gets brutally attacked instead.

But you know what you should be complaining about, @J.J.Watts? What bothers me personally about this episode? The fact that it aired after Thanksgiving. That's inexcusable and another example of horrible scheduling from FOX. This isn't Halloween we're talking about here. I could excuse that, maybe give it a pass, if there wasn't an episode that literally aired the week before. Unless FOX thought that "White Rice" was so good, they couldn't wait until Thanksgiving weekend to air it.
 
@Dr. Nihilistic Hayley returning (even if it's one of the only noteworthy things about the episode) still feels a little like an afterthought or at least is easy to forget about when she's not mentioned again after the first few minutes until the end and a majority of the episode is spent focused on the Smiths' selfishness and the subtly of Stan being racist. It's sorta like what happens a lot these days where they write themselves into a corner, but this was the only time where they made an effort to have their lazy easy out not be just "Pointless gore FTW!!"
 
John95 said:
@Dr. Nihilistic Hayley returning (even if it's one of the only noteworthy things about the episode) still feels a little like an afterthought or at least is easy to forget about when she's not mentioned again after the first few minutes until the end and a majority of the episode is spent focused on the Smiths' selfishness and the subtly of Stan being racist. It's sorta like what happens a lot these days where they write themselves into a corner, but this was the only time where they made an effort to have their lazy easy out not be just "Pointless gore FTW!!"
Click to expand...

I feel like back then, the show paid attention to detail when it came to stuff like this. They at least made the viewer think about Hayley in the beginning so you're not completely thrown off when she does show up. I've been thinking about getting back into the show with the new episodes, so I don't know how they handle it now, but it seems like more episodes are based on random events happening. Similar to Family Guy, but it's more jarring because American Dad was always interested in telling actual stories.
 
Dr. Nihilistic said:
I've been thinking about getting back into the show with the new episodes, so I don't know how they handle it now, but it seems like more episodes are based on random events happening. Similar to Family Guy, but it's more jarring because American Dad was always interested in telling actual stories.
Click to expand...
Not sure what the most episode you saw was, but more or less. Recent episodes tend to start as one thing before completely veering off into something else in the final act that had little to nothing to do with what came before it. And that's not even getting into the "Subplots".
 
John95 said:
Not sure what the most episode you saw was, but more or less. Recent episodes tend to start as one thing before completely veering off into something else in the final act that had little to nothing to do with what came before it. And that's not even getting into the "Subplots".
Click to expand...

I haven't watched the show regularly since season twelve. The most recent episode I've seen is "Please Please Jeff." I didn't finish it, but from what I saw, it was pretty good. I've seen random episodes here and there and some of them were actually great like "Rabbit Ears" and "Enter Stanman." The worst episode I've ever seen is "Kloger." Nothing in the FOX era was as bad as that. I don’t know how long this thread is going to last, but if we ever get to season twelve, I'm going to tear that episode apart.

Personally, I thought the show never recovered from Mike Barker leaving. Season ten had good episodes, but it was clearly a step down from the last couple seasons and had one really bad episode ("American Fung"). Season eleven was the last time American Dad felt like its old self. I watched every episode when it came out and it was like Mike Barker came back for a short time. I thought the show found its groove again. Then after season twelve, I just lost interest.
 
I thought Kloger was funny personally
The worsts for me are Tapped Out, No Weddings and a Funeral, American Fung, Mural of the Story, Bazooka Steve and Plot Heavy
 
@Dr. Nihilistic Please Please Jeff actually ended up being the best episode of the season for me... Though sadly that doesn't mean much these days as it still left a bit to desired which can be said for all the other episodes this season that I thought were actually decent (Langley Dollar Listings, American Dad Graffito, The Three F's and Smooshed: A Love Story).

The show has honestly gotten worse every season since the show moved to TBS. This season is the possible exception which I thought was only as bad as the prior season... Though I suppose that's almost as bad as saying it's worse. But then again, there were more episodes from this season I skipped compared to the last.

@Snowy I'll never understand where people are coming from when they say No Weddings and a Funeral is Seahorse Seashell Party except done right when it's honestly worse in every single way! Another fine case of this show's fans hating FG for doing something yet loving it when AD! does the exact same thing!
 
