Family Guy Season 16 Episode 20 Review: Are You There God? It's Me, Peter
Lisa Babick
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If I was stuck in an elevator with God, I'd probably ask Him some of the same questions Peter asked on Family Guy Season 16 Episode 20.
Of all the questions, Peter had, the most important one, I think, was whether or not we were just a computer simulation for a higher species.
That would answer a lot of questions about the weirdness of life.
But if our life was being run by a higher species, what would be the purpose of God, then? And that's exactly the point.
"Are You There God? It's Me, Peter" is a take on the novel "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" by Judy Blue about an 11-year old girl who is worried about her lack of religious affiliation because she is the child of an interfaith marriage.
Related: Family Guy Season 16 Episode 1 Review: Emmy-Winning Episode
Her family doesn't practice in either faith, and she's concerned that her lack of religious affiliation will affect her relationship with God.
Do you really need to be affiliated with a religion to have a relationship with God? Organized religion will have you believe that the only way through God is by being part of their group, but at the end of Family Guy Season 16 Episode 20 we're told by God himself, that religion is only a "blind subservience to an imaginary being.
While in Peter's car, God makes reference to the fact that according to the Bible, he created for seven straight days but then after that it was only "killing, killing, killing."
It questions the idea of worshipping a God that is all about pain and suffering. Why create anything, only to destroy it later?
The Griffins aren't exactly the epitome of a God-fearing American family. If anything, and some feathers might get ruffled here, they are closer to the average American family than not.
Maybe I'm not hanging around with the right people, because most of the people I know don't regularly attend church, and they seem pretty okay with it.
Whether or not they believe in God isn't a question that I've delved into with any of them, because, you know, religion and God is a touchy subject, and it's easier to just keep it off limits.
That is, unless I'm with my brother-in-law and his wife who are ultra Christians and always make sure to let everyone know that they are saved and the rest of us aren't.
I love that they are lucky enough to have such a direct line to God. Aren't you jealous?
What might be even more important to explore is how Peter ended up in the elevator with God in the first place.
I don't know about anyone else, but there have been plenty of times all I've done all weekend is sit on my couch and watch television and eat, getting up only to go to the bathroom.
I'm not sure, Peter even got up to use the bathroom which is why he ended up getting stuck to the couch. It wouldn't surprise me if he just decided to pee in a bottle just so he wouldn't have to get up at all.
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Him getting stuck in the doorway with Chris trying to help him maneuver through the door was another one of those Family Guy moments that went on a bit too long like the chicken fight scenes or the hurt knee scenes.
And while someone will call me out for trying to force logic on a cartoon, I do have to mention that it makes no sense for him to have gotten stuck getting out of the door when he obviously had no problem getting into the bedroom.
And while we're talking about logic -- I know this was a Peter-centric episode, but with the huge condom on the sidewalk joke, does this mean that Quagmire is over his penis transplant from Family Guy Season 16 Episode 19?
Will we ever revisit that or will it fade into Family Guy oblivion like Brian killing Rupert or Stewie talking to the school psychologist?
The best part of Peter's adventures with God was his visit to Fuddruckers. I actually didn't know Fuddruckers existed outside of Chicago (don't attack me for this) but Peter was right when he got angry at Chris for having a plain burger and Meg for eating chicken at a place whose specialty is burgers.
Who goes to Fuddruckers and eats a plain burger when there are so many options to jazz it up? Why waste money?
I'd be pissed too.
The funniest part was Peter going crazy with his burger toppings just to make a point. It was hilarious.
Peter: You were right about everything.
God: Say that again.
Peter: You were right about everything.
God: That's all I needed to hear. That's what religion is. It's not about being good or bad. It's just blind subservience to an imaginary being.
Overall, Family Guy Season 16 was a mixed bag. There were some really out-there and dumb episodes (the Stewie and psychologist one comes to mind -- I hated it) and some really great ones (the Emmy-winning episode and the one where Brian attacked Rupert).
"Are You There God? It's Me, Peter" fell in the middle. It wasn't a horrible episode, but it also wasn't one of the best of the season. It opened the door to conversation about the existence of God and on the relevance of organized religion and wasn't afraid to question any of it.
Over to you.
What did you think of the season finale of Family Guy?
What was your favorite episode of the season? Which episode do you wish was never made?
Hit the comments and share your thoughts.
If you need to catch up, you can watch Family Guy online right here via TV Fanatic!
