Review: American Dad “100 Years A Solid Fool”

 

Overview(Spoilers Below):

An innocent trip to Langley’s Little Colombia district triggers a slew of memories in Stan that chart back to one of the earliest moments from his CIA career. Stan takes a trip down memory lane as he recounts to his family his formerly carefree ways and how his arrogant attitude not only had him brush up against a violent drug kingpin, but also helped shape the person that he is today. As Stan recounts an important lesson from his life, the past returns to haunt him and he learns that he still has unfinished business with this “El Narco” or else he’ll forever remain a fool.

Our Take:

There are lots of characters who don’t need origin stories and are actually better off without one. Knowledge isn’t always power. Characters like Han Solo, the Wizard of Oz, or Cruella De Vil aren’t people who screamed to have some character building backstory. Prequels for The Exorcist and Psycho threaten to demystify what worked in the first place. Even worse, they can sometimes miss the point entirely, like with how every few years there’s another effort to green-light a new Die Hard prequel that explores John McClane’s roots and how he became to be a “super-cop” in a concept that’s practically antithetical to the original film. Not everyone needs an origin story.

It’s extremely interesting that after sixteen seasons and nearly 300 episodes, American Dad has never turned to the premise of Stan’s origin story for just how he became such a patriotic American dad. People may not have been asking for Stan’s CIA roots, but “100 Years A Solid Fool” is a success on that front. It fortunately falls into the camp of origin story that justifies its existence and actually strengthens Stan’s character rather than detract from what the show has built.

Like most good stories, this one begins over lamination woes, a problem that has taken down many a titan before. Stan wants to do this job right for Steve and everyone knows that the people that are best in the biz when it comes to lamination are the humble folk in Little Colombia, which is exactly where Stan takes Steve and the rest of his family. Their mission is to gain laminate, but they leave the community with so much more than that, including a major secret from Stan’s past.

Many peculiar chapters and passions from Stan’s life have been explored before on American Dad, but “100 Years A Solid Fool” draws attention to what’s arguably the most important one yet. Stan’s history in Colombia is inexorably tied to his buttoned-down government-loving persona that has so staunchly defined the series since its first episode. Many of Stan’s previous CIA missions have been looked at in previous episodes, but “100 Years A Solid Fool” turns the clock back to what in many ways is the most formative case from his career and the job that made him the person that he is today. It’s a thrilling, satisfying look at a different version of Stan Smith.

Stan’s origin story in Colombia actually has its roots in 1980’s Miami where he’s involved with an elaborate drug bust. This is all punctuated with a lengthy takedown between the CIA and the smugglers that’s full of jet ski aerial stunts and violent visual gags. It’s a strong way to kick off this glimpse into this more renegade time in Stan’s life. The more “extreme” version of “Good Morning, U.S.A.!” that accompanies this younger and more reckless version of Stan is also a really nice touch to all of this.

This pastel-wearing, drug-snorting time in Stan’s life is very entertaining, but there’s a sense of dread that slowly sinks in due to the nature of why Stan’s telling the story. The episode effectively plays around with the anticipation over when that shoe is going to drop. The other operative at the CIA (Brett Gelman!) wants to take a much more conventional approach after Stan’s recent disastrous jet ski ambush, but this only causes Stan to push his irresponsible impulses even more.

Stan’s confidence doesn’t waver and he barrels ahead to make his team’s trip to Colombia resemble an action film as much as possible. The major hurdle that they need to clear before taking on El Narco in Colombia is that they require a translator. It’s not at all surprising when one of Roger’s personas turns out to be the wildly unqualified translator in Stan’s mission, but “100 Years A Solid Fool” finds a creative way to handle this. Since this story is set so far in Stan’s past, he legitimately doesn’t recall that this is Roger and he continues with that blind ignorance, even though Roger’s aware of the truth. American Dad has used plenty of unique angles to find new twists on the complexities of Roger’s many personas, but this is one works well.

What comes as a little more of a twist than Roger’s status as the translator is that he’s also the drug kingpin, El Narco. The fact that Stan rushes to trust the wrong person turns his mission into a colossal failure and El Narco executes Stan’s entire team and tells him to go back to America and sing his praises. Stan’s spirit is crushed, but before he returns home he notices the way in which El Narco has manipulated the population of this small Colombian community with his propaganda (the parade full of celebratory Roger floats is a fun detail).

As if the episode’s title wasn’t enough of an indication, this installment of American Dad riffs fairly hard on the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, but cleverly infuses it with a Narcos flavor that compliments it very well. This entire community remains enthralled by Roger’s El Narco, yet Stan is determined to somehow expose him and free these people before he returns to America. His efforts remain unsuccessful and Stan looks so foolish from the incident that an entire holiday is fostered around his embarrassing actions. In order to erase this holiday and finally put this baggage to rest, Stan has to right his past wrong and finally catch El Narco, which reluctantly gets both Stan and Roger back to Europe.

“100 Years A Solid Fool” does something clever when it comes to its resolution. For the entire final act it feels like the message that the episode is building towards is that it’s important to accept responsibility for your actions and to learn and improve from your mistakes. This is a strong and valid realization to come upon, but Stan’s ultimately unsuccessful in his mission. Instead he learns that it’s okay to be foolish and that everyone is a fool on some level, which is an even more validating and important message. It’s a rather poignant lesson for Stan to reach, even if it does take him decades and he has to cross continents to realize it.

This episode of American Dad goes to some reflective and thoughtful places with its message, but this is still an entry that’s full of ridiculous visual gags that skew towards the opposite end of the spectrum. The burst shipment of cocaine in the water that causes a whole school of fish to synchronized dance is the highlight, but the constant car bombs, the extended stand off, Roger’s improv team, or Stan’s propensity for swallowing his own smoke bombs are all wonderful jokes. After sixteen seasons this show is in no danger of losing its absurdity.

“100 Years A Solid Fool” is a strong season premiere that presents a very full story, but the focus it maintains almost hurts it a little bit. This episode primarily consists of Stan and Roger, which is to be expected in an entry that’s largely told through flashback. However, even when the episode’s final act returns to the present it remains focused on Stan and Roger and gets rid of everyone else.

The absence of the rest of the cast is felt and there’s really no B-story to speak of here. Steve’s lamination problems are really more of the impetus and framing device for the episode than a story on their own. A wider look at more of the characters never hurts and may have helped improve this episode a little more, but the show shouldn’t be punished for its ability to have focus. “100 Years A Solid Fool” is a fantastic return for American Dad and is an encouraging sign that season seventeen will be just as strong as the other TBS seasons.

Happy Fool’s Day, y’all!