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107 - The People vs. Martin Sugar
Season 6, Episode 7

107. The People vs. Martin Sugar.jpg

Original air date: December 5, 2010

This episode touches on something I haven’t discussed yet regarding Roger. How can a character so evil still be so loveable? And it’s for the same reason everyone in this episode, besides Stan, loves him. He’s charming, charismatic and a master of manipulation. He’s charmed the Smiths into letting him live rent free in the attic and putting up with his increasingly abusive behaviour for years. He charms police offices, jury members and judges so that he never has to face the consequences of his many crimes. He’s charmed the American Dad fanbase, including me, into loving him in spite of everything we’ve seen. This episode addresses this unspoken fact, with Stan determined to finally hold Roger accountable for his actions.

It makes so much sense that Stan loves jury duty. Naturally, he loves watching the American justice system at work. He’s in many ways a more child-like and chauvinistic version of Hank Hill. A stickler for, and lover of, the rules, but with an inflated ego which makes him think he himself is above them, which is why he ultimately lowers himself to Roger’s level, braining a guy because he thinks it’s for the greater good. Up until then though, Stan is ostensibly in the right, and he’s our protagonist whom we root for, as the moronic jury are easily manipulated by Roger’s sweatshop-owning persona Martin Sugar, which where the episode mines most of its humour. We share in Stan’s frustration at how Roger is always able to weasel his way out of any situation, and even when the law does catch up with him, he simply breaks out and goes on the run, leading to a reverse-‘Great Space Roaster’ with Stan trying to hunt him down.

The ending might be divisive. Right as Stan tracks Roger down he’s arrested for assaulting the detective earlier and Roger evades justice, ending up as part of Stan’s jury, this time using his charm offensive on the jury to convict Stan. This might be an unsatisfying ending to some, as Roger gets away again, learns nothing (but when does he ever?), and Stan gets screwed over for trying to do the right thing. But Stan is still guilty. He was so determined to make Roger pay that he failed to hold himself to the same standard he holds others. I suppose I should be annoyed at Roger, but he told me how much he loves my reviews and I just can’t stay mad at him. Maybe we should just let him go?

  • The B-plot is a continuation from the end of last episode. With Jeff having moved into the house, he’s forced to give up pot and as a result begins compulsively masturbating until Francine allows him to start smoking again. It’s fine. I still think Hayley and Jeff moving in deserved its own episode but the next one will cover some unresolved plot threads regarding Stan and Jeff so I’ll talk more about this there, and maybe give my overall thoughts on this whole storyline that’s been ongoing since ‘The Return of the Bling’.
  • The show completely avoids a burning issue I’m sure most viewers were thinking when Jeff moved into the house: What are they going to do about Roger? The Smiths are harbouring an alien, a closely guarded secret known only by Stan, Francine, Steve, Hayley and Klaus, and they just let an outsider move in without considering this or even mentioning it. The show doesn’t even address this until ‘Naked to the Limit, One More Time’, two whole seasons later.
  • “Weed’s the thing I care about the most, but maybe that should be you.” “Aww.”
  • Normally the paper airplane joke would end with Stan just reading the third one, “Although I am open to you getting me off sexually”, but it flies out the window, prompting an amusing bit with a guy and one of those pan-handler statue artists. I’m sure we all saw where the joke was going, as we know Roger so well, so they decided to layer it, much like how classic Simpsons layered their gags, and I appreciate that.
  • “If I was the monster the prosecution is trying to portray me as, would I have given you such a wonderful birthday present?” “No.” “In English please.” “…No.”
  • In another FG-esque gag, Stan randomly lists his top ten favourite dogs, and his number one is Brian Griffin, making this their second direct FG reference, and very weird, because Brian is a staunch liberal. Why would he be Stan Smith’s favourite dog? (Interesting titbit: Only a few weeks prior the Family Guy episode ‘Excellence in Broadcasting’ aired where Brian becomes a Republican, and it cuts to Stan watching the episode and giving his approval. You could argue this is why Brain is Stan’s favourite and this was an elaborate crossover, but it’s likely just a coincidence.)
  • The airport guys come back for the second episode in a row, and apparently Stan’s tight with them too and is always sending them pictures of unconscious guys. I love this bit, they should’ve kept this running gag going. The Smiths find themselves in so many wacky situations, just having them break and send pictures of the weird stuff going on around them to these two dudes at the airport is brilliant.
8/10​
 
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