Gorillas in the Mist (American Dad!)
Encyclopedia
"Gorillas in the Mist" is the nineteenth episode and the season finale of the sixth season of American Dad!
. It aired on Fox
in the United States on May 22, 2011. In this episode, Stan spends some quality father-son time with Steve at the local zoo.
friends, Francine calls to notify Stan that Steve ditched his PSAT
preparation classes in order to attend the new gorilla
habitat at the zoo. Stan arrives home to deliver the punishment to him: suspending all his video games and television privileges. He also forcibly drives his son to and from the PSAT classes venue. However, Stan's friends urge him over the phone to hurry over to the boat castaway event as they are leaving soon and suggest he brings his son with him. To avoid the traffic, Stan speeds up on the wrong side of the freeway. At a lake where the event is held, Stan handcuffs Steve to a sink in a bathroom, reaffirming him to stay there throughout the trip. However, Steve manages to get out due to Jackson having to use the bathroom and is seen telling a funny joke to Stan's friends. He tells the same joke to his dad, who also finds funny but tries to suppress his laughter in order to maintain his authority as Steve's father. Stan eventually caves in to his laughter, and at this point becomes friends with Steve and drops his parent role altogether. After that night, the two arrive home late at night, both drunk. Steve wakes up at 11:30 a.m. the next morning to a hangover
, which raises Francine's concern of him drinking beer.
Steve calls Stan, who is at the CIA, to arrive at the zoo. Initially, Stan is unsure about it, but eventually he caves into the peer pressure and excuses himself from his work by faking his sickness to his boss Avery Bullock. At the zoo, Steve enters inside a gorilla habitat with the help of Wilson, and a gorilla named Bobo holds him hostage. For what Steve assumes, he is to engage in sexual intercourse
with him later that night, much to his horror. This ends up making the news as Francine calls Stan about this. When Bobo's handler comes in from being called away from a porno flick, he tries to reason with Bobo until the Bobo the Gorilla's father Rex comes out. Rex's handler translates the gorillas' sign language interaction, saying Rex demands Bobo to stop playing with Steve and punishes it. Learning from this, Stan reasserts his own parental authority to Steve again. When Francine arrives, Stan says that he will see to it that Steve makes up for the test he missed and will find her a jewellery to make it up to her.
Meanwhile, Roger tries to sing country music in his bar, though he does so badly. Hayley explains country music comes from a person's heart, and in order for that to happen, a person must suffer pain and hardship. Roger marries a country woman, but when he arrives at her home, he finds it a mess and refuses to take care of her children, so he quickly leaves as a result. Roger decides to take up calypso dancing under a new alias. The country woman manages to track down Roger back at the Smith household and forcibly takes her back, threatening him at gunpoint if he makes another escape attempt. Having been forced back into his country alias, Roger then paints a black eye
and dials 9-1-1
which summons the police over to arrest her while the children are sent to foster homes. Afterwards, Roger meets another country woman whose face is horrifying for him to look at. At this point, he understands the meaning of pain and hardship, and as a result he is finally able to sing country music.
said: While such stunts are unnecessary for American Dad, which thrives on weirdness anyway, leading stunts to be essentially meaningless, tonight seemed like an especially normal episode. Like so many others this season, it's about Stan and Steve connecting as Stan comes to terms with his boy growing up.This time around, it involves Stan accidentally bringing Steve to an outing with his buddies, and Stan discovers that Steve is cool and they become bros, which are always placed in hierarchical order before hos. Meanwhile, Roger tries to become a country music success by living a horrible enough life to play it from the heart, with Hayley oddly playing the part of wisdom-dispenser. The usual amorality of a Seth MacFarlane
show is ramped up here, with Stan driving on the wrong side of the road, causing a massive accident, as Roger deals with a set of terribly hillbilly stereotypes. There are also a few too many random references or should-be references that seem to take the place of jokes in the episode, especially early on. In that sense, it feels a bit more like a Family Guy
episode than American Dad. Still, almost despite itself, the bizarre emotional climax of signing gorillas talking about fatherhood actually kind of works. It's not the funniest episode, but it's still a fairly fitting capstone to an odd season of American Dad. Episode B- Season B.
American Dad!
American Dad! is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane and owned by Underdog Productions and Fuzzy Door Productions. It is produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television...
. It aired on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
in the United States on May 22, 2011. In this episode, Stan spends some quality father-son time with Steve at the local zoo.
