American Dad as a show is definitely not afraid to get a little freaky, and nothing is more evident than the existence of Rogu, Roger's tumor that became a character himself in "Persona Assistant". Rogu primarily works as a character because he stays in the background, but this week, he takes a starring role in one of the weirdest American Dad episodes to date.
"The Hand that Rocks the Rogu" has little in the way of traditional plot structure, and can only barely be considered an episode at all. It's more a collection of funny and bizarre skits, with a few running plot points that end up forming some sort of resolution. Steve wants to become a babysitter, but Francine says he's not ready, so he needs to prove himself to her. He does that by taking care of Rogu, as Roger is off for a night of NSFW activities. Steve is instructed not to let Rogu have candy or screentime, but violates both rules almost immediately. It turns out that Rogu multiplies when he eats candy, and the sight of Rogus beating each other up as pinatas and one grabbing a rifle to "settle a score" is quite something. Klaus distracts the Rogus by showing them his music video from "The Never-Ending Stories" but that ends up making the merge to form one super-Rogu. Rogu's shenanigans are the main driving force for most of the episode, and your mileage may vary depending on how much you enjoy the character. I personally found most of it quite hilarious, though the transformation of Rogu from a comedy sideshow to a giant rampaging monster that the audience is supposed to fear is quite bizarre.
After Steve rocks Rogu to sleep with an amusement park ride, the episode takes another wild turn when the alien is captured by the CIA. Throughout the episode, we've seen Stan try to work his way into the organization's exotic food club, which has now decided to eat Rogu. Everything collides at the end, as Francine leads her "Mom's Club" into battle, Rogu is eaten by survives anyway then transforms into a dragon(?) after eating Stan's oysters. As I said before, this episode is more a collection of random skits than anything else, with a narrative that finds some sort of ending, as Francine is scared of losing Steve or something, it makes very little sense. Really, this episode is worth watching for the animation and crazy humor, both of which don't fail to delight. If you're a big fan of Rogu, it's well worth watching. If you're not, there's not much reason to watch it, as it is an easily skippable entry.
Episodes like this one are very hard to score, since there really isn't much to judge in terms of character writing and plot development. "Hamerican Dad!" was the first episode I refused to score, as that episode had so much filler that I didn't think it deserved a score, though it would've been around a 1 or a 2. "The Hand that Rocks the Rogu" is certainly much better, but I don't think it really needs a score. Either you watched it and enjoyed it or you didn't, there's really no middle ground. I found it to be a very fun 22 minutes of television, not nearly as engrossing as "Eight Fires" last week but still enjoyable in it's own way. I'll see you next week for the penultimate episode of this season, as this near seven month odyssey of American Dad reviews begins to come to an end.
"The Hand that Rocks the Rogu" has little in the way of traditional plot structure, and can only barely be considered an episode at all. It's more a collection of funny and bizarre skits, with a few running plot points that end up forming some sort of resolution. Steve wants to become a babysitter, but Francine says he's not ready, so he needs to prove himself to her. He does that by taking care of Rogu, as Roger is off for a night of NSFW activities. Steve is instructed not to let Rogu have candy or screentime, but violates both rules almost immediately. It turns out that Rogu multiplies when he eats candy, and the sight of Rogus beating each other up as pinatas and one grabbing a rifle to "settle a score" is quite something. Klaus distracts the Rogus by showing them his music video from "The Never-Ending Stories" but that ends up making the merge to form one super-Rogu. Rogu's shenanigans are the main driving force for most of the episode, and your mileage may vary depending on how much you enjoy the character. I personally found most of it quite hilarious, though the transformation of Rogu from a comedy sideshow to a giant rampaging monster that the audience is supposed to fear is quite bizarre.
After Steve rocks Rogu to sleep with an amusement park ride, the episode takes another wild turn when the alien is captured by the CIA. Throughout the episode, we've seen Stan try to work his way into the organization's exotic food club, which has now decided to eat Rogu. Everything collides at the end, as Francine leads her "Mom's Club" into battle, Rogu is eaten by survives anyway then transforms into a dragon(?) after eating Stan's oysters. As I said before, this episode is more a collection of random skits than anything else, with a narrative that finds some sort of ending, as Francine is scared of losing Steve or something, it makes very little sense. Really, this episode is worth watching for the animation and crazy humor, both of which don't fail to delight. If you're a big fan of Rogu, it's well worth watching. If you're not, there's not much reason to watch it, as it is an easily skippable entry.
Episodes like this one are very hard to score, since there really isn't much to judge in terms of character writing and plot development. "Hamerican Dad!" was the first episode I refused to score, as that episode had so much filler that I didn't think it deserved a score, though it would've been around a 1 or a 2. "The Hand that Rocks the Rogu" is certainly much better, but I don't think it really needs a score. Either you watched it and enjoyed it or you didn't, there's really no middle ground. I found it to be a very fun 22 minutes of television, not nearly as engrossing as "Eight Fires" last week but still enjoyable in it's own way. I'll see you next week for the penultimate episode of this season, as this near seven month odyssey of American Dad reviews begins to come to an end.
Comments