Review: American Dad “One Fish, Two Fish”

 

EDIT: Previously a review for a different episode of ‘American Dad’ was posted due to a last minute scheduling change. We apologize for the confusion.

 

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Hayley learns that a good deed can go unrewarded when her efforts to make life easier for Klaus spiral out of control and leave his position in the United States on shaky ground. It’s a cruel irony that it’s both Hayley and Klaus’ activism efforts that bring one another in each other’s orbits. Klaus’ admission that he’s not an American citizen launches a chain reaction where Hayley goes to exceeding lengths to secure Klaus’ citizenship. Hayley’s heart is in the right place, but she just gets Klaus in hot water—both figuratively and literally—and their situation gets to the point where both of their statuses in the country are left in jeopardy. Hayley wants to prove to Klaus that she’s not self-interested and that she cares about him, but she’s caught up in the ultimate test of commitment.

While Hayley and Klaus try to find a rhythm together and get their way back into the country, the rest of the Smith family are occupied with what should be an easy task, but quickly turns into some impossible black magic. That’s right, they’re trying to open up a coconut.

Our Take:

This season of American Dad has done exceptional work with its ability to find uncommon pairings between the characters in the show and explore relatively untapped territory thanks to these new combinations. American Dad has turned to some truly rare character outings, but “One Fish, Two Fish” delivers what’s perhaps the most foreign one yet as Hayley and Klaus head into trouble together.

American Dad raises some interesting questions when it addresses Klaus’ inability to vote because he’s not a US citizen, which adds a certain futility to his activism efforts since he’s unable to bring forth change due to his alien status. A particularly neglected Hayley jumps into action to help bring Klaus justice, but her “help” soon only causes more problems for the both of them. They strive to be the change that they want to see in the world, but all that they’re seeing is how ready the world is to ignore them.

Hayley’s efforts only bring unwanted attention to the fact that Klaus has been living illegally in the country for two decades. Klaus is ready to accept a resigned life of hiding from immigration undercover, like some knock off of Roger, but Hayley makes the situation even tenser. Her “solution” is to get married to Klaus to help fool immigration services and somehow that’s far from the most negligent thing that Hayley does in this episode.

This would already be plenty of material to fuel an episode, but Hayley and Klaus’ situation gets even crazier after Hayley shows the ultimate commitment to Klaus by implanting her own brain into a fish (complete with tiny bandanna) so that their marriage seems less suspicious. Hayley’s scheme begins as a ruse, but she and Klaus actually experience the real difficulties and struggles of marriage, albeit on a greatly expedited timeline. The two share a fish bowl together and go through the motions, which results in a surprisingly thoughtful episode and bonding exercise for these two characters who are often indifferent to one another. There’s some strong humor that comes out of Hayley and Klaus negotiating through different marital stressors as well as how Jeff is turned into an emotional punching bag through these unusual proceedings.

The final act of “One Fish, Two Fish” deports Hayley and Klaus to Mexico (while also cleverly pointing out the flawed nature of them being sent there) and truly tests their bond together. Klaus finds a kind of peace with this life, but Hayley is more frustrated than ever and sorry that she ever tried to help Klaus out at all. It doesn’t matter if they aren’t really husband and wife, but they won’t survive this ordeal if they can’t even get along as friends. It’s touch and go for a while for the fishy newlyweds, but Hayley and Klaus find a mutual respect for each other and are able to smuggle themselves back in the country. All it costs them is a few gnarly scorpion stings.

I’ve been rather vocal about how American Dad has been able to turn its uneventful B-stories into a surreal art form. The series has fallen into this strange space where the simplest of plots turn out to wield the greatest and most unexpected results. This season has featured such non-stories as the Smiths all getting their heads caught in the stair banister and Klaus moving into Steve’s room, but “One Fish, Two Fish” may take the cake with its lack of stakes. The entire Smith family gets flummoxed over the sheer concept of a coconut. Their ignorance only becomes more severe after they find the task of opening the coconut to be borderline impossible. The best part about this is that they’re offered a solution for a mere dollar, but a history of food opening grifts have soured them from such experiences. It’s a very funny script that embraces the absurd and it’s another very strong entry from Tim Saccardo.

On some level it feels like this coconut destruction storyline comes from a real place from one of the show’s writers, but the methods that the Smith family turn to are anything but believable. All of the Smith family’s extreme attempts to break open the coconut are very fun to watch play out, even if they are all unsuccessful. The simple animation of Stan getting wrecked on the inside of a steamroller from the coconut’s durability or the casual way in which Steve’s lifeless body absorbs stray gunfire are strangely satisfying gags. The whole family gets progressively worn down as this coconut asserts its dominance and this turns into a much more personal battle where they can’t let the coconut win.

The Smiths remain useless against the tropical food item and it’s not until they recruit the infinite powers of Criss Angel (who voices himself here) that they’re able to make headway. Both the coconut dilemma as well as Klaus and Hayley’s predicament are both solved by Criss Angel, which is honestly the best way to use this show’s chaos. It’s a wonderful ending (and Steve’s intensifying heartbeat during Criss Angel’s performance is another excellent touch). The reveal that the whole storyline is an advanced form of Mindfreakery and that destroying the coconut would have actually killed Klaus and Hayley is a ridiculous, but grand, layer to add to all of this. After the episode takes its time with thoughtful characterization it earns this silly celebratory finale.

“One Fish, Two Fish” is a very enjoyable episode of American Dad that demonstrates how the show can be genuinely emotional and absurd at the same time. Hayley and Klaus’ story goes to unexpected territory that never takes itself too seriously and there’s not a single misstep in the reckless B-story that consumes everyone else. It’s also appreciated that at the core of this Hayley and Klaus story it’s Danuta that’s really responsible, and Danuta should never be forgotten. This installment will inevitably go down as the “Fish Hayley” episode, but it offers a lot more than that crazy visual alone and it continues the series’ trend of well structured episodes that challenge the norm.

I wonder what Ace McNasty will get up to next week…