Family Guy Season 17 Episode 13 Review

This week on Family Guy, Peter is probably going to offend just about everyone in the world. But really, what else is news? Plus, we get what I guess can be described as a Bob's Burgers "crossover."

Peter and the guys discover that there will be a contest to win free Red Sox ads, which they compete in and win. At the game, a drunken Peter uses a transgender bathroom (which is not a bathroom for Prince) due to the long line for the men's room, which leads to everyone believing him to be transgender. At work, his bosses make the same assumption. They tell him about the benefits transgender employees receive, and he goes along with it.

Peter goes to the salon and begins to dress as a woman. He decides to go around town and insult people because, since he's a woman now, they can't hit him anymore. Peter goes out for karaoke, where he gets knocked out by a ceiling fan, which leads to a hospital visit. His bosses reveal that he had sexual reassignment surgery during his coma, as they signed the release forms.

The family tries to help Peter with his new life as a woman as best they can, but the guys ditch him at the Drunken Clam and he goes to another restaurant. There, he runs into Quagmire's dad Ida, who tells Peter about her own experience as a transgender woman. Peter realizes that what he did was very wrong, and Ida helps him figure out a way to transition back into a man. Right after his surgery, Quagmire rushes in to punch him.

Wrap-Up:

I was quite worried going into this episode that it would feel very transphobic, but it really wasn't any more offensive than it usually is. This was actually one of the funniest episodes of the whole season, even if there wasn't enough Stewie in it. While they aren't as great as Angela (RIP), Peter's bosses were both really funny in this episode, and I'm excited to see more of them in the coming weeks. Even though it wasn't a perfect episode, there were more laugh out loud funny moments this week than in a lot of recent episodes, and I thought that the premise of the episode felt very much in-character for Peter. Nothing about it felt unnatural, which was another concern I had going into it. The ending of the episode, with Quagmire punching Peter after he became a man again, was absolutely perfect and so, so fitting for this show.

Score: 8/10
Grade: B

Family Guy Season 17 Episode 3 Review

Stewie gets a new friend on tonight's Family Guy, while Peter tries to improve his life with the help of his... car? Yeah, that doesn't sound right to me either. Keep on reading for a recap and my thoughts on the episode!

Stewie is at the playground using his drone, trying to kill Lois for the umpteenth time. Just before he takes her out, a kid hits him with a ball and breaks the drone. He actually makes friends with the kid, Hudson, despite threatening. Meanwhile, Lois takes Peter to a seminar by tricking him into thinking they're going to Baskin Robbins. The speaker, Tony Robbins, calls on Peter and Tony tries to help him feel better about himself. He runs off, but Tony chases after him and tells him he won't let Peter be his first-ever failure. Then Tony gets struck by lightning and he disappears. The next day, Stewie returns at the playground to play with Hudson, and Hudson asks to come over for a playdate, which Brian allows him to have. Meanwhile Peter is startled to find that Tony is still following him, because Tony is now a part of the car. Back at the house, Stewie shows Hudson his weapons, and Hudson tells him not to kill Lois because they won't be able to play anymore. Stewie buries his weapons and decides to become good.

Peter is becoming a bit more confident thanks to Tony, demanding more bacon after being ripped off at a restaurant. At preschool, Stewie learns that he wasn't invited to Hudson's birthday party. He decides to exact his revenge, falling back to his old ways, digging up his weapons.

Thanks to Tony, Peter is asking for a raise. Meanwhile, Brian comes across Stewie's revenge plan and he rushes off to stop him from making a huge mistake. At work, Peter gets his raise and he rushes off to tell Tony. He's surprised to discover that Tony never really died, at that he was living in his trunk the whole time. Now that Peter's a success, he leaves to help others. At the birthday party, Stewie begins his revenge. He attacks the guests by destroying the inflatable castle and throwing sleeping gas at them. Hudson doesn't fall asleep thanks to a gas mask, and Stewie confronts him. That's when Hudson tells him he was invited, and Brian admits that he threw out the invitation. He asks for forgiveness, and Stewie tells him that they aren't friends, they're family, and he later forgives him with the help of some ice cream.

Wrap-Up:
This was my favorite episode of the season, though it still wasn't even close to being one of the show's best.

