Episode 4 - Brian's Got a Brand New Bag
22 March 2012
Synopsis: After watching Roadhouse on DVD, Peter begins kicking everything in site. He eventually crashes the car and Brian asks out the woman they crashed into. She stands him up but he ends up falling in love with her mother Rita. He endures abuse from the Griffins about her age until her age begins to bother him too.
The Good: Up until the abuse kicks in this is enjoyable stuff. Brian, having dated Jillian and other bimbos ends up with an older woman and looks set to deal with the issues surrounding that.
Meanwhile Peter’s tribute to Patrick Swayze was typically extreme. The Roadhouse and Ghost moments were relatively entertaining. I actually thought it was a missed opportunity to not have him reference as many of Swayze’s movies as possible and create a Where’s Waldo style theme for the episode.
The flashback jokes weren’t bad (see Best Joke) including Brian dating the female sign from bathroom doors and two white sprinters being overtaken by black sprinters. One says to the other “Phew. I thought they were coming after us!” Brian’s brief cameo in Die Hard was a fun idea.
Flashback ratio (good-medium-bad): 2-2-0
The Bad: But the Rita-Brian romance rapidly descends into a never ending stream of jokes about her being old. The sheer predictability of it all diminishes the effect of even the vaguely witty lines. Worse than that though was the tone. When Rita came to dinner Peter ends up shaking her violently until she cries and admits how old she is. Yes the Griffins are meant to be an unusual and vulgar family but I don’t see the entertainment value in that tone. Soon it became clear that Rita was now a figure of fun just present to be derided and the episode’s tone became very negative and unappealing.
In typically aggressive and unappealing fashion I felt the writers ruined a very good Peanuts joke. Peter takes his new found kicking skills over to teach Lucy not to yank the football away from Charlie Brown. But instead of making the joke he had to stay and brutally kick her face in. Ha ha.
Best Joke: Peter: “Be careful Brian, sometimes the things you love can disappoint you, like that Playboy issue:”
Flashback to Peter sitting on the couch opening the magazine:
P: “Here we go, Playboy’s ‘Women of the Olympics.’ Wow, those are some broad shoulders. Ok, I guess small boobs are good for swimming. Tha…Tha…Those are balls.”
An old joke but well executed.
The Bottom Line: I have had issues with Family Guy’s tone for a long time but I still think it ruins otherwise passable episodes.
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