TVSquad

(S05E05) I'm beginning to think of this as the Brian & Stewie show. Again this week, their story was much better than the Peter story. With Peter's injured hand, the setup was good, but it kind of headed downhill from there. The opening with Quagmire smuggling the fireworks into the country ("Yeah, that's just as fun."), Chris playing David Koresh and the heavy handed FBI agent, and Stewie ignoring Peter's missing fingers while asking for more juice was great. Finally something for Meg to do too.

The after hours scene at the brewery was pretty good as well. I like striking down Debra Messing and French Stewart, but what really made it was Quagmire's aggravation that nobody remembers Tim Daly or Wings. "It made Tony Shaloub's career!" It is so frustrating when people don't remember those things. Where they started to lose me was when Peter was left alone. The You Me And Dupree and Along Came Polly bits weren't that good. Lois at the office doing Peter's work wasn't a lot better.

Meanwhile, Brian's new girlfriend Jillian (Drew Barrymore) is a moron. There's nothing very original there, and I know I've heard that Hitler joke before, although I can't place it, but it did serve as the basis for some great Stewie and Brian interaction. The story played out like a snowball rolling down a hill and getting bigger and bigger. Goading Brian into the alibi cheer was good. Brian trying to defend the relationship was funny too. He was just so frustrated with just how wrong he was. That scene was capped off nicely with the phone call. "You should be able to see the words Mr. 3000." Does anyone know what Brian's ringtone was? That tune is stuck in my head but I can't remember what it is.

Jillian over for dinner kept it going nicely. I loved Stewie pushing Brian's buttons by quizzing her, and Brian's reaction knowing that he has no ground to stand on. "It's like she's fucking five!" The breakup was another highlight. Not because of the actual breakup, or lack thereof, but because of the aftermath with Stewie. "What's that smell? Smells like sweat and anger and shame." And you have to like Stewie's rendition of "Cars" to close it out.

The cutaway bits this week were pretty hit and miss. The top secret porn bunker and Stewie at the rest home were good, but Boston book report, Buzz Killington, Our American Cousin, and Danny Devito/Rhea Perlman were just meh. I've come to expect a little more from the Family Guy crew in that regard. As a collection, this weeks batch were well below par.

Overall, it wasn't a bad episode, but I don't see it making many top ten episode lists. The Stewie/Brian stuff was enough to save it from being bad, but the lackluster Peter story combined with the weak cutaways really held it back. Oh well, as they say, they can't all be gems.