REVIEW: Family Guy ‘Peter Problems’

 Spoilers Below

Our story begins at the Pawtucket brewery. Peter is having a back and forth with Stella (yes, it’s a deaf joke). Angela enters and informs Peter that he has earned a promotion that would place him in the warehouse working as a forklift operator. Upon getting there Peter learns that he is quite talented with the forklift and non surprisingly begins to use it as a tool for his antics. The next few minutes give us a compilation of Peter/forklift gags, the weirdest of which including a whale. Sadly, the fun comes to an end when Peter uses the lift destructively at work. These gags were the highlight of the episode, if you ask me.

Without a source of income, and Peter not being able to find new employment, Lois must take a job at a local grocery store (the interview was great). While Lois is out at work, Peter is now responsible for tending to the needs of the home. All seems to be going well and Peter is actually doing an alright job with the house (besides one small mix-up in the kitchen). The trouble becomes apparent when Peter and Lois try to get intimate and Peter can’t get an erection. Ouch..

After some ridicule from the family and an embarrassing trip to the doctor, Peter confides in Quagmire and Joe at the Clam. He tells them about the trouble with his manhood. The three friends then try a variety of methods in attempt to return Peter to his old self. Peter soon realizes that the trouble with his manhood may stem from feelings of emasculation and getting his old job back back may be the only way to help.

‘Peter Problems’ definitely isn’t one of my favorite episodes ever. The cutaways and gags didn’t come off as clever as some of the earlier episodes this season. The episode was also very Peter heavy. Don’t get me wrong, I love Peter, but with this being the first full episode of Brian being back, I felt he and the rest of the family were underused. I suppose they wanted to make a fast break away from that particular story.

Some of the things I liked with this episode were the fork lift sequences near the beginning. Some of the ways Peter uses the lift were hilarious. I also really enjoyed the interaction between Peter, Quagmire and Joe. Their buddy-humor really shined this episode and it’s always welcome to have. Can’t wait to have Cleveland back in that mix!

Overall, it was a so-so episode. It will probably be one of the least memorable of this season but that doesn’t mean it didn’t give me a good laugh or four. There are some redeeming qualities that made this an enjoyable half-hour and that’s what matters if you ask me. I like to watch episodes twice before I review them, first for initial enjoyment, secondly to really break down the material (thanks to my DVR). The problem this time was that I didn’t find the episode that enjoyable, so I was tempted to only watch it once. BUT luckily I sucked it up, dove back into the episode and pulled away some of the pros to sit with the cons! (Okay, I had to see the forklift sequences again).

So, in my opinion it was a rough start for the Griffins, but what do you think? Am I not giving the episode enough credit? Agree with my views? Let me know in the comments! Also, I hope you all have a safe and happy new year. I’m sure all of your resolutions are to check BubbleBlabber daily!