The plot including Stewie and his new friend was pretty funny, but it feels like something we've seen before. Adding in Brian's jealousy just made it feel even more familiar. I get that there may be repetition in plots for a show that's been on for twenty years, but this felt more repetitive than usual. The plot still had really funny moments though (like the gag involving Lois getting drunk in the bushes, which was hilarious), and for that, I can forgive the unoriginal plot to an extent.

Peter's plot this week was pretty fun, but I did get a little annoyed with Tony sometimes. Sure, I think he was meant to be annoying, but it still ruined the fun a bit. I still enjoyed the plot though, and even if it definitely was the weaker plot of the episode.

I have to raise the score a half a point just because of the moment where Chris jumped into the hole Stewie dug for his weapons, and then asked if that was a pool. That was by far the funniest moment of the week.

Score: 8/10
Grade: B

Family Guy Season 17 Episode 2 Review

Family Guy has been pretty hit-and-miss for at least the last couple of seasons, even more so than The Simpsons. I noticed this specifically last season, where it could range from easily the highlight of the Fox animation lineup to by far the night's weakest component. Sometimes they knock it out of the park, and sometimes they just... don't. And yet, I regained my passion for the show over the Summer when I began rewatching some old episodes, as part of a project I'm still working on here at the TV Ratings Guide. Rewatching it made me realize that, while the show has produced more than a few duds in its time, it's made me "laugh and cry" more times than it hasn't. That's why, from now on, I'll be reviewing the show, and hopefully you'll all come along for the ride. Last week's premiere was a solid-if-unexceptional start to season 17, and was the first of a two-part episode that concludes with this week's episode. Let's see how that episode wraps and if the show can deliver another funny half-hour.

Brian is absolutely miserable in his new life, and he's ready to fake his own death just to get away from Jess. Peter tries to help him out by taking him to a bar that's just for husbands. Meanwhile, Chris is taking care of Stewie and he gets paged to a party, much to Stewie's surprise. The party is expectedly wild, but Stewie fits right in. Brian is gaining weight and is becoming Peter 2.0, and he ends up injuring himself.

Dr. Hartman tells Brian he has hip dysplasia, and that Brian has to be taken care of. Stewie now has an addiction to vaping thanks to the party Chris took him to, and he gets Chris addicted to it, too. Jess cares for him 24/7, until his hip surgery. Unfortunately for Brian, he drives Jess so crazy that she takes him to be euthanized instead of taking him in for hip surgery.

Lois discovers Stewie's vaping addiction, and she screams at Chris, thinking that Stewie's vape pen is Chris's. Stewie begs for Chris's help and wants Chris's vape pen, but he won't give it to him. After a fight that ends in an... awkward way, Chris agrees to get Stewie's pen back. He talks to Lois, and discovers that she is smoking to deal with the frustration. He calls her a hypocrite and says that vaping is okay because it makes him look cool. He changes his tune very quickly when Lois shows him a picture of him vaping. Meanwhile, Peter stops by Jess and Brian's apartment and Jess tells him that she had Brian euthanized. Peter rushes to the library to discover what that means, wasting precious time. He arrives just in time to save him, and Brian sees Jess on the way out. They seem to get over the fact that they both nearly killed each other. It is later revealed that Jess died offscreen.

Wrap-Up:
I can't really describe this episode as a hit or a miss. It was pretty much just in the middle. There were definitely some funny moments in the episode, but a lot of it wasn't really that funny or that interesting. Stewie and Chris's storyline didn't really go anywhere, but it did have the potential to. It basically only had one joke and the time spent on it would have been better spent somewhere else. If they weren't willing to give the storyline more than just a few minutes, they should have just made this a one-story episode, with no B-plot at all. It probably would have been more enjoyable that way.

Brian's storyline was definitely better than the B-plot, but even it wasn't all that great. Last week's episode did a much better job of dealing with Brian's marriage with humor, and this was just a bit depressing and weird. And sure, Family Guy is a really weird show (which is why I love it!), but this just wrapped up way too neatly. Peter was absolutely hilarious whenever he showed up though, and he saved the episode from being incredibly mediocre and incredibly forgettable. Both the husband bar and him driving to the library to search for the definition of euthanize were big laugh out loud moments for me. So all in all, the episode had some great highlights even if it's not one of the show's best entries.

Score: 6/10
Grade: C-