Plot
During Stan's hangout with his CIACentral Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
friends, Francine calls to notify Stan that Steve ditched his PSAT
PSAT/NMSQT
The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test is a standardized test administered by the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation in the United States.This test is offered by the College Board....
preparation classes in order to attend the new gorilla
Gorilla
Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
habitat at the zoo. Stan arrives home to deliver the punishment to him: suspending all his video games and television privileges. He also forcibly drives his son to and from the PSAT classes venue. However, Stan's friends urge him over the phone to hurry over to the boat castaway event as they are leaving soon and suggest he brings his son with him. To avoid the traffic, Stan speeds up on the wrong side of the freeway. At a lake where the event is held, Stan handcuffs Steve to a sink in a bathroom, reaffirming him to stay there throughout the trip. However, Steve manages to get out due to Jackson having to use the bathroom and is seen telling a funny joke to Stan's friends. He tells the same joke to his dad, who also finds funny but tries to suppress his laughter in order to maintain his authority as Steve's father. Stan eventually caves in to his laughter, and at this point becomes friends with Steve and drops his parent role altogether. After that night, the two arrive home late at night, both drunk. Steve wakes up at 11:30 a.m. the next morning to a hangover
Hangover
A hangover describes the sum of unpleasant physiological effects following heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages. The most commonly reported characteristics of a hangover include headache, nausea, sensitivity to light and noise, lethargy, dysphoria, diarrhea and thirst, typically after the...
, which raises Francine's concern of him drinking beer.
Steve calls Stan, who is at the CIA, to arrive at the zoo. Initially, Stan is unsure about it, but eventually he caves into the peer pressure and excuses himself from his work by faking his sickness to his boss Avery Bullock. At the zoo, Steve enters inside a gorilla habitat with the help of Wilson, and a gorilla named Bobo holds him hostage. For what Steve assumes, he is to engage in sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
with him later that night, much to his horror. This ends up making the news as Francine calls Stan about this. When Bobo's handler comes in from being called away from a porno flick, he tries to reason with Bobo until the Bobo the Gorilla's father Rex comes out. Rex's handler translates the gorillas' sign language interaction, saying Rex demands Bobo to stop playing with Steve and punishes it. Learning from this, Stan reasserts his own parental authority to Steve again. When Francine arrives, Stan says that he will see to it that Steve makes up for the test he missed and will find her a jewellery to make it up to her.
Meanwhile, Roger tries to sing country music in his bar, though he does so badly. Hayley explains country music comes from a person's heart, and in order for that to happen, a person must suffer pain and hardship. Roger marries a country woman, but when he arrives at her home, he finds it a mess and refuses to take care of her children, so he quickly leaves as a result. Roger decides to take up calypso dancing under a new alias. The country woman manages to track down Roger back at the Smith household and forcibly takes her back, threatening him at gunpoint if he makes another escape attempt. Having been forced back into his country alias, Roger then paints a black eye
Black eye
A black eye , or or 'shiner', is bruising around the eye commonly due to an injury to the face rather than eye injury. The name is given due to the color of bruising. The so-called black eye is caused by bleeding beneath the skin and around the eye...
and dials 9-1-1
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...
which summons the police over to arrest her while the children are sent to foster homes. Afterwards, Roger meets another country woman whose face is horrifying for him to look at. At this point, he understands the meaning of pain and hardship, and as a result he is finally able to sing country music.
Cultural references
- In "WidowmakerWidowmaker-Vehicles and weaponry:Vehicles, particularly military aircraft, which have a reputation for high rates of fatal accidents, are sometimes nicknamed Widow maker:* B-26 Marauder, medium bomber* F-104 Starfighter, interceptor aircraft...
" Stan told that his favorite color is orange. In this episode he likes yellow, brown and green and he also used to like red, but lately "hes over it." - We learn that Steve's middle name is Anita.
- A running gag involves a busboy arriving when someone points out that something isn't funny and remarking that it is kind of funny.
- The backround music on the 3D porno movie is the same as in Family Guy's "Quest for Fur".
Reception
Rowan Kaiser of The A.V. ClubThe A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
said: While such stunts are unnecessary for American Dad, which thrives on weirdness anyway, leading stunts to be essentially meaningless, tonight seemed like an especially normal episode. Like so many others this season, it's about Stan and Steve connecting as Stan comes to terms with his boy growing up.This time around, it involves Stan accidentally bringing Steve to an outing with his buddies, and Stan discovers that Steve is cool and they become bros, which are always placed in hierarchical order before hos. Meanwhile, Roger tries to become a country music success by living a horrible enough life to play it from the heart, with Hayley oddly playing the part of wisdom-dispenser. The usual amorality of a Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
show is ramped up here, with Stan driving on the wrong side of the road, causing a massive accident, as Roger deals with a set of terribly hillbilly stereotypes. There are also a few too many random references or should-be references that seem to take the place of jokes in the episode, especially early on. In that sense, it feels a bit more like a Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
episode than American Dad. Still, almost despite itself, the bizarre emotional climax of signing gorillas talking about fatherhood actually kind of works. It's not the funniest episode, but it's still a fairly fitting capstone to an odd season of American Dad. Episode B- Season B.