Review: Family Guy “From Russia With Love”

Overview 

After Brian’s Instagram is hacked, Meg takes Stewie and Brian to Russia, only to realize she’d rather stay there; Lois reverts to her tormented teenage self when Quagmire starts dating her high school bully.

Cutaways

ASPCA Ad With Wrong Music

Our Take

We’re in the third week in a row where apps take center stage for Family Guy, and I gotta tell you, I’m here for it. I mean shit, there’s 10,000 apps, we should have a treasure trove of ideas that can last this franchise for eons. This week, Brian is a victim of a Russian hacker on Instagram while Glen Quagmire meets a new girl on Tinder that has had a sordid past with Lois.

Polina Diaz, a Family Guy writer of Russian ancestry, and Mila Kunis, team up for a modern-day satire on a topic that really nobody else is even touching right now…the Ukraine War. Personally, I think if they billed this as a “Road to Russia” episode, a longer plot with some more cutaway gags would’ve helped serve this as one of the more popular affairs that maybe even FOX (long devoid of any marketing for the show’s entire season) could get behind.

That said, I do like seeing episodes where Lois goes nuts, and this is the second time in three weeks in which that has happened. With 22-minutes, Family Guy was able to cram in two plots, one needing a flashback to explain some backstory for a key character, so don’t expect a TON of cutaway gags this week. That said, Peter Griffin reminds me of Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors. Whether he’s on the ball or off of the ball, you always have to account for Steph Curry. Likewise while I usually enjoy Peter-centric episodes, when the head of the Griffin household goes “off ball” and just volleys one-liners on a consistent basis, I can’t help but laugh out loud every single time. Peter’s been doing it for years and he will continue to do so for years.