Review: American Dad “Cow I Met Your Moo-ther”

Overview:

Hayley’s desire for a careless night out with her friends, Danuta and Nerfer, turns into a self-destructive hate session that leaves Hayley in a fragile place. Desperate for any way to silence the negative thoughts in her head, Hayley manages to literally exorcise this internal criticism. However, her newfound peace of mind leads to even greater obstacles during her pursuit of normalcy.

Our Take:

Stasis can be a frightening and comforting thing and American Dad has an interesting relationship when it comes to change depending upon which of its characters is under the microscope. Hayley has been allowed a surprising amount of growth and development as far as animated sitcom characters are concerned. She has a job at Sub Hub and she’s properly married to Jeff, but for certain sitcom contrivances she still lives at home with the rest of the family. It wouldn’t have been difficult for Hayley and Jeff to get their own place after they got married, but American Dad frankly has greater priorities and no one has really called this out in the past. “Cow I Met Your Moo-ther” effectively uses this stasis as a way to examine Hayley’s stressful insecurities as she feels like she fails to match her friends’ accomplishments. It’s rewarding material to explore with Hayley that results in both a cathartic and comedic episode.

Hayley’s best friends, Danuta and Nerfer, have gained increasingly prominent presences in American Dad, but it’s a little surprising that it’s taken the series this long to do a proper girls’ night that puts Hayley and her friends in the spotlight. This alone gives “Cow I Met Your Moo-ther” a little extra strength as these exaggerated besties are forced to become actual characters rather than purely punchlines. Danuta and Nerfer get many of the best moments in this episode and while this remains Hayley’s struggle there’s even greater evidence that these supporting characters can properly sustain their own story. “Cow I Met Your Moo-ther” also functions as a reverse Fleabag of sorts where Hayley–and the audience–become painfully aware of the inner voice that drones on in her head (which is sublimely provided by Natasha Leggero who’s in maximum snark mode here). However, rather than engage in witty, wry banter with her internal monologue, Hayley is subjected to an echo chamber of judgment that pushes her to make panicked decisions that become the impetus of the episode. 

In this case, Hayley longs for the type of true friendship that can only be provided by algorithm-conceived sitcom tropes like in “Big City Honeys.” If Danuta and Nerfer can’t be Hayley’s surrogate Miranda or Samantha then she should find someone who can be and stop settling for less. Hayley’s compulsion to turn to Dr. Penguin for advice once she begins to spiral during her girls’ night even highlights a newfound level of self-awareness where she wants to confront her problems head-on instead of just running away. Granted, Hayley still hides who she really is as she puts out an ideal version of herself to Danuta and Nerfer instead of embracing her truth, but progress takes time.

American Dad has continued to strike gold when it comes to its Hayley-driven episodes and “Cow I Met Your Moo-ther” is no exception. There’s a considerate balance of emotion and gibberish that only American Dad can do, all while this internal story sticks the landing, treats its characters with respect, and concludes the entry with a fraction more insight than when it started. American Dad is long past the point where Hayley episodes struggle to find their voice, even when they’re episodes about Hayley struggling to find her voice. 

Now, time to get started on that Rogu and Spam Anderson slash fiction…