Review: American Dad “Twinanigans”

Hey, I’m Steve. I’m also Steve! Two Steves!

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

On a night of harmless Youtube watching, an old Pizza Overlord commercial resurfaces starring Roger and a younger Steve. Turns out the two of them were twin acting stars for a short period before Steve decided to quit. Now that he remembers how good things were back then, Roger starts pitching a fit until Steve decides they should try acting again. Steve excels, but Roger bombs pretty much every audition. Eventually, he ends up catering at a Hollywood party and caught snorting coke by and FDA sting and he’s only going to get out of it by wearing a wire for another sting. But his eagerness to act almost gets him killed until Steve arrives to save him.

Also, the rest of the family get sucked into the life of Spencer’s Gifts.

OUR TAKE

Have to say, I haven’t seen an episode about Roger where a secret job or hobby was revealed that a family member was already in on. Usually it’s just something in his constantly foggy past where no one knew he was involved before now, sometimes not even him. It kinda makes me wonder why they don’t just say that an ability of Roger’s species is that they can blend into anything with even the most minimal of disguise…although then that would really defeat the purpose for the disguises, wouldn’t it? Roger’s species is kind of like Bender’s physiological make-up in Futurama, where you can pull out any new thing for the sake of the plot. While that might seem like it’s overly convenient, what matters is how it’s used in the joke, which is usually successfully.

Otherwise, Steve and Roger episodes weirdly are pretty often but you can never quite remember how many there have been. I guess with so many characters, some combinations just don’t get as much play as others. The most well-known of these two would probably be “Ricky Spanish”, which highlights how these stories typically go. The two get involved or come up with a plan to do something, Roger gets in over his head and/or is planning something more nefarious all along, Steve quits on him and then comes back at the end…unless he doesn’t. Actually, that sounds like pretty much every Roger with ANYONE episode. Huh, I suppose Roger often ends up taking over the stories he’s in a lot of the time. Makes sense, seeing how he’s kind of the shit-stirrer of the family and that naturally cultivates conflict. And considering conflict is the main component in making sure a story works, Roger’s usually unpredictable or prone to shenanigans nature is basically kindling for any story to go into some strange but hilarious places, which is where American Dad typically does its thing best.

Other than that…wow, I am really needing to dig hard just to come up with something to talk about. These episodes seem to just fly by lately, but I’m still usually able to come up with a main talking point. This one just seems so…unremarkable. Kind of like the earlier one this season about eggs, “Shell Game”. “Oretron Trail” actually felt pretty novel with how it dug beneath the surface of Roger’s usual pettiness or selfishness. This one, however, just seems to be jogging in place with these characters.