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American Dad "The Legend of Old Ulysses" Review

If there's one thing I've learned from watching American Dad as long as I have, it's never to underestimate just how weird this show can be. This episode features a mythical sea creature, a talking sun and bike riding, and tries to make all of the random elements fit together. Does it work? Not really.






"The Legend of Old Ulysses" opens with a fun, folksy intro, as we learn the tale of Old Ulysses, featuring many random details about the creature's origins. If this style had stuck for the rest of the episode, I think it would've really helped it stand out, but sadly not. Stan and Steve are going for their trip to Possum Lake, and Steve makes Snot jealous by bragging about all the great times he and his father have had there. Snot then enlists Tuttle's help(via an extended Sleepless in Seattle parody), and the duos end up facing off in competition. Feeling threatened, Steve then breaks up the Snot-Tuttle pairing(via an extended You've Got Mail parody), which Stan doesn't approve of. We've seen Steve take a more antagonistic role in past episodes, especially when it involves Snot, so a lot of these character choices seem believable. But when Steve becomes so desperate to win, he's contemplating leaving Stan at the mercy of Old Ulysses, I feel like the episode kind of betrayed his character. Not to mention Stan's adverse reaction to cheating, when he's done a lot worse, even in recent episodes. The confusing character motivations dragged down this storyline, and just didn't sit right with me.


There's no real B-plot in this episode, more like a series to different running gags. You've got the Monster energy drink, Hayley and Francine's suntanning, Halliburton turning people into birds, those rom-com parodies, Roger trying to learn to ride a bike and much more. There are some laughs to be had with some of these, but most of them just felt like filler, with the Stan and Steve story not having enough content to fill the episode. I think a more concentrated secondary storyline would've really helped this episode feel more focused as a whole.


5/10


Character choices aside, the Stan and Steve plot was entertaining enough, but "The Legend of Old Ulysses" mostly felt like a mess. I got a bit of a Family Guy vibe throughout the episode, and that is not a good thing. American Dad is in a weird spot right now. The show is still capable of producing great episodes like last week's "Persona Assistant" but it's clear that's not a common occurrence. A lot of the recent episodes have included some great animation, and this one is no different, but the writing and pacing just don't click. Here's hoping they can turn it around next week.


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