A large amount of American Dad episodes in the TBS years seek to impress with crazy plot twists and ridiculous one-liners, seemingly to make up for the fact that the writers have run out of ideas. Anyone who has been a long term fan of the show can tell you that older episodes never really had that style, instead opting for simpler storytelling, built to slowly escalate over the course of each episode. Sure, AD has long been a wild show where anything can happen, but the interaction between characters were always grounded and rooted in emotion. But even with this season showcasing just how long in the tooth AD is, this week showed that it is still possible to recapture that old magic.
"Eight Fires" succeeds, at least for me, because of a more simplistic plot. In the opening minutes, we are shown just how far the Smith family will go to avoid Francine's cooking, which is a solid place to start as Francine has been noted for her lack of cooking skill in the past. She attends a cooking class, but her inability to innovate outside of the given recipe leads to her being kicked out and Roger offering to help. The writers have a fun time with Roger's different personas, as he both portrays a chef and leaves the island at the same time, a good evolution of one of the show's most consistent gags. It's worth noting that Roger is actually a quality chef in this episode, and his definition of spatchcocking is pretty much dead on. Roger tries to get Francine to experiment with her cooking, to learn more about the essence of food but she can't let go of her past ways and invites an invasion of bears by accident. Trust me, it made a lot more sense in the episode. Francine eventually admits that her reliance of recipes is to save her from the possibility of failure, allowing her a safety net. I personally loved this resolution, as there's nothing more human and more relatable than the fear of failure, especially when it includes disappointing your family. It wouldn't be American Dad without some twisted finale, as Francine is forced to cut Roger to pieces and serve him to the bears, carefully prepared of course. Ultimately, I don't have a lot to say about the A-plot this week, as the storyline was extremely simple and focused. This was certainly an absolute winner for me, walking that fine line between hilarious hijinks and genuine emotional depth better than any episode so far this season.
Stan is in the B-plot again this week, a common trend for most of the more recent episodes and not a bad one at all. After taking a nail to the head, he becomes an expert piano player that is unable to speak, a weird leap of logic but one that allows for some beautiful music. Stan's performance at the local Nordstrom allows the store to slowly expand, turning the manager into his greatest admirer. The Nordstrom manager, who never gets a name, is a highlight of an already excellent episode, one of the best side characters that AD has ever produced. His genuine happiness at his store turning such massive profits was wondrous, so of course he got ripped in half by the end of the episode. But on the plus side, Dr. Kalgary has a new monster with exquisite taste for classical music, so it's not all bad.
Look, I'm definitely a bit of a hard-ass when it comes to this show, but you have to understand that it comes from a place of love. American Dad has long been one of my favorite shows on television, and because of that I'm a lot more critical of it when compared to anything else. But even I'm willing to allow a little leeway when the show is this damn good. This felt like the AD of old, mixing an engaging plot, well crafted characters and excellent cutaways and sight gags into an enthralling 21 minutes. So, because of that, I'm about to type something I never thought I would.....
10/10
Bravo.
"Eight Fires" succeeds, at least for me, because of a more simplistic plot. In the opening minutes, we are shown just how far the Smith family will go to avoid Francine's cooking, which is a solid place to start as Francine has been noted for her lack of cooking skill in the past. She attends a cooking class, but her inability to innovate outside of the given recipe leads to her being kicked out and Roger offering to help. The writers have a fun time with Roger's different personas, as he both portrays a chef and leaves the island at the same time, a good evolution of one of the show's most consistent gags. It's worth noting that Roger is actually a quality chef in this episode, and his definition of spatchcocking is pretty much dead on. Roger tries to get Francine to experiment with her cooking, to learn more about the essence of food but she can't let go of her past ways and invites an invasion of bears by accident. Trust me, it made a lot more sense in the episode. Francine eventually admits that her reliance of recipes is to save her from the possibility of failure, allowing her a safety net. I personally loved this resolution, as there's nothing more human and more relatable than the fear of failure, especially when it includes disappointing your family. It wouldn't be American Dad without some twisted finale, as Francine is forced to cut Roger to pieces and serve him to the bears, carefully prepared of course. Ultimately, I don't have a lot to say about the A-plot this week, as the storyline was extremely simple and focused. This was certainly an absolute winner for me, walking that fine line between hilarious hijinks and genuine emotional depth better than any episode so far this season.
Stan is in the B-plot again this week, a common trend for most of the more recent episodes and not a bad one at all. After taking a nail to the head, he becomes an expert piano player that is unable to speak, a weird leap of logic but one that allows for some beautiful music. Stan's performance at the local Nordstrom allows the store to slowly expand, turning the manager into his greatest admirer. The Nordstrom manager, who never gets a name, is a highlight of an already excellent episode, one of the best side characters that AD has ever produced. His genuine happiness at his store turning such massive profits was wondrous, so of course he got ripped in half by the end of the episode. But on the plus side, Dr. Kalgary has a new monster with exquisite taste for classical music, so it's not all bad.
Look, I'm definitely a bit of a hard-ass when it comes to this show, but you have to understand that it comes from a place of love. American Dad has long been one of my favorite shows on television, and because of that I'm a lot more critical of it when compared to anything else. But even I'm willing to allow a little leeway when the show is this damn good. This felt like the AD of old, mixing an engaging plot, well crafted characters and excellent cutaways and sight gags into an enthralling 21 minutes. So, because of that, I'm about to type something I never thought I would.....
10/10
Bravo.
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