Review: Family Guy “Dr.C and the Women”

Posted on March 16, 2015March 16, 2015 by Tommy North

SPOILERS BELOW

After last week’s episode, it was nice to see Family Guy return to something sane. It was nice to see some of you give your thoughts in the comments, I do read them so don’t hesitate to share your opinions. I’m always interested to see what you guys think! Let’s get on with this week’s review!

In “Dr.C and the Women” Peter notices Cleveland’s talent for conflict resolution after breaking up a fight between Joe and Quagmire. Peter recommends that Cleveland open his own office and make a profit from helping others. Meanwhile, Meg is having a hard time making cash, but Quagmire helps her get a job at the airport. To her surprise, Meg finds out she is the most attractive person working there.”

Last night’s Family Guy proved to be an interesting one for a couple of reasons. The first is that I found the two subplots of the episode were balanced very well. Both seemed to tell their story well, in the time that they were given. Not at any point did one or the other seem like it was there to eat up time. Additionally, I did find myself laughing a lot! After last week, I had a difficult time imagining that I would be laughing this week, but all was well on the comedy front. Another thing is that Family Guy doesn’t usually dive much into character development. We all know the characters and their personality, and that is usually enough for the show. This week we peeled back the layers or Cleveland and learned more about what has been going on in his mind since closing the deli. It was also cool seeing Meg in a power position on the show. The same old “shut up, Meg” gag has gone stale in my mind, but this episode showed us what she’s like when the tables turn for her. Of course, the episode ends with Peter belittling Meg, so I guess old habits die hard, but the majority of her story this episode was actually done quite well.

Something I didn’t like about the episode was when Cleveland went missing, especially after seeing how his story wraps up this week. If he was going through some sort of turmoil, I would have preferred the show to let the audience experience that with him. When you think about the show, Cleveland is really one of the most evolved characters. He’s had a business, but it failed. He had a previous marriage, but it failed. He went and lived in a new place and started his life anew, and eventually came back to Quahog. How much can you say has changed for Peter since the show started? It was nice to see this episode acknowledge Cleveland’s past, but I also think this could have been a good chance to bring his family into the fold. Cleveland does have his new family with him in Quahog, so I think it’s strange we’ve gone this entire season without really seeing them there. In my mind, I find it strange when main characters become faces in the background, either find a way to phase them out of the show, or bring on their voice actors for a few episodes a season.

Overall, I’m very pleased with this episode. Much better than last week! I wish we could see more episodes like this one, because this one reminded me of Family Guy in it’s early years. We went back to Cleveland’s deli, and we had Meg in a story that was about more than just trashing her character at every turn. Remember the first few seasons of Family Guy when Meg had stories revolve around her, just like the rest of the family? Weren’t those the days? I won’t get too nostalgic, but I would like to see more episodes like this one. Loved it.