It's unfortunate that a growing trend on American Dad appears to be episodes completely lacking in genuinely satisfying payoffs. Last week's "100 Years a Solid Fool" had an interesting premise, but lost sight of what makes the characters of Stan and Roger fun to viewers, and ended about as meekly as any I've ever seen from this show. Based on last season, I believe the AD writing team still has what it takes to craft an enjoyable story from start to finish, but a little more of my faith wavered this week.
"Downtown" is a Hayley and Steve episode, and that pairing is probably American Dad's most inconsistent, generally good at delivering punchlines but lacking in emotional payoff. Not surprisingly, this episode has quite a few strong gags, as the two Smith children get involved in an escapade through an unnamed Langley neighborhood. Steve is attempting to take his pre-pre-SAT, a test his sister doesn't take seriously in any way, but the clash between their two philosophies isn't really explored at all in this episode. Instead, the pair jump from one bizarre household to another, discovering a murderous gang of makeup saleswomen, a cellar full of human slaves and a wildly incompetent police chief that definitely sounds like she was voiced by Jane Lynch. Your mileage may vary on a lot of this craziness, but I had a couple genuine laughs during this stretch, mostly from the prisoners in the cellar, who strike just the right air between desperation and consternation. Hayley ends up caught in the police station, which leads to Steve giving up on his test to save her, assisted by a local named Crazy Dave, who apparently knows everything about the madness of this neighborhood. But we never find out what on earth was wrong with these people or even where any of this was all taking place, as this storyline ends with Hayley taking the PPSAT instead of an injured Steve, intentionally failing every question, which was a solid punchline.
I think I could be a lot more forgiving of a storyline like this if it was actually going somewhere, but it ended up just feeling like a waste of time. The dynamic between Hayley and Steve could be fun in this context, but is completely unexplored, as the two don't even really interact that much. It's also just so disappointing that the writers had absolutely no explanation for why there was so much craziness in just this one cul-de-sac. Even a confusing answer would've sufficed, but the writers didn't even try, which just shows a complete lack of interest in presenting a compelling product. At least a lot more of the jokes in this A-plot landed than last week, but if the storyline isn't leading anywhere, it just ends up feeling hollow.
Probably the biggest upgrade for "Downtown" over "100 Years a Solid Fool" is the inclusion of a B-plot, generally a bit of a drawback for most AD episodes but very welcome in the era of underwhelming main storylines. Stan, Roger and Francine head downtown in an attempt to find Hayley and Steve, but end up just exploring the new gentrified district of Langley instead. It's silly and pointless, but I did enjoy the dynamic between Stan and Roger, as Stan goes from terrified to appreciative while Roger just wants a handjob. It helps that both find actual character arcs, and the ending of Stan buying an apartment(I guess?) downtown feels like a perfect way to end the episode. I'm honestly not sure why this storyline wasn't the main one of this episode, as it was certainly more entertaining to watch than Hayley and Steve's adventures, and also took place in the area that literally was the name of the episode.
6/10
It sucks that I have to score "Downtown" so low, as it was a very enjoyable half-hour, but the lack of resolution in Hayley and Steve's storyline made me feel like I couldn't score it any higher. But the Stan and Roger storyline shows that these writers still know what they're doing from time to time, and that's extremely promising. No show ever bats 1.000, and I'm more confident than I was last week that American Dad can find it's footing in it's 17th season.
"Downtown" is a Hayley and Steve episode, and that pairing is probably American Dad's most inconsistent, generally good at delivering punchlines but lacking in emotional payoff. Not surprisingly, this episode has quite a few strong gags, as the two Smith children get involved in an escapade through an unnamed Langley neighborhood. Steve is attempting to take his pre-pre-SAT, a test his sister doesn't take seriously in any way, but the clash between their two philosophies isn't really explored at all in this episode. Instead, the pair jump from one bizarre household to another, discovering a murderous gang of makeup saleswomen, a cellar full of human slaves and a wildly incompetent police chief that definitely sounds like she was voiced by Jane Lynch. Your mileage may vary on a lot of this craziness, but I had a couple genuine laughs during this stretch, mostly from the prisoners in the cellar, who strike just the right air between desperation and consternation. Hayley ends up caught in the police station, which leads to Steve giving up on his test to save her, assisted by a local named Crazy Dave, who apparently knows everything about the madness of this neighborhood. But we never find out what on earth was wrong with these people or even where any of this was all taking place, as this storyline ends with Hayley taking the PPSAT instead of an injured Steve, intentionally failing every question, which was a solid punchline.
I think I could be a lot more forgiving of a storyline like this if it was actually going somewhere, but it ended up just feeling like a waste of time. The dynamic between Hayley and Steve could be fun in this context, but is completely unexplored, as the two don't even really interact that much. It's also just so disappointing that the writers had absolutely no explanation for why there was so much craziness in just this one cul-de-sac. Even a confusing answer would've sufficed, but the writers didn't even try, which just shows a complete lack of interest in presenting a compelling product. At least a lot more of the jokes in this A-plot landed than last week, but if the storyline isn't leading anywhere, it just ends up feeling hollow.
Probably the biggest upgrade for "Downtown" over "100 Years a Solid Fool" is the inclusion of a B-plot, generally a bit of a drawback for most AD episodes but very welcome in the era of underwhelming main storylines. Stan, Roger and Francine head downtown in an attempt to find Hayley and Steve, but end up just exploring the new gentrified district of Langley instead. It's silly and pointless, but I did enjoy the dynamic between Stan and Roger, as Stan goes from terrified to appreciative while Roger just wants a handjob. It helps that both find actual character arcs, and the ending of Stan buying an apartment(I guess?) downtown feels like a perfect way to end the episode. I'm honestly not sure why this storyline wasn't the main one of this episode, as it was certainly more entertaining to watch than Hayley and Steve's adventures, and also took place in the area that literally was the name of the episode.
6/10
It sucks that I have to score "Downtown" so low, as it was a very enjoyable half-hour, but the lack of resolution in Hayley and Steve's storyline made me feel like I couldn't score it any higher. But the Stan and Roger storyline shows that these writers still know what they're doing from time to time, and that's extremely promising. No show ever bats 1.000, and I'm more confident than I was last week that American Dad can find it's footing in it's 17th season.
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