Bringing in a secondary character to become the focus of an entire episode is a staple of long-running shows like Family Guy. And it's a welcome one. It brings richness to the town, the panoply of characters, the history and connections between everyone on the show.

 

But why do they keep bringing in Tom Tucker? Tom Tucker is probably the least interesting character in the entire Family Guy universe. Any shred of interestingness in his character has long since been explored, chewed, digested, and stamped to death for any last shred of juice remaining. 

I bet you can name five other Family Guy secondary or tertiary characters who would have been better in Tom Tucker's place in this episode. Heck, the giant angry chicken would have been better. You know who I would really have loved this episode to be about? Al Harrington, of Al Harrington's Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man, and Al Harrington's Crudely Painted Not-So-Funny Plywood Cut-Out Folk Art. He is to Family Guy what Gil Gunderson is to the Simpsons, and the Simpsons has done some pretty great stuff with ol' Gil. 

 

But I digress. The best part of this episode was Chris dating a woman who looks just like Lois, but neither Chris nor Lois sees it. Once they figure out what's going on, the storyline deflates into a series of Serious Heartfelt Talks. But before then, it's funny - and it had a lot of potential to go in some pretty weird directions. It didn't, though, which was disappointing.

 

I got a good laugh out of the scene where Brian barks at the squirrel in the yard - and we cut to the squirrel, who is flipping Brian the bird. And I marveled at the surprising visual of Peter dumping his business cards off the Hollywood sign. For some reason I want to call this scene "haunting," but I can't quite put my finger on why. Maybe I will settle for "surprisingly apocalyptic," considering the color palette and the dramatic camera angle.

 

Also had a minor chuckle at the idea that Peter's favorite films are Halloween IV and The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas. One of the worst, dumbest, most Peter-like guys I know, his favorite movie is Garfield 2: A Tail of Two Kitties. This is a grown man, mind you. And he doesn't own any cats. He's just… I don't know, Peter Griffin-like. So I felt like the show was kind of giving me personally a secret little wink. (I don't really think that, though, just to be clear.)