Review: American Dad “I Ain’t No Holodeck Boy”

Posted on March 24, 2014March 24, 2014 by Tommy North

Spoilers Below

Have you ever spent a beautiful summer day indoors with your pals trying to defeat a Hitler fetus, and all of a sudden your father storms in demanding the TV to catch up on the latest episode of Downton Abbey? No? Me neither. But that seems to be the boat Steve is in on last night’s new episode of American Dad.

In “I Ain’t No Holodeck Boy” Stan is fed up with seeing Steve and his friends waste their youth indoors playing video games. He wants them to enjoy the same kinds of experiences he did as a kid. After an earful from Francine, Stan promises her that he wouldn’t take them out into the woods for some manly survival time. He does the next best thing though! After being shown a virtual reality holodeck at work, Stan drugs Steve and his friends, and places them into a virtual wilderness. Things get messy once the roles are switched and Steve takes control of the holodeck, leaving Stan at his mercy.

Meanwhile, Roger makes fun of Hayley for caring too much about things, prompting Hayley to find something he cares about and exposing it. As it turns out, the thing he cares about is a star to his home world. After purchasing the star, Roger becomes uncomfortable with the idea, and tries at all cost to hide that he cares.

“I Ain’t No Holodeck Boy” was a clever episode in my mind. It took a relatable issue such as wasting youth playing video games, and blew it out of proportion. We explored the conflict between a generational divide, and through it all we found some humor. Also, it’s no secret how much I love Roger, and he can do no wrong in my eyes. His story this episode was funny, and how it all concluded was just fantastic. As far as incorporating a virtual reality into the episode, I thought that it was used pretty well. The only thing Stan made them survive was the cold, which was a little boring. I think we lost out on a really good Steve vs. Bear fight.

I couldn’t pick out much that I didn’t enjoy with this episode. I think it was one of the funnier episodes this season thus far, and I’d really enjoy if they brought back the holodeck in the future for some more wacky stories. The list of things you can do with that thing is endless.

Overall, great episode. I laughed, smiled, and was really entertained with this one. If you haven’t checked it out already, you should try and fit it into your schedule today.