Brian's a Bad Father

"Brian's a Bad Father" is the eleventh episode of the twelfth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the 221st episode overall. It aired on Fox in the United States and Canada on January 26, 2014, and is directed by Jerry Langford and written by Chris Sheridan.^[1]

In the episode, Brian's human son, Dylan, returns, now a teen TV star. Rather than be a good father to his estranged son, Brian uses his son's television connections to further his own writing career. Meanwhile, after Peter "accidentally" shoots Quagmire on a hunting trip, the two friends clash and Joe must choose a side.

Plot

Brian's overlooked and neglected teenage son Dylan returns to Quahog. While Dylan tries to reconnect with his father, Brian tries to distance himself and ignore him. However, when he learns that Dylan is a now a cast member in a new Disney Channel television series, he — under the ruse of bonding — uses Dylan's connections to secure a job on the series' writing staff to further his career prospects. However, rather than work under age-appropriate guidelines, Brian tries to adapt the writing to include more mature content; because the material does not fit the network, Brian is fired by a producer. Furthermore, a disillusioned Dylan realizes that Brian is not interested in bonding but is merely using him for his own selfish ambitions, and tells him that he never wants to see him again. When Stewie sees Brian getting drunk out of depression, Brian realizes how selfish he has been and how he never realized that he had the chance to have Dylan back into his life again, but he pushed it aside. Stewie decides to help him apologize to Dylan. On the first try Brian gets beaten up after trying to sneak past security. However, right when they are about to leave, Stewie sees a casting line and successfully tries out for Dylan's show under one of his aliases. While recording, Stewie breaks character and explains to Dylan that Brian wants to apologize to him and become a true father to him. Dylan meets up at the local park with Brian and the two forgive each other.

Meanwhile, Peter, Quagmire and Joe go on a hunting trip. During a lunch break, Peter inadvertently shoots Quagmire in his arm. When the three friends meet back at the bar, Quagmire tells Peter he is fed up with his shortsighted and reckless behavior, and ends their friendship. This causes a rift between the two and leads towards a contest for Joe's affection. In the end, Joe decides that Quagmire has helped him more through hard times and gets along better with the family and chooses Quagmire. Peter tries to bond with Kevin only to leave stating that Kevin is "masturbating with a knife". With no more friends and even his own shadow abandoning him for Quagmire, Peter decides to commit suicide, which Lois talks him out of and persuades him to try and reconcile with Quagmire. Later on, Peter offers Quagmire the opportunity to shoot him to break even, thinking Quagmire would decline and consider the "thought" as being what counts. However, when Quagmire actually agrees, the two wrestle for the gun until Joe shoots Peter in an attempt to break even and stop the dispute. Peter (angry he was shot by Joe) and Quagmire (upset he was not the one who shot Peter) are dissatisfied. While Peter argues how everyone will settle their differences, Quagmire shoots Peter in the head making the score even. While Brian and Dylan are reconciling, Lois pushes a brain-damaged Peter in a wheelchair where Peter is explaining he is happy that he, Quagmire and Joe are friends again.

Reception

Eric Thurm of The A.V. Club gave the episode a C–, saying "When so much of the episode is based on moving Brian from one end of the parenting spectrum to the other, that story has to be compelling, especially without that many jokes. But because it’s hard to buy Brian at the beginning, it’s difficult to watch this episode or take it that seriously (or as seriously as you’d ever take an episode of Family Guy)."^[2]

The episode received a 2.0 rating in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic and was watched by a total of 4.11 million people. This made it the most watched show on Animation Domination that night, beating American Dad!, Bob's Burgers and The Simpsons.^[3] Including DVR viewing, the episode was watched by 5.83 million viewers, and received an 18-49 rating of 3.0.^[4]

References