THERE! I FIXED THE...SHOW? - Brian's a Bad Father (Family Guy)


Hey, remember when Family Guy killed off Brian? I remember. The episode "Life of Brian" took the world by storm for its twist, actually killing a major player in Family Guy...until they brought him back a couple episodes later. And the episodes that followed afterwards? Needless to say, it was enough to make people wish Brian was never resurrected, since he would end up cucking Joe, scamming Quagmire and giving a baby herpes (trust me, it makes sense in context). But "Brian's a Bad Father" is arguably Brian at his worst. And as I and many other people have pointed out, this episode should've been something worthwhile. How? Well, let's get into it.

I'm gonna split this into two sections, one for each of the two plots this episode juggles between. Let's start with the Brian plot. This is quite literally the first instance where my fix for the story was planned but swapped out at the last second. There's a scene in which Brian and Dylan actually talk it out when they reunite. Brian apologises to Dylan for his absence and they go on a few father-son activities before jumping into the writing plot. You may be thinking “wait, why’s that a bad thing? Brian’s actually reconnecting with his son”. The reason why is because that scene I just mentioned? Wasn’t in the episode - it’s a deleted scene. Instead, the episode immediately jumps into Brian wanting to use Dylan’s connections to further his writing. The way it’s done just makes it seem as though the writers went out of their way to make Brian look as horrible as possible. So, what do I do? Put that scene back in. Have it start with Brian considering whether or not he wants to see Dylan, then he learns about the Disney show he’s on, have the scene play out as it did on the DVD bonus features, and then, boom. Problem solved. That way, Brian still uses Dylan’s connections to his advantage, but it happens more gradually so he doesn’t become 100%.

And now we get into the other plot, the subplot of Peter and Quagmire. This plot’s a little worse than the Brian plotline since it started terrible and ended up terrible. No deleted scenes showing what could’ve been, it was a bad plot from the get go where not even Joe, the best Family Guy character, could save it. Let’s delve into what I think is the major problem with it all, the scene of Peter shooting Quagmire. This is a decent setup for the rift that forms between them, but the problem is that Peter, I kid you not, shoots Quagmire in the arm on purpose. Yep, as soon as Quagmire voices his concerns about the gun pointing at him, Peter proves the safety’s on, takes it off and shoots him in the arm, remorselessly saying “quite the difference, huh?”. This is the guy we’re meant to root for in this plot, folks. How do I fix this? Have it actually be an accident. For this demonstration, I’ve put together a visual representation of my fix. Here it is.

See what a difference that makes? And the rest of the episode, you can pretty much still do the same thing - Peter still tries to patch things up with Quagmire, only now there’s the aspect of Peter not intending to shoot him, making it more likely for Quaggy Quags to take him back, since as is, Quagmire was kinda justified in not taking him back. One more thing, and this needs no elaboration: we gotta ditch the suicide joke. It wasn’t funny in 2014 and it isn’t funny now.

Sorry this one was a little short, but still, if you re-add the scene of Brian patching up with Dylan and rework the Peter plot so it’s all based on an accident, then I think I fixed the episode. What do you think?

About the Author: JF the LOLZOR

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