Herpe, the Love Sore (Family Guy)
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 From the writer who brought you, The Juice is Loose!
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Herpe, the Love Sore, is the sixteenth episode of the twelfth season of Family Guy, and the 226th episode, altogether. It originally aired on Fox, on April 6, 2014, and was written by Andrew Goldberg, and directed by Greg Colton.
Plot
Stewie and Brian become blood brothers, which leads to Stewie contracting herpes from Brian, while Peter, Cleveland, Quagmire, and Joe try to get their favorite Drunken Clam booth back, after a different group of men takes it from them.
Why It's Not a Love Sore
- For starters, this is a Stewie torture episode, as he not only gets whipped by Peter, but also gets HERPES from Brian.
- Brian is EXTREMELY unlikable in this episode, because, as mentioned before, he gives Stewie, a one-year-old infant, herpes. Even worse, he attempts to pass it off, like it's no big deal. Usually, everyone has neutral herpes, but the type of herpes Stewie gets, is a virus.
- Brian tries to downplay giving Stewie herpes, by trying to give it a sillier name, such as, "Boppo".
- Brian knew he had herpes, but he doesn't care that he gave it to Stewie, his best friend, Chris and possibly many women he dated.
- Peter is also very unlikable, at the beginning of the episode, as he attacks Meg, Stewie, and Cleveland with a whip, for no apparent reason.
- The subplot is extremely mean-spirited, because it is just about Peter and his friends, getting bullied by soldiers at the bar, and everyone else calling them cowards, for not standing up to them.
- The incredibly disturbing gross close-up of Brian's herpes, and several other disgusting scenes involving close-ups of the sores on Stewie and Chris, it is so disturbing, that it looks like it wouldn't be out of place in Ren & Stimpy.
- There is also, towards the end of the episode, an actual picture of herpes is shown on Brian’s profile picture, which is horribly disgusting!
- The whole townspeople of Quahog are hypocrites for ridiculing Peter, Joe, and Quagmire, for refusing to fight the guys at the bar that took over their favorite booth, only to ridicule them again for trying to fight them, because they are soldiers, about to be deployed to Afghanistan.
- During the fight with them, Peter opens a can of spinach as slowly as possible, while trying to imitate Popeye the sailor, which lasts for 30 seconds.
- Plot hole: Joe, as a cop, could've just arrested the soldiers, after they threatened him, Peter and Quagmire.
- The way Stewie gets herpes in this episode, is not only unrealistic, but scientifically impossible, as herpes cannot be spread, through blood.
- The episode title sounds very tone-deaf and insensitive as it basically calls Herpes a, “love sore”. However, this is supposed to be a reference to Herbie the Love Bug.
- Bad Moral: It is alright to pass an STD on to someone, if you be honest about it immediately, and try not to deny where the new sores came from.
- Bad Ending: Brian tells Stewie why he didn't tell him about the herpes, was that, he was embarrassed, and if that was an acceptable excuse, Stewie forgives him, and accepts the fact that he has herpes, for the rest of his life now.
- And instead of apologizing for giving Stewie herpes, Brian simply promises he will never lie to him again.
Qualities That Are a Love Sore
- Brian at least did try to become blood brothers with Stewie, at first. This might be some evidence that Brian might have been concerned about giving Stewie herpes.
- Stewie calling out Brian for giving him herpes, is satisfying.
- Brian did, at least, get comeuppance from Chris and Stewie, by telling his date about Brian's herpes, making her leave.
- Peter also gets his comeuppance for whipping his children in the beginning, after he gets beaten up by soldiers, at the bar.
- Some jokes are really funny:
- The coked-up giraffe cutaway, despite being random, may be funny.
- The cutaway involving Stewie calling up Handy Manny is funny.
- The Bryan Cranston sneezing joke was hilarious.
- Peter trying to eat his spinach can like Popeye, despite lasting 30 seconds, can also be funny.
- Stewie, Chris, Meg, Lois, Quagmire and Joe are likable in this episode. Lois and Quagmire also aren’t dumbed down, like they usually are.
- Luckily for Stewie, due to the show’s lack of continuity, in the next episode, and episodes after, he no longer has herpes.
Reception
While, "Herpe the Love Sore", is rated 5.8/10 on IMDB, it has received mostly negative reviews. It was second on PhantomStrider's 2015 worst Family Guy episode list.
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