Quagmire loses the one thing most precious to him in the whole world… his *NSFW*

 

Overview:

After Joe manages to procure a speedboat from work, Peter and the gang join him for a day on the lake.  However, a horrific accident leaves Quagmire with a serious injury. In a shark attack, he loses the one thing that he cares about the most, his penis.  Sinking into a depressive state, Quagmire is saved by an unlikely source, but not without some permeant damage.

Meanwhile, Mort Goldman is in some serious trouble after being caught in a prescription drug ring.  On the run from the mob and the cops, Stewie and Brian decide to hunt him down for the $10,000 reward on his head.  A trip to Boca Raton, Florida helps the pair find Mort and the mob who is ready to kill him.  Mort has his own secret in a twist ending that leaves Stewie and Brian with nothing.

Our Take:

Any man who watched this episode had a couple cringes during this episode.  To lose your penis would be devastating for any man, but somebody like Quagmire- that’s just a death sentence.  Of course, the likelihood of an event like this actually occurring is zero, but still, I cringed.

While it was hard to take in at first, it did open the door for the writers to touch on a pretty serious issue, suicide.  For Quagmire, that would be his only way out of a terrible situation like this.  However, the show teaches us that if you can lean on your friends during periods of depression, usually things can work out.  It was a surprisingly gentle approach to a difficult topic to touch on. Something Family Guy would typically ignore and make some very dark jokes about.

Speaking of jokes, Family Guy’s formulaic drawn-out humour is really starting to wear.  In the early seasons, it was funny because it was something not done before: such as the classic scene in which Peter scrapes his knee and moans for what seems like five minutes.  Know it feels like they squeeze something of the like into each episode.  A couple of weeks ago it involved a car that was extremely long, this week it was Peter trying to lower a boat into the water. For me, it just breaks away from the show, and it just is no longer funny.  But, something must be working considering Family Guy just got picked up for another season from Fox (deservedly).

As for Stewie and Brian’s side plot of chasing down a fugitive Mort Goldman, I’ll say just as much as it added to the show.  And that is nothing.  It felt forced, unfunny, and had no substance.

Some brilliant moments went above the rest of the episode. Specifically, a well-played Gremlins reference.  It feels like the show has lost a lot of these hilarious references that used to be the show’s bread and butter, but they show they still have it once and a while with jokes like these.  I also enjoyed the final running joke of a character within the show breaking the fourth wall and becoming a writer- hard to explain yet delivered some solid laughs.

Unfortunately, glimpses of brilliant humour were not enough to bring the show together.  As I mentioned, the Stewie and Brian storyline added nothing to the show, which means half the episode was unnecessary.  And while taking Quagmire’s prized possession from him is makings for some great comedy, the plot was underutilized and at times uncomfortable.