So, I'm mostly settled in from my move, at least enough to begin posting on the blog again. Here's the second episode of American Dad I have reviewed, Season 15, Episode 12 "OreTron Trail".
(Quick note: for those unfamiliar with American Dad, I'm not planning on doing any backstory or anything for the show. If you're new to AD, I highly suggest going back and watching older episodes; seasons 4-6 are some of the best seasons from any show I've ever seen.)
Roger-centric episodes are normally always very welcome to see on the slate, as the character could probably be described as the heart of the show. Here, we see him struggling to cope with the inevitability of the Smith family's deaths, as being an alien, he can easily outlive all of them. It's an easy enough message to get across, and helps Roger's actions make much more sense in context. He allows the family to think he died in a car crash, and completely changes his life, becoming a cowardly biker, trying to avoid any personal ties. Back at home, the family is finding different ways to cope with his death, leading to an insane but somewhat uninteresting gag of a run-through of their new personalities. Steve is the only one who doesn't believe Roger is dead, discovering that he's traversing the Oregon Trail, a reference to the game that started all of this, as well as Roger's problems with a previous family. It's here where the episode goes completely off the walls, as Roger decides the best way to keep the family safe is to digitize them, putting them into a newly restored Macintosh computer. These are the sort of antics that help keep the show fresh, and keep the pace moving, much better than last week's episode. The Smiths enter the Oregon Trail game, dying so many times during it that it desensitizes Roger to their eventual deaths, finding a fairly logical ending to this story arch.
Over in the B-plot, Klaus takes over Roger's attic after his "death", opening a bodega. There's not a lot to this story, as his newfound responsibility leads Klaus to extreme paranoia, eventually murdering a local health official. Again, not much here, but a fine way to counter the main plot, and the ending got a few laughs out of me.
8/10
This was by no means a classic episode, but the pace moved at a really nice pace, and there were several great gags, including Roger's complete refusal to stop any wrong-doing during his time as "Rene Gade". If anything, this episode is a testament to this show's ability to keep bringing in new, fresh takes on their characters.
(Quick note: for those unfamiliar with American Dad, I'm not planning on doing any backstory or anything for the show. If you're new to AD, I highly suggest going back and watching older episodes; seasons 4-6 are some of the best seasons from any show I've ever seen.)
Roger-centric episodes are normally always very welcome to see on the slate, as the character could probably be described as the heart of the show. Here, we see him struggling to cope with the inevitability of the Smith family's deaths, as being an alien, he can easily outlive all of them. It's an easy enough message to get across, and helps Roger's actions make much more sense in context. He allows the family to think he died in a car crash, and completely changes his life, becoming a cowardly biker, trying to avoid any personal ties. Back at home, the family is finding different ways to cope with his death, leading to an insane but somewhat uninteresting gag of a run-through of their new personalities. Steve is the only one who doesn't believe Roger is dead, discovering that he's traversing the Oregon Trail, a reference to the game that started all of this, as well as Roger's problems with a previous family. It's here where the episode goes completely off the walls, as Roger decides the best way to keep the family safe is to digitize them, putting them into a newly restored Macintosh computer. These are the sort of antics that help keep the show fresh, and keep the pace moving, much better than last week's episode. The Smiths enter the Oregon Trail game, dying so many times during it that it desensitizes Roger to their eventual deaths, finding a fairly logical ending to this story arch.
Over in the B-plot, Klaus takes over Roger's attic after his "death", opening a bodega. There's not a lot to this story, as his newfound responsibility leads Klaus to extreme paranoia, eventually murdering a local health official. Again, not much here, but a fine way to counter the main plot, and the ending got a few laughs out of me.
8/10
This was by no means a classic episode, but the pace moved at a really nice pace, and there were several great gags, including Roger's complete refusal to stop any wrong-doing during his time as "Rene Gade". If anything, this episode is a testament to this show's ability to keep bringing in new, fresh takes on their characters.
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