Seahorse Seashell Party (2 Oct. 2011)

As a hurricane hits Quahog, Brian gets high on psychedelic mushrooms and cuts his ear off, and Meg finally summons up the courage to confront the family.

Directors:

Brian Iles, Steve Beers,

Writers:

Seth MacFarlane (creator), Seth MacFarlane (developer),

Stars:

Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Seth MacFarlane	...	Peter Griffin / Brian Griffin / Stewie Griffin / Tom Tucker / Broccoli (voice)
Alex Borstein	...	Lois Griffin (voice)
Seth Green	...	Chris Griffin (voice)
Mila Kunis	...	Meg Griffin (voice)
Mike Henry	...	(voice)
Dee Bradley Baker	...	Hooded Monster (voice)
James Burkholder	...	Kid (voice)
Colin Ford	...	Kid (voice)
Ioan Gruffudd	...	National Geographic Narrator (voice)
Kat Purgal	...	(voice)
Danny Smith	...	(voice)
John Viener	...	(voice)
Debra Wilson	...	Black Woman (voice)

Storyline

A storm hits the towns of Stoolbend, Quahog and Langley Falls. To help pass the time and calm his nerves, Brian consumes some questionable substances and has trouble sobering up. Meanwhile, Meg goes off the deep end after the family takes one too many jabs at her.

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Plot Keywords:

hurricane | charades | reference to harry potter | finger gun | drug trip | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 October 2011 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fuzzy Door Productions, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Connections

References Fletch (1985)

User Reviews

Insipid and soul-crushing after a wacky start

It's a testament to how utterly staid and predictable Family Guy has become that a SuperJail-esque scene of random psychedelic fear has been one of the most refreshing scenes in years, made with excellent animation and a complete lack of scripting, aside from the intercessions of the mandatory "Stewie is Gay" and "Meg is Butt-Monkey" scenes every episode has to have now. Sure, it doesn't really even match up with LSD's effects, let alone shrooms, but hey, it's a silly cartoon and a great change in pace. The van Gogh reference was especially great, but frankly could have been played much more disturbing than it was.

And yet, the entire second half of the episode was nothing more than a dull 10-minute speech by Meg, fake tears by Lois's voice actress; a total author on board, most likely by someone who's written a few special Mary Sue fanfics involving her over the years. It was as out of place as Gunsmoke in West Hollywood - no jokes, no changeups, they just ran flat out of ideas, just endless vilifying followed by an hokey resolution; at the very least they could have tied into the Stewie time travel episode, with Meg coming out as "Ron", which would have been a nice bone to longtime viewers. Ending with a Very Special Episode gag only works if you haven't already tuned the audience right out.

What killed it for me was the crocodile tears Lois cried; the voice acting was so bad I expected her to start laughing any second, but the speeches kept going. Obviously everyone involved knew the script burned with stupid and phoned in the worst performances in years, yet the tone deaf producers still put it on the air. Wonderful.