Brokeback Swanson (Family Guy)

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"Brokeback Swanson"
This episode turned out to have its back broken throughout.
Series: Family Guy Part of Season: 14 Episode Number: 8 Air Date: December 6, 2015 Writer: Ted Jessup Director: Julius Wu Previous episode: "Hot Pocket-Dial" Next episode: "A Shot in the Dark"

"Brokeback Swanson" is the 8th episode of the 14th season of Family Guy.

Plot

Joe Swanson becomes a quadriplegic after an accident involving bulls, which forces Peter, Quagmire, and Cleveland to take care of him. Meanwhile Brian has an affair with a married woman and to avoid the wrath of the woman’s military husband, pretends to be the new family dog.

Why Its Back Got Broken

1. This episode is a Joe torture episode as he gets run over by bulls in a bull running accident and because of this he becomes completely paralyzed below the neck. His wife Bonnie also leaves him for Europe because of the injury.
2. Multiple characters are unlikeable here.
   • Bonnie is unlikable in the episode as she is unsympathetic towards Joe for his injuries and decides to go to Europe to presumably restart her affair with Francois there. This shows that Bonnie has not learned anything from "Foreign Affairs" and its sequel "Internal Affairs" and how cruel she is. She never goes back to Quahog at the end of the episode even though Joe recovers at the end, only appearing back at Quahog without explanation at the next episode.
   • Tori, the woman who Brian has an affair with, is a very unlikable woman as she cheats on her husband, Vic with Brian but she also deceived Brian into thinking she was singly by failing to tell Brian that she is married to Vic until after the first time they have sex together. She also repeatedly lies to her husband and when Vic finds out about his wife’s infidelity, Tori immediately leaves him and Brian to go to her mother’s place in Baltimore. Tori is never punished for her adultery and terrible behavior in this episode.
   • Brian is no better either while his first fling with Tori is understandable as by the time he was unaware that Tori was married as she did not tell him until after the fling. Brian willingly chooses to continue the affair after he pretends to be the new family dog.
   • Peter and his friends aren't any better; they put Joe to Quahog State Home because they can't take care of him properly.
3. The cause of Joe’s accident that causes his apparent injuries is very lame and pathetic. He gets knocked off his wheelchair by a littered beer bottle cap.
4. The slow motion effects in the scene where Joe gets into his accident goes on for way too long and feels forced due to it starting when Peter tells Joe to look out.
5. Plot holes:
   • When Bonnie leaves Joe for Europe, it leaves Joe with nobody to take care of him at home forcing Peter and his friends to become his caretakers. However, this episode aired after Joe’s son, Kevin returned back home, meaning that he could have taken care of Joe. Unfortunately Kevin never appears in the episode at all and it’s never explained why.
   • The ending reveals that Joe is unable to move anything below his neck because Dr. Hartman accidentally dropped his cell phone in Joe’s back. However, Joe explicitly states immediately after his accident that he could not move anything below his neck and that was during the bull running which Dr. Hartman did not participate in, making the ending completely forced.
   • In the subplot, Lois and Stewie arrive at the Quahog Park at the same time Vic and Brian go in. Stewie finds Brian there and talks to him only to have a momentary moment of panic and call out to Lois, which she responds to. Why didn’t Lois notice Brian at the park?
6. The person who littered the bottle cap on the street and causing Joes accident in the process is never punished for it.
7. The subplot is not any better as it consists of Brian starting an affair with a married woman.
   • It's also a cliched “Brian dates the girl of the day and then breaks up with the girl by the end” plot cliche. Only this time it’s so much worse because the woman Brian hooks up with is married to another man.
8. The episode can’t decide whether Brian deserves to be punished for what he did or not as it gives Brian a punishment by having him chained outside and unable to escape, but that was because he was continuing his family dog lie. Then Vic becomes portrayed as the villain of the subplot of chaining up Brian and acting threatening towards Brian even though it’s because Tori cheated on him.
9. Terrible ending to the subplot: Vic never finds out who Tori is cheating on him with and he only releases Brian because Chris and Stewie get politician Joe Biden to convince Vic to release Brian.
10. The unfair sex trope is used in the episode as only Brian gets punished for the infidelity with Tori while Tori gets away with her adultery scot-free.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Joe is likable as he told Peter and his friends that they did not have to take care of him.
   • Stewie is also likeable as he does try to rescue Brian from being chained up outside, not that Brian really deserved it.
2. At least Brian got some sort of punishment for his infidelity when he was chained up outside.
3. The Stand by Me scene at the end is hilarious.

Reception

The episode got a 6.8/10 on IMDb.

References

1. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4863478/

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