Review: Family Guy “Lower G.I. Joe”
Overview:
Family Guy is coming back with a new episode, “Lower G.I. Joe,” which sees Peter and his pals learn about the world of colonoscopies. Meanwhile, Brian and Stewie go on a daycare field trip to an animal shelter.
Our Take:
Dr. Hartman Peter goes to get a colonoscopy, what with his age and lack of pop culture expertise. Scared about what is to happen, Peter and his friends decide to spend a night at a cabin and prepare for the procedure together. Things seem all clear for Peter’s friends, but he ends up with a G.I. Joe removed from his rectum. The toy ends up being a valuable collector’s item worth thousands. However, Peter’s friends want a piece of the pie.
Meanwhile, Brian serves as a chaperone during Stewie’s class trip to the local animal shelter. Things take a dark turn, however, when they go to the cat room and a cute, little kitten ends up sharing the same fate as Chris and Stewie’s pet squirrel. Things take a turn when it turns out to be Mayor Wild West’s cat. Luckily, there’s a local librarian with plenty of cats to spare. Unfortunately, Brian’s still not that good with cats. Fortunately, anyone who is still haunted by what Brian did in “Boys & Squirrels” can rest assured that cats sometimes do have nine lives. Or at least good at playing dead. But don’t worry, West has the perfect punishment for the “bad boy.”
It’s always been weird that Family Guy became a show about the dad and his friends, especially as American Dad became more about the family, but this episode feels like a twist on the show’s focus on Peter’s adventures with his friends. Having them all get colonoscopies together feels like the perfect exaggeration of this. Furthering the self-parody, Peter’s friends even turn on him, but things eventually get resolved.
Anyone who has an ear for 90’s music might appreciate this episode, since they got a lot of shout-outs throughout. Brian mentioning Sarah McLachlan at the animal shelter is unavoidable, Joe including Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” in his diarrhea playlist might be petty, but it’s all worth it to hear Dr. Hartman jam out to Alanis Morissette early on. Stewie also quotes Kelis’ “Milkshake” at one point, but that was the early 2000s. In fact, it’s an imagination spot set to “Torn” that ends up saving Peter’s friendships. Of course, a final joke reveals that Peter gets the last laugh anyway.
Anyone who isn’t too happy with violence against animals really should watch Brian and Stewie’s story to the end to ensure everything gets resolved. Viewers who thought that the “Joe” in the title was referring to Swanson, and thought this was going to be a “Joe” story, however, will be left disappointed.
