Family Guy season 23 episode 2, "Live, Laugh, Love," had two concrete storylines that kept the viewers glued to their TV sets. We got another Peter shenanigan in the mix, and Lois connects with Principal Shepherd on a personal level. It's a standard Family Guy episode, but despite this, it had its funny moments.
First off, Peter is just being his usual self, a man determined to accomplish his mission of why he can't elicit a "ha-ha" from Joe, while he can from Quagmire and Cleveland. Now, most people would think nothing of it and move on. But not Peter. He becomes neurotic with the situation, so much so that he spends countless hours scrolling on his phone for a single "ha-ha" from Joe.
Brian thinks that hi friend is overthinking this thing and he's right, but Peter ignores him anyway.
He takes extreme measures once he realizes that Joe never found Peter hilarious (and the Ostrich, too). He dresses in black and breaks into Joe's house to hack his phone. Yet, it's not as easy as Peter initially thought. Joe sleeps with several medical tubes, so the Griffin patriarch acts like a Spider-Man to get to Joe's phone. The act wakes the cop up, and he catches Peter. The discovery leads the latter to tumble down the stairs, and he winds up in the hospital.
Following surgery and costly medical bills, Peter finally gets a "ha-ha" from Joe in the group chat. So, I guess it all worked out for him? This is Peter, after all, so if he really wants something, he'll get it no matter what or the grief it causes Lois.
Family Guy season 23 episode 2 "Live, Laugh, Love" unveils Principal Shepherd's backstory
In the second plot, Lois chaperons Chris and Meg's weekend trip to Washington, D.C., much to their dismay. She's not the cool mom she thinks she is, as the high school kids want nothing to do with her. It's understandable, but it's hurtful.
To distract herself from the humiliation, Lois seeks comfort in Principal Shepherd and discovers that he's no better than her in the mood department. During their conversation, we find out that Principal Shepherd had a love life in the early 1990s, and he broke up with her over a franchise disagreement. After all these years, he's still miserable about it and even though he doesn't see it, he has a good life.
Lois thinks that Principal Shepherd should reconnect with his ex as it might lift him up. However, it could break him down as well, but you don't know until you try.
After finding her, she turns out to be a poor soul for lack of a better description, and while it's disappointing, Principal Shepherd is reminded that he has a good life with a job, a car, and a house, and that's more than what most have. Lois opened his eyes to this proclamation.
What the writers plan to do with his character from this point forward is a wild guess.
Family Guy thin bits:
- It feels like season 23 is experimenting with character erasure in episoedes. Last week it was Quagmire and this week, it was Stewie. Whether Seth McFarland is cutting back on his voices, or the writers are applying some new format, I'd like to know.
- Chris and the doll reminded me of his past doll girlfriends and there is something not right about it.
- I loved the 1990s reference and the Taco Bell chihuahua honor. By the way, that dog was a female named Gidget.