Review: American Dad “Plot Heavy”

Overview:

The Smith family learns that their quaint eternal resting places have been egregiously snatched away from them thanks to another of Stan’s selfish gestures. Stan stands by his actions and bemoans his constant responsibilities, but this lights a fire under the rest of his family to take matters into their own hands. The Smith family come to the conclusion that the best solution to their troubles is to open up their own cemetery, in their backyard, but the only problem is to figure out how to get Scottie Pippen’s endorsement. 

Meanwhile, Stan and Klaus remove themselves from this morbid scenario and instead set their sights on the infinite pleasures of a backyard pool cabana. Now who thinks that these two plans might clash?

Our Take:

Some of American Dad’s strongest episodes involve storylines that put the entire family–or at least the majority of them–together. There’s a special type of energy around these installments and they’re often excellent reminders of how well-defined these characters are, not only as individuals, but also as a collective unit. American Dad is also often at its best when it truly lets itself off of its leash and allows lunacy to inspire deeper lunacy. These episodes construct a precarious house of cards and there’s just as much satisfaction out of waiting to see if everything will crash and burn, or if this level of insanity can sustain itself. “Plot Heavy” doesn’t only sustain itself, but it thrives on this demented energy.

Soren Bowie’s script does excellent work with its plotting, but the dialogue is just as strong. Klaus in particular gets some exceptional exchanges as he continues to idolize his and Stan’s pool cabana plans. The episode is also littered with  simple, yet effective visual gags that aren’t dwelt on, but deliver big, like Steve twirling a sign at the front of the house in order to help drum up business for their quaint new cemetery. Even the fact that Scottie Pippen’s novel is named “Deep Danger” and seems to be some airport paperback style thriller rather than a book on basketball or his life is also exceptionally funny and never questioned for a second.

“Plot Heavy” is an episode that perpetually spins many plates at once, but that’s entirely its point. All of this chaos manages to enlighten the Smith family and show them that they need to return to their old dynamics and appreciate their rigid, traditional stereotypes. The changes that they try to make only exacerbate how vulnerable they all are when they stray off script and don’t play to their strengths. The careful balance that the Smith family have cultivated over 300+ episodes instills an undeniable confidence in them all. “Plot Heavy” is the perfect mix of nonsense and characterization that knows exactly what it’s doing, right down to the excellent callback that it goes out on, which only punctuates the heightened nature of this excellent episode.