Review: American Dad ´Minstrel Krampus´

Spoilers Below

Ah, Christmas is in the air. Santa is checking his list and checking it twice! Well, actually, that may not be the case. As the years have gone on, children everywhere have realized that they’ll receive their gifts regardless of their behavior. Nobody knows this better than little Steve Smith.

As the family is at the store Christmas shopping, Steve acts up and demands everything he wants and throws a fit. Shocked at how Steve is acting, Stan brings him to the prison where Grandpa Jack is serving time. Jack tells Steve the story of Krampus, a demonic monster who preys on children who are naughty around the holidays. Thankfully, when Jack was a child he incarcerated Krampus in a pot of some kind. As it turns out, the pot Krampus is trapped in is being stored in the Smith basement. Stan decides the only way to shake Steve of his rotten ways is to release Krampus. He got much more than he bargained for when Krampus ends up kidnapping Steve and bringing him to his castle in Bavaria, not before informing Stan that the only way he could get Steve back was if he brought him good ol’ Grandpa Jack. Stan goes back to Jack and says he could use his CIA pull to get him out of prison, the only catch being that he had to switch places with Steve. Not surprisingly, Jack ends up betraying Stan and uses his freedom to make an escape.

Meanwhile, Hayley is short on cash and can’t afford gifts for the rest of the family. She picks up a job at the airport. She runs into Jack who is trying to catch a flight out of town and convinces him through the power of Reggae that family is always most important. Minstrel Krampus is probably my second favorite Christmas episode of anything this year, only losing to Family Guy. Throughout the episode there are original Christmas songs sung and they were pretty entertaining. Of course, Santa Claus is back on the show and we get to see the Stan/Santa saga continue! If you’re a Disney fan, you should quickly be able catch onto the Beauty & the Beast references in this episode. Minstrel Krampus didn’t necessarily make me laugh a whole lot, but I wasn’t bored for a second watching it. It was really entertaining! If you’re anything like me, the musical numbers will bring a smile to your face.

As I mentioned before, it wasn’t the funniest episode, in my opinion. The relationship between Krampus and Steve is a good example. When I first realized that the Krampus thing was going to be a nod to Beauty and the Beast, I started to anticipate much different scenarios than the ones that played out. It sort of let me down. Really my only complaint about the episode was that it didn’t inspire many laughs, but that isn’t saying much. I always enjoy seeing the Smith family work together and interact. It was great to see Jack again and his fate at the end of the episode was one of things that actually did make me laugh.

Overall, entertaining episode. The Christmas specials of Animation Domination are something I look forward to. They really emphasize family and really that is what this time of the year is all about!

How did you guys enjoy the episode? Like the Christmas songs as much as I did? Let us know in the comments and have the best of Holidays!