Family Guy Season 14 Episode 16 Review: Heartbreak Dog
Lisa Babick
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Sometimes people do stupid things when they feel sorry for themselves.
On Family Guy Season 14 Episode 16, Bonnie kisses Brian because he's there to comfort her at the right time, and Meg starts stealing old people's things when she gets treated poorly.
Neither were trying to be vindictive in their choices.
Even when Meg tries to do something good, nothing good comes out of it.
As part of her school's community service requirements, she has to volunteer at a nursing home. Not even five minutes into her shift, and she's already being insulted by Mrs. Parkers, who she's there to take care of and befriend.
Meg is understandably frustrated. It's not easy being nice when you're being told you stink like a boy. I know that sometimes older people can be mean, but Meg seems to always get the worst of the worst.
Still, Mrs. Parkers' bad behavior was no excuse for Meg to start taking things from the residents. Especially things she had no use for like brooches and hair brushes and urns of people's ashes.
But, this provided her with some sort of revenge in that she was dishing back the hurt by taking things that were important to other people.
When Chris finds out what she's been doing, he almost calls her out on it, but then sees a pair of glasses, and like father like son, completely forgets the seriousness of the issue and decides to join in on the "fun." He even disguises himself as an angel from heaven in order to steal a bag of stuff.
Once again, Family Guy turns to the bodily function gag (this time an old lady farting because she thinks she's in heaven) to garner laughs, but it falls flat.
What's even worse is the cutaway that follows of a fat guy at a water park feeling sorry for himself and hanging with other fat people on the lazy river. And, all of them are eating junk food as they laze down the river in inner tubes, because, you know, that's all fat people do. The whole gag is stupid.
Eventually, Meg and Chris realize what they've done is wrong and try to return everything, but they are caught. They don't get into trouble, which is a good thing, but Meg is forced to spend even more time with Mrs. Parkers, who still doesn't show her any appreciation. Meg's life is truly a living hell.
Had Mrs. Parkers simply said "thank you" at some point, I doubt any of this would have happened.
The same goes for Joe.
At 46, Bonnie's life is also a living hell, consisting of taking care of a baby and taking care of a crippled husband. But it wasn't always that way, as the videos Joe played at the party showed. It was interesting to watch how her facial expressions changed over the course of the marriage.
It can't be easy, and Bonnie had every right to have a moment of grief at her unrealized dreams. The only problem was that Brian overheard her crying and went to comfort her.
As it turns out, Bonnie just needed to vent, but in a moment of weakness (and maybe appreciation at being heard) she kisses Brian. Both realize the mistake and quickly fluff it off.
But, Brian later tells Peter about the kiss who eventually tells Joe during a game of charades the next day. Instead of Joe trying to find out why his wife had to seek comfort from another man/dog, he starts taking out little acts of revenge on Brian, like putting doggie boots on him and recording him freaking out about it (okay, that was kind of funny.)
Lois is fed up and calls for a meeting, but instead of everyone working together to resolve and move past the issue, it becomes an attack fest against both Brian and Bonnie. Even after Bonnie explodes and expresses her frustrations, Joe does nothing.
Eventually Bonnie and Joe kiss and make up with Joe expressing his appreciation for his wife.
It's a happy ending for everyone on Family Guy, but is it really?
With the exception of the doggie boots gag, there was really nothing to laugh at in this episode. The lazy river cutaway, the Juliette Lewis references, and the old lady fart joke were all eye-rolling cheap gags. Overall, "Heartbreak Dog" felt more like a mini-drama than a humorous cartoon.
What did you think of "Heartbreak Dog"? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and remember, you can watch Family Guy online any time, right here via TV Fanatic.
