Review: American Dad “Frantastic Voyage”

Overview:

American Dad journeys to the center of Stan Smith when his many lies and insecurities over Francine’s popularity prompt an internal exploration of what makes Stan tick. Francine’s innocent efforts to find friendship outside of her small social circle impede Stan’s fragile independence in a wild manner that can only be resolved through miniature CIA escapades. Francine gets closer to her husband than ever before when she literally goes inside his body to find her new friend, but also the cause of Stan’s eccentricities. 

Oh, and Hayley and Jeff get a Lamborghini tire that’s destined to change their podunk lives into high society bliss! Or maybe it’s just a piece of garbage.

Our Take:

One of American Dad’s most reliable story structures is when madcap CIA technology inserts itself into the show’s comedy. This was admittedly more prominent in American Dad’s earlier years, but this newest season still finds weird ways to indulge in these types of stories, like when Stan’s romantic feelings get transferred into a sentient printer in “Better on Paper.” “Frantastic Voyage” is cut from the same cloth and feels like a return to these classic American Dad stories rather than the trend from the past few years where it can sometimes be unclear if Stan even has a job anymore. 

It honestly wouldn’t be hard to imagine this type of story occurring in the show’s first few seasons, but American Dad is now much capable and confident to revel in this mayhem. This episode also adeptly juxtaposes this heightened chaos with the most mundane plot imaginable, which allows American Dad to embrace both of its traditional storytelling extremes. “Frantastic Voyage” benefits from American Dad’s recent absence of CIA sci-fi shenanigans and in doing so it’s the perfect type of episode to mark the return from season 18’s lengthy hiatus.

American Dad relishes any opportunity to create conflict between Stan’s home life and work world, especially when Francine is the lynchpin to this drama. “Frantastic Voyage” is not the first time that Francine has invaded Stan’s work life and complicated his delicate ecosystem with her devil may care attitude and it likely won’t be the last either. Francine finds a kindred spirit with Agent Cara (Paget Brewster!) who’s a member of the CIA’s totally unsubtle “Innerspace program.” It’s also kind of glorious that even though the episode explicitly references Innerspace in the CIA program’s name, the feature film isn’t addressed until the final act and the references instead go to comparable shrinking sci-fi stories, The Magic School Bus and Fantastic Voyage. Leave it to American Dad to play coy and massively lampshade their audience while indulging in hyperbolic movie parodies. 

“Frantastic Voyage” marks a strong return to American Dad’s 18th season that reminds audiences of what a strong streak the show was on before its break. Soren Bowie’s script turns to traditional archetypes, only to turn them on their heads and inject them with mania. There are plenty of laughs in “Frantastic Voyage,” but it’s an example of an American Dad entry where the heartfelt emotions hit just as hard and really help elevate a so-so story to something greater. “Frantastic Voyage” could perhaps benefit from actually looking at the inner workings of Stan’s anatomy and why he is the way he is rather than simply using his body as an outlandish environment. There’d be value in Francine examining Stan’s brain, or heart, and getting to the root of his issues rather than a simplistic apology in the episode’s final minutes. That being said, it’s not easy to fit empathy, Innerspace homages, and reverse werewolves into a 22-minute episode of television, but “Frantastic Voyage” makes it seem easy.  

Also, Klaus loves Elden Ring and plays as a battle astrologer. Update your notes accordingly!