Review: American Dad “Footprints”

Overview:

Stan and Roger feel particularly insignificant and attempt to truly leave a mark on humanity that proves that they’ve done something with their lives. Their search for meaning sends them down an unexpected path that finds them incredible success, but still not the greater “footprint” that they seek. Meanwhile, Jeff experiences a similar malaise when he comes to terms with losing his hat and attempts to earnestly find a replacement that can do justice to the original.

Our Take:

American Dad is no stranger to taking bold, stylistic risks with its storytelling. “Gold Top Nuts,” “Echoes,” and “Fellow Traveler” are two big swings from the last two seasons that prove that the series is still very willing to get ambitious with its stories. “Footprints” is a regular episode at its surface level, but it’s also a bizarre concept where American Dad delivers a “lost sequel episode” to season 13’s “Mean Francine.” This episode concludes with Jeff losing his signature hat and in a state of loss, only for the next episode to feature Jeff with his classic look mysteriously restored. It turns out that this wasn’t sloppy continuity, but rather an extremely long con that gets paid off five years later. 

“Footprints” argues that it’s a season 18 episode that canonically fits between “Mean Francine” and “One-Woman Swole” It’s such a fun, unnecessary experiment that helps reflect the galaxy brain storytelling quality that American Dad frequently employs. It’d be nice if this episode intentionally featured some foreshadowing nods to “Mean Francine” and “One-Woman Swole” to further sell its “out of time’ quality, but it’s hardly necessary. The whole story still works better and becomes undeniably funnier when it’s concluded five years later instead of the following week. It’s so, so glorious, one of the season’s funniest episodes, and American Dad at its very best.

“Footprints,” is poignantly named, but this silly American Dad installment tells a surprisingly profound story about losing the things that we think define us and if we’re still the same person without these relics. This is explicitly expressed through Jeff’s search for meaning through a new hat, but it’s also reflected through the absence of purpose when it comes to Stan and Roger–two characters who have ostensibly outgrown their original purposes. This isn’t the first time that American Dad has looked inward over these issues, but “Footprints” is the most effective example of these characters reinforcing their value, while also being the funniest. 

“Footprints” is a smart, self-aware episode that grows increasingly meta as it begins to be in conversation with itself and American Dad’s evolution over two decades. It’s the type of story that works even better in a show’s later years when this malaise can be real and they’ve done this routine more than 300 times. ”I really feel like this isn’t the story that we’re telling anymore,” gets said at one point between Stan and Roger and it begins to feel like they represent American Dad’s past and present selves. It’s stark commentary on American Dad’s evolution beyond its initial premise and how it’s found greater strength after allowing itself to be its own thing, trust its instincts, and say something. It’s surely no coincidence that “Audit Dogs” and American Dad both have the same “AD” initials.

Stan’s “Audit Dogs” apology to Roger ends up feeling a lot like Synecdoche, New York, which is appropriate considering the episode’s meta nature. It’s another effective way for “Footprints” to draw attention to itself, but also express the same complacent feelings that plague Stan and Roger throughout the episode. It’s hard not to draw these parallels even if this is routinely expressed in a tongue-in-cheek manner. The episode gets away from itself a little when Roger goes it alone and flees back to his home planet to become resigned to life with Uncle Rizbo rather than being Earth’s second alien. “Footprints” quickly regains its footing once Stan and Roger are reunited. Roger’s space detour could have taken up an entire act and “Footprints” economically gets in and out with the material, as tempting as it is to spend more time with Roger in space with his own kind. It’s easy to picture another version of this episode where Roger tries to leave a footprint on his home planet before returning home, but the episode is stronger for understanding where its priorities should lie.

“Footprints” is one of the best American Dad episodes of the season that consistently winks at the audience who have been there since the series’ start. American Dad is the king of turning nothing stories into narrative gold and “Footprints” doesn’t waste the opportunity to turn Jeff’s missing hat into a layered identity crisis that becomes an opportunity for the community to come together. Stan and Roger stories are usually occasions for American Dad to throw caution to the end and truly go for broke. “Footprints” is a gratifying return to this chaotic trope that’s so effective that the absence of Steve, Francine, and Klaus is barely missed. “Footprints” continues an excellent run of episodes for American Dad that’s poised to end the season as one of its strongest if it maintains this momentum.