Family Guy S19, Ep. 13: This show's humor is not fully terminated yet

Hasta la vista, baby Stewie

Okay, Family Guy always has been a guilty pleasure of mine. I've seen every episode, and I'm one of only four people on Earth who still laughs occasionally when watching. Most episodes just tick me off because Seth MacFarlane (the creator and voice of most of the characters these days) continues to rail on Christianity (unfairly, too) and unabashedly spreads his personal propaganda, whether it be political messaging or otherwise, which still makes me cringe.

The most recent episode this past Sunday, however, reminded me of a time when Family Guy was about the stupid jokes, spoofs, and good old-fashioned animation fun. Titled "PeTerminator," the episode is a Terminator parody as we are taken on a tour of the classic Terminator movies through the Family Guy lens.

The intro and opening scene alone were worth the price of admission. Seeing the opening song reimagined with burned carcasses and skeletons while the house is on fire, then seeing a terminator-shaped metal-head Stewie before cutting to the "Family Guy" title screen written in the classic Terminator font all play to the nostalgia of the episode quite perfectly.

We see the Peter version of terminator (from the year 2060) appear as he exits the classic time-travel bubble from the movies. We get a naked joke, of course, because clothes don't make it through the portal. PeTerminator has arrived in a back alley behind The Clam.

Inside The Clam, the real Peter goes to the bathroom, and that's when PeTerminator enters. He scans his surroundings, then analyzes Quagmire, Joe, and Cleveland at the table, which opens the door for some funny jokes right away. He then tries to take Joe's police gun. Of course, Cleveland just happened to have a shotgun handy, too (because why not?), so PeTerminator takes that instead. On his way out, the gang funnily dances around the "I'll be back" phrase by saying it a million other ways.

Back outside, PeTerminator sees the chicken! We get the setup music for another classic fight scene, but instead, PeTerminator blasts his brains all over the concrete (I'm laughing all over again even as I'm writing that silly statement). Of course, one of the chicken's now-disconnected eyeballs open wide. He's still alive!

Family Guy is notorious for its unoriginality, and I tend to agree with that sentiment. The show represents today's "subtweet" generation whose "creativity" hinges on unspoken references and the idea that auto-tuning a clip or "meme-ifying" a picture is actual, original art (hint: it's not). But that doesn't mean the show can't be funny, anyway. This episode reaffirms the best parts of Family Guy. Paying homage to other movies, books (especially Stephen King stories), sitcoms, or other pop culture "moments" have led to some of the most creative jokes or full episodes, not to mention the Family Guy Star Wars films.

The writers' willingness to play the self-referential meta game adds more layers of humor to that. Brian and Stewie argue about the correct pronunciation of Uber, akin to their famous "cool whip" argument (Is it "oo-ber" or "yoo-ber"?). Later, when Stewie and Brian travel to the future to stop PeTerminator, they "borrow" a device from Rick and Morty, but then ensure it's okay to do that because Rick and Morty borrows plenty from Family Guy. With the popularity of Rick and Morty continuing to grow, it makes sense it would get into the references ring alongside The Simpsons and South Park.

Getting back to the actual story, Stewie gets upset at Lois, and he wants to destroy her. So he starts sketching what a killer Peter robot would look like, which proves to be the seeds of the PeTerminator's design. When PeTerminator later shows up at their house, Stewie gets caught in a gunfight and needs to make a run for it. Ah, just like the show's glory days, when Stewie was just trying to kill Lois all the time, or getting caught up in fights with other kids or shrunken spaceship battles against his future baby brother. As opposed to Stewie nowadays, when he tries to get "comfortable" at a hotel he and Brian are hiding in (to evade PeTerminator) by taking off his clothes and revealing his women's nighty underneath.

Anyway, Stewie and Brian find out that future Brian is the one who sent PeTerminator back to kill Stewie because they turn into enemies in the future. After they return to present day, Stewie and Brian bicker while driving like an old married couple - the seeds of them becoming enemies, huh? - when, all of a sudden, a Lois terminator shows up! We then see funny terminator versions of other characters as the story starts to escalate its craziness. Stewie later insists that he and Brian must kiss each other to avoid causing a riff in their friendship, which seems to do the trick as the other terminators disappear Back to the Future-style.

It was a clean, fun episode full of action and funny jokes, and the show was fully aware of itself, which is when the show is at its best.

#FamilyGuy #PeTerminator