Review: Family Guy “This Little Piggy”

SPOILERS BELOW

Just as my hopes were rising for Family Guy were beginning to improve, “This Little Piggy” swoops in and crushes those dreams. I’ve been warming up to this season in the last few weeks, I really have, but there was so much lacking from last night’s episode. It was a tough watch, to say the least. But allow me to complain about it a little more in depth in this week’s review!

“Feeling unappreciated as usual, Meg agrees to become a foot fetish model. Meanwhile, Stewie feels exhausted with school, so he takes some time off to attend a music festival with Brian”.

“This Little Piggy” was a pretty weak episode for this season. The first thing working against it was using a pretty predictable subplot for Meg. It felt very generic, and I just wish they could use Meg in a situation that doesn’t relate to her self-esteem. I get that she is the family’s punching bag, and it’s funny for a quick joke, but when it comes to actually putting her in the spotlight for an episode, I feel it’s time for Meg’s character to evolve. It’s become extremely boring to watch, and there isn’t much room a surprise ending. Obviously her family comes through for her at the end, and her self-esteem is somewhat salvaged. The next episode focusing on Meg will probably follow the formula closely, I’ll bet anything. It just seems to me that they do certain things to make the show seem fresh, but ultimately they fall back into a comfort zone. Stories become predictable, jokes come off a little bland. It’s sad to see.

Stewie and Brian’s subplot was a little more tolerable. That isn’t saying much, but it’s something. It offered us a story we haven’t really seen the show do before, none I can remember from the top of my head. It made me laugh a couple of times, and it’s ending was unpredictable. It helped salvage on the episode on those merits alone, but not by very much. Some of the jokes were funny for me, most weren’t. It also felt like something I’ve seen before. Taking Stewie and putting him into adult situations and seeing how he reacts to them, then having Brian there as an anchor of sorts. We’ve seen it before, and I’ll sound like a hypocrite, but it’s something I don’t mind seeing every once in a while. I’m a little more tired of boy-genius Stewie, so when he breaks loose in these episodes, it’s a little more fun to watch. Sometimes his stories delve into science, and on one occasion, they actually had to bring in Neil Degrasse Tyson as a scientific consultant just so make sure they had everything in order. I love science, but I appreciate Family Guy for the stupidity. That’s it’s bread and butter, and that’s what it provided with Stewie last night. I have to give them points for that.

Overall, I wasn’t pleased with the episode, but there were some redeeming factors. The show is capable of bringing us much more than this, and it’s episodes like this that just make it seem like a shadow of it’s old self. I have no doubt we’re in the decline of Family Guy’s life. It’s still a popular show, but it’s best days are behind it and it seems Seth MacFarlane may be looking to take his Hollywood career more seriously. If we truly are in the final years of Family Guy, I just want them to give us some of their best episodes ever. Everybody at one point or another has watched this show and had a laugh. Then again, The Simpsons arguably lost it’s mojo after season ten, but continued to truck on. Who knows what’s in store for Family Guy! Less episodes like this, I hope.

 

 

 

 

 

How did you all enjoy “This Little Piggy”? Hate it? Love it? Let me know your thoughts! Enjoy the rest of your week and the Super Bowl if you’re tuning in!