Review: American Dad “Persona Assistant”

I don’t remember this game in the Persona series.

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Roger’s personas are taking up a lot of his life right now, so much so that it’s interfering with his Stan-related time, even having him miss his part of the theme song! He insists that the town would fall apart without, which Stan just scoffs at. That is, until a mysterious tumor forms over Roger’s forehead, incapacitating him and forcing bedrest as it gets removed. Thus, Stan must take over all of Roger’s personas…which he gives up halfway through because he still thinks they’re pointless. But as it turns out, Roger was right about how important they were, as a domino effect occurs and a gang war erupts throughout Langley.

Stan tries to make things right again the only way he knows how: by donning the forbidden persona, RICKY SPANISH (riiiiiicky spaaaaaanish). Though once the town is saved, Stan won’t give up the power, leaving a recovered Roger (and his tumor, he ends up being a Roger-looking creature named “Rogu”) to stop him. In the end, Rogu takes over some of Roger’s persona duties, which hopefully means we won’t be seeing him a bunch because he almost became the Scrappy Doo of the show.

Also, Steve tries out for A Capella at his school (who I think has been referred to by name for the first time in this episode), but is shocked to find his teammates are all taking performance drugs…which Principal Lewis encourages. So he ends up getting on cocaine and skatting his heart out.

OUR TAKE

Since this is the show’s much hyped 250th episode, I guess I was expecting something more…commemorative? Then again, 250 isn’t exactly the same level of milestone as double zeroes, so I guess the fact that they did anything at all is somewhat nice. Last time they did a shake-up of the usual intro theme was back in the last episode that aired on Fox, so it’s not like this is just another regular episode. Heck, maybe the story being about how Roger’s personas keep the city from going to hell is actually an unsubtle metaphor for how much the show itself has come to rely on those gags to stay afloat. I remember when the show started and it didn’t seem like that was going to be that big a thing, but then that gag took on a life of its own (including specific personas who actually took on lives of their own).

There’s also the notable addition to the cast, Roger’s “homunculus” Rogu. He talks like a Pokemon, has an intense loyalty to Roger, and can apparently take on disguises like him that can fool anyone (at least if that last scene is any indication). Usually adding new major cast members this late in the game is a sign a show is on its last legs (Fairly Odd Parents, anyone?), but there might be something cool that could come out of this. I might be more annoyed with what Rogu might become than what he currently is, and, for all we know, he might not ever show up again. Still, this show does know how to make good use of the gross-out humor, so he has that going for him.

Oh wait, there’s an upcoming episode called “The Hand that Rocks the Rogu”, so I guess he’s definitely planned to come back at some point.

But hey, now American Dad has two-hundred and fifty episodes under its belt. The next milestone is the big 300, which lines up right with the end of the two new seasons the show as renewed for. Is this being set up as the finale? If so, will we finally get closure on the Golden Turd Saga? It’s all impossible to say at the moment, especially since the constant delays mean these seasons take over a year to finish now. Though I have to admit, I’ve watched this far in, so I’m probably going to watch another 250 episodes anyway.

Score
7/10