Review: American Dad “Shakedown Steve”

Overview:

Steve finds himself sorrowful over the fact that he doesn’t have an older brother that can open his eyes to new experiences and take him under his wing. Steve’s friends all have brotherly role models that have helped cultivate their interests, but a desperate Steve eventually turns to his brother-in-law, Jeff, and hopes for the best. Jeff introduces Steve to an unusual niche culture that he quickly takes to and it’s not long before these relative strangers are touring the country as a brother-and-brother grilled cheese operation. The two enter this arrangement with the best of intentions, but they slowly learn that they may not mesh together as well as grilled cheese and bread do.

Not ones to miss up a good deal, the rest of the Smiths engage in an escape room challenge, but fundamentally oppose the rules that hold it together.

Our Take:

American Dad has over 300 episodes under its belt and in this time they’ve been able to explore every character combination imaginable in an effort to experiment and learn what works. It took American Dad time to properly figure out how to best utilize Roger and there’s been a recent re-invigoration of Klaus that’s been equally helpful towards his character. Steve and Jeff are a pairing–specifically in a brotherly capacity–is a character dynamic that’s somehow slipped through the cracks over the years even though it makes so much sense. Steve and Jeff have a tremendous amount in common and are naive in a very similar manner that makes them natural foils for each other.

It’s a shock that it’s taken American Dad this long to really focus on Steve and Jeff’s friendship, but it works so well that it’s now a new dynamic that the series can turn to for several seasons. There’s been more of an emphasis on Jeff in later seasons, but typically in the capacity of his relationship with Hayley. Steve and Jeff’s dynamic is an even fresher change of pace, which continues to develop Jeff’s character in a way that feels exciting and doesn’t reduce Jeff–or Steve–to easy stereotypes. The two characters enhance each other in the best way possible and it helps make “Shakedown Steve” a very pleasant episode of American Dad.

“Shakedown Steve” has a lot of fun as Steve attempts to walk a mile in Jeff’s shoes, only to be perplexed with the nonsensical acts that fill his day. Steve laments that he’s stuck with a dud of a big brother, but the episode cleverly reveals that there is very much a method to Jeff’s slacker madness and that he’s an idiot savant within his own universe. Jeff’s way of life introduces Steve to the parking lot gig economy culture that exists before a Phish concert, which happens to be exactly the variety of new world that Steve hoped to indoctrinate. Steve gets to experience a new culture that would otherwise be impossible for him to penetrate, but his big brother, Jeff, allows him access. 

Right when it feels like the escape room story is wearing thin and growing too ridiculous, it zags in the perfect direction. “Shakedown Steve” doesn’t get any less crazy, but it finds a level of absurdity that’s somehow more acceptable. The fiscal ruin of the escape room does in fact appear to be another level of riddle-laced subterfuge and it turns out that Dr. Insane-o is apparently not only very real, but has been closer than the Smiths thought the entire time. This all gets heightened to its apex as the storyline reaches some kind of conclusion, but like it’s a lost episode of The Twilight Zone. Presumably the Smiths all die and Dr. Insane-o gets some fresh brains for his next “escape room” victims. It’s actually appreciated that there’s no addendum that attempts to reel back this madness. It works better with this fever dream of a punchline.

“Shakedown Steve” is a fairly direct episode of American Dad that doesn’t overcomplicate its story and instead it banks on strong character dynamics between a duo that haven’t properly gotten their due together in the past. However, despite the linear nature of “Shakedown Steve,” this is still an extremely weird episode that culminates in Pokémon rip-offs being used as drug repositories before Phish fans trigger an act of God that chills the harsh vibes that are coming from the wrong type of drug users. The rampant weirdness in “Shakedown Steve” gets mellowed out by the episode’s effective emotional core and these two elements balance each other out, much like how Jeff and Steve influence each other. The misgivings in “Shakedown Steve” have nothing to do with Steve and Jeff’s chemistry and hopefully this season will allow more opportunities for Steve to turn down acid from his big brother.