Brokeback Swanson
| "Brokeback Swanson" | |
|---|---|
| Family Guy episode | |
| Episode no. |
Season 14 Episode 8 |
| Directed by | Julius Wu |
| Written by | Ted Jessup |
| Production code | DACX07 |
| Original air date | December 6, 2015 |
| Guest actors | |
|
Joe Buck as Sports Announcer | |
"Brokeback Swanson" is the eighth episode of the fourteenth season of the animated sitcom Family Guy, and the 257th episode overall. It aired on Fox in the United States on December 6, 2015, and is written by Ted Jessup and directed by Julius Wu.[1] The title is a play on the film Brokeback Mountain.
The episode was delayed 15 minutes from the show's usual timeslot due to Barack Obama's address to the nation about the December 2015 San Bernardino shooting and ISIS's November 2015 Paris attacks.
Plot
Peter, Cleveland, and Quagmire want to run with bulls, but try to exclude Joe since he is in a wheelchair, only to have Joe show up in full bull-run costumery when they're about to drive over to the event. At the run as the race starts, Joe starts having fun, but he slips on a beer bottle cap (in slow motion) and after he is thrown from his wheelchair he is brutally trampled and finally tossed a long distance by the rampaging bulls. At the hospital, Dr. Hartman tells Joe, Bonnie, Peter, and Lois that Joe is now a quadriplegic. Bonnie then leaves Joe because she "didn't sign up for this" and says she is heading off to a new life in Europe with their daughter, Susie. At Joe's house, Peter and the guys try to get Joe settled into his new completely disabled life (Peter stuffs things he thinks Joe will need into Joe's mouth), but find they are exhausted from incompetently trying to provide 24-hour care for their friend. Feeling as though they cannot take care of Joe forever, they decide to relocate him to a state home for disabled people called the Quahog State Home, which Joe is sad about yet understands.
Meanwhile, at the car wash with Stewie, Brian meets with a blonde woman named Tori and goes back to her house to sleep with her, but Brian discovers that she is married to a Navy SEAL soldier named Vic who killed Osama bin Laden and never got the credit he sought from Vice-President Joe Biden. Brian and Tori come up with a plan where Brian will pose as an ordinary dog and Vic will be unawares, which will also give them the chance to constantly have sex. Vic buys the scam, and each time his back is turned, Brian and Tori keep up the affair. Stewie meets Brian at the park and he voices his disapproval when Brian tells him about the situation. Brian tries to leave the house when Tori and Vic have intercourse, but Vic brings him back and chains him up in the backyard before revealing that he knows about Tori's affair via a phone call, but he has never heard Brian speak and doesn't identify him as the cheater. Tori leaves Brian to his own devices when he asks her for help as she is going to Baltimore to spend time with her mom. Stewie comes to the house (having located Brian with a tracking device in his teeth) and tries to free him. Stewie and Chris later try to get Vic to give back Brian as he is "their dog" and Vic refuses. As their backup plan, they bring Joe Biden to the house and after he shakes Vic's hand, his request that Vic return Brian to Stewie and Chris is granted. Joe Biden tries to discuss the show Veep with them, but Stewie coldly says none of them watch it.
When Peter tells Lois about Joe's new home at the Quahog State Home, Lois tells him that he must bring back Joe. They go to the Quahog State Home to do that, but the nurse must receive a release from Dr. Hartman. When Peter attempts to call him, it is revealed that Dr. Hartman somehow dropped his cellphone inside Joe while tending to his spinal injuries at the hospital. At the Drunken Clam, Joe is back to his previous state as it was also revealed that Dr. Hartman's cell phone was causing his quadriplegia by pressing on his spine. The plot ends in a parody of the concluding scene of Stand by Me as Peter is writing about the episode's events and states that he has lost track of Joe. Two boys ask him to take them to the pool. Outside, Peter narrates that the boys are not his offspring and that they are really punching and hitting each other as "Stand by Me" plays in the background.
Reception
The episode received an audience of 3.63 million, making it the third most watched show on Fox that night behind Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Simpsons.[2]
References
- ↑ "Listings - FAMILY GUY on FOX". TheFutonCritic.com. 2015-12-06. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
- ↑ Porter, Rick (December 8, 2015). "Sunday final ratings: 'Once Upon a Time' and 'The Simpsons' adjust down, 'Quantico' adjusts up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 8, 2015.