Review: American Dad “Reaper Madness”
OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)
Hayley and Klaus end up bonding over their thrill seeking of scary stories to put them in a state of “EuFEARia”, where they see a guitar playing skeleton (voiced by Patrick Stump!). Meanwhile, the rest of the family try to cook better weeknight dinners.
OUR TAKE
Another week, another episode of American Dad that reminds me of a different episode of American Dad! In this case, seeing one or more characters attempting to recreate a sensation that makes them feel a strong sensation even at the cost of their health and risk of their lives reminds me a great deal of “The Life and Times of Stan Smith”, wherein Stan is accidentally almost killed but finds that almost dying gives him a chance to revisit memories of when he was younger or happier, but this catches up with him when he actually does die. You should watch it, it’s about as good an episode as this new one is. However, the key difference here is that Hayley and Klaus, an uncommon combination of characters, are actually trying to achieve the opposite, as they end up scared into “Eufearia” by Danuta’s scary story. This leads to a repeated sequence of them each witnessing a singling skeleton played by, as mentioned, Fall Out Boy’s front man Patrick Stump, who belts out about how awesome and scary this strange high they’re getting is. And just like with Stan, things escalate to the point that it seems like Haley dies, forcing Klaus to admit in his guilt (after Haley pretends to be an undead shapeshifter to get him back for abandoning her) that he does actually like her, where before it was kinda determined he did. Apparently this was more of a Klaus episode than a Haley one, I guess.
And what of the rest of the family? Well, they get the B plot, wherein they try to solve their cooking problem of making terrible dinner time meals, and so also go off the deep end a bit trying to make one. Well, Stan more than everyone else by a mile, and Jeff actually remains level headed the whole time, which is surprising. If it sounds like this review has been more description and summarizing than it has been actual critique, well…that’s probably because it is! I did enjoy this episode, and this was a neat use of a guest star, especially one that I remember so well from my own childhood listening to Fall Out Boy on the radio, and it will probably be a good addition to the Halloween rotation of episodes even if it technically isn’t one set on that holiday, but that’s about all I have to say. Next time, the return of another long forgotten guest character!
