Review: American Dad “Dressed Down”

Overview: 

Stan Smith gets pushed out of his comfort zone, both figuratively and literally, as he’s pushed into a situation where he needs to ditch his typical suit in favor of more casual attire. What should be a simple exercise in relaxation balloons into an identity crisis as Stan longs for a look in which he feels comfortable, as well as getting to the bottom of his suit obsession in the first place.

This clash of culture and fashion threatens to push Stan to his breaking point, but the rest of the Smiths find themselves passionate about poultry after a strange bet gets out of hand. Hayley and Jeff struggle to raise chickens as their sanity and physical health become even more threatened than their fragile egos.

Our Take:

There are a lot of reasons that I deeply love American Dad, but one of the biggest elements of this show that gives me joy is that it’s probably the only animated series on television that would engage in a pitch perfect Phantom Thread homage, right down to Roger’s fashion designer persona leaving hidden sweet somethings stitched away in Stan’s inseams. It’s a cultural reference point that will arguably fall flat or completely pass over the heads of most of American Dad’s target audience, but it’s exactly the sort of psychological exercise in codependency that fuels so many of Stan and Roger’s storylines. It’s an excellent episode that functions as a fulfilling character study that actually unveils some new layers to Stan, but also succeeds as a confident and unexpected story that plays to American Dad’s extravagant strengths.

The benefit of any long-running animated series is that it’s able to engage in a conversation about certain animation staples as a form of stasis. For instance, the audience is used to seeing Stan Smith in his standard suit because it’s what he’s worn for about 98% of the series. “Dressed Down” engages in a clever conversation where it’s revealed that Stan’s suits are a bit of a security blanket for him to some extent. He finds himself in a situation where a suit would be awkward and inappropriate, but he’s practically driven to a panic attack when he fails to look and feel natural in any form of casual attire. This insecurity could come and go as a simple joke, but “Dressed Down” doesn’t struggle to give it an episode’s worth of depth as Stan reaches out to Roger in an effort to find him the perfect alternative to his typical buttoned-up attire. 

A major issue that a lot of Stan-centric episodes can suffer from is how his a-type personality steals focus away from everyone else and he becomes the only character that gets a chance to dictate the direction of the episode. This is the point of Stan’s stubborn and selfish character a lot of the time, but it can still be exhausting. “Dressed Down” features a lot of Stan, but it’s a more vulnerable take on the character that leads to a reined in version of him that really works well here. At the same time, there is no shortage of occasions where Roger also runs mad with power and that’s also not the case with “Dressed Down.” The episode taps into the most nuanced versions of these characters where they’re both able to move with the ebb and flow of responsibility that comes their way.

American Dad has embraced this mother/daughter rivalry a lot during the past few seasons of the show, but in “Dressed Down” this is more an opportunity to physically torture Jeff. There’s an easy visual comedy in how Jeff becomes a magnet for swarms of rabid chickens, as if he’s just attacked a bunch of Cuckoos in The Legend of Zelda. However, any sweatiness in this storyline is forgiven by the radical place that it reaches when Hayley finally makes an omelette out of her chickens’ eggs. Hayley’s bird egg omelette is easily one of the most disturbing visuals that has ever been in the series and it honestly made it groan at several points. It’s right up there with Roger’s well-timed shoulder-drop, Francine’s acid face, and Hayley’s “elective” cosmetic surgery. 

“Dressed Down” is a classic American Dad episode that gives fans everything that they want. It’s a clever, tight episode that plays to the series’ strengths and achieves a significant impact for the ways in which it questions its own status quo, even if no one is asking for this level of introspection. “Dressed Down” is an even stronger episode than last week’s “Langley Dollar Listings” and it feels like it would have been the better note to kick off the season. It provides audiences with a perfect mix of extremes and contains a truly disturbing sequence that will take American Dad some time to top. It all bodes well for the direction and quality of American Dad’s 17th season.