Review: Family Guy “Papa Has a Rollin’ Son”

After a not so great season premiere, it seems the wind in Family Guy’s sail has dissipated. If the premiere is an indicator for how this season will go, it really seems we’ll just be going through the motions. Two seasons ago we saw Brian die and social media was sent into a frenzy, last season we saw the Griffins cross over with The Simpsons. Brian’s death turned out to be a publicity stunt and The Simpsons crossover came across as weird and like trying to push a cube through a round hole. Things like these got people talking, but ultimately it didn’t lead to anything lasting. The show had the opportunity to mix up the dynamics of the show by bringing Cleveland back to Quahog with his new family. I remember being pretty excited about the possibilities of new relationships and different story ideas, but none of that has really come to fruition. Another opportunity to shake up the cast is coming up this season when we’ll be introduced to Peter’s long lost sister in “Peter’s Sister”. Of course, this could be entirely self-contained and we’ll never see her again, but things feel so stagnant right now, I’m open to any possibility.

So, does this second episode of the season shake things up for the better? Keep on reading to find out!

In Papa Has a Rollin’ Son “For Father’s Day, the guys search for Joe’s estranged father; Peter pretends to be Joe after learning that Joe’s father is intolerant of people with disabilities; Stewie learns that he will only be 5 feet 1 inch tall.”

Papa Has a Rollin’ didn’t get this season on track. In this episode we meet Joe’s father, a pretty generic father type who is unaccepting of those with disabilities. Just from the synopsis I’m sure you can guess exactly how this story plays out. When the story is lacking, turning to the writing of the episode can sometimes save face. If we’re laughing, a bad story can be overlooked, but the jokes weren’t great either. From start to finish the jokes just didn’t connect with me. It seems like the premise of Joe and Peter switching lives was intended to be a joke in and of itself. The story did little to expand upon that premise.

Stewie’s story wasn’t an improvement. Stewie being insecure about growing up to be a short guy leads him to fly under the wing of fellow short guy, Tom Cruise. This story suffered for a lot of the same reasons that the other one did, plus it was a Tom Cruise story. It’s 2015, I think it’s too late to be making fun of stuff that South Park was doing nearly a decade ago. There didn’t seem to be much forethought, so ultimately what we ended up with was a mess. Tom Cruise wasn’t funny as a character and the jokes at his expense weren’t anything new. They threw a hundred things at the wall, and nothing seemed to stick.

Where this episode earned some points was in it’s smaller interactions. There are a few exchanges in this episode with Cleveland that I thought went over well. Firstly, a racist remark from Quagmire that was set up well, then concluded even better. Towards the end Peter makes fun of Cleveland’s Toronto Raptors hat and that is also a funny exchange. The show’s writing seems to be strongest with this kind of banter. You’ll find a few other good examples of this within this episode. It’s sort of what made Seinfeld great. The show isn’t focused on a particular story, just the chemistry of the characters.

Overall, this was a weak episode. Uninteresting stories and boring jokes. This season hasn’t had the strongest start, right now it looks like this may be the worst start for a Family Guy season. Obviously there is still plenty of time to turn the ship around, but I’m starting to wonder if anybody even really wants to put in the effort? Are we just going through the motions with Family Guy now? Or is there still any degree of passion here?

What did you guys think of “Papa Has a Rollin’ Son”? Agree with me? Let me know! Disagree with me? Tell me why I’m crazy.