Review: American Dad “One Woman Swole”

Well, Deviant Art just got a whole lot of new fetish fuel.

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Francine is pumped to join a new gym, but the family is doubtful she’ll commit, considering she never commits to anything. So, to make up for a lifetime of quitting, she decides to fully embrace the bodybuilding lifestyle. Stan’s really hot for this change (apparently really into buff women) until she starts spending all her time working out. So, he and Roger also bulk up to compete with her and her trainer in an upcoming competition, which forces her to over-exert herself and end up in a coma from a brain aneurysm. Stan tries reaching her inside her mind to get her to wake up, but Francine realizes she’s still just a quitter. So she decides to quit…being in a coma!

Meanwhile, Klaus is pissed over losing credit over the invention of the high-five to some legendary baseball player. He actually seems like a nice guy at first, but then reveals he’s been dedicated to stealing everything from Klaus (who he knows is now a fish and is just okay with that I guess), so he decides to become a fish himself by getting in a bowl and breathing water. He dies from this. The end.

OUR TAKE

It’s been about a year since this it started (not counting the Christmas/Hanukkah special), but American Dad is back to finish up the remainder of its 15th season, which supposedly will be immediately followed by the next season, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Certainly felt like quite a while since the last episode, but now we’re back and it feels like it never left! Mostly due to the episodic nature of this show but still!

And we’re kicking off this back nine with a Francine episode! The second Francine episode in a row AND the third of the season (The first being “Paranoid Frandroid”, which premiered a year ago today!). And fitting with the other episodes focusing on her, it’s pretty much about how she’s regretting how she wasted her youth or isn’t doing enough of something and trying to find some hobby or passion to make up for lost time. Then she gets TOO into it, causing Stan to freak out and try to get her to stop by proving his love for her, so she ends up dropping the hobby and things go back to normal.

Episodes like Season 2’s “Iced, Iced Babies”, where she breaks into the CIA’s donated sperm storage because Stan won’t try at having another baby. Or Season 5’s “White Rice”, where she becomes a stand-up comedian and TV star because Stan won’t discuss things with her. Or Season 4’s “Stan Time” (which aired just over TEN years ago), where she makes use of CIA pills to avoid sleep become a marine biologist and discovers a rare giant squid because Stan won’t spend time with her. Basically what I’m saying is this story outline is a very well worn one in the American Dad writer’s room. Then again, I guess they don’t really expect people to remember that far back, but honestly, that just makes it look even lazier.

So, how does this particular episode hold up against all the other “Francine Gets a New Hobby” episodes? Frankly, not super well. It’s perfectly fine on its own and leans into the gross-out humor of being REALLY buff, which I don’t think American Dad has really done that much before (or if it has, I don’t remember it, which is saying something). And that’s basically its only distinguishing characteristic. That said, I AM glad to see the show back after such a long wait. Plus, next week is a Jeff episode, and I usually like those pretty well.