Review: Family Guy “Cabin Pressure”

Overview

When the Griffins win a trip to Maine at Peter’s company picnic, they decide to invite their friends on the vacation. Tensions run high and things soon spiral out of control when the cabin burns down.

Cutaways

Cocky Jogger, Stephen King, Vikings vs Packers

Our Take

When it was first announced that Family Guy was moving to Wednesdays there was a lot of talk about the future of the franchise. Fortunately, Seth MacFarlane has assured everyone that the show isn’t going anywhere anytime soon and episodes like this are a big reason why. A seemingly innocuous plot that gets plenty of jabs in without having to resort to ham-filled B-plots.

There were quite a few comedic highlights in this week’s episode, most notably consistent jabs at an Animation Domination counterpart in which the show no longer premieres after is rife throughout, and Lois flipping out about her reusable bags burning to smithereens is fantastic satire that is 100% on point.

That’s not to say there weren’t some gripes to be had. I think we had a bit of a letdown with the climax in terms of the big reveal of what Peter and friends were up to when the boss was gone. Most disappointing is that in an episode filled with the entire cast of The Cleveland Show, nobody except new-Cleveland gets a word in. Personally, I would’ve liked to have seen a bit more of a send up to The Great Outdoors featuring a slightly even bigger family cast and everyone contributing for maybe a special double episode, but I guess I’ll make do with what we got.

The cutaway gags were solid but were less prevalent in the second half of the episode which I thought was a bummer, but the end reveal reminded me that this is Family Guy in 2024. I couldn’t help but notice Quagmire had a bit more edge to his austerity that seemed to be largely maligned over the last few years with the show’s fear of Twitter replies. Hopefully these are trends that continue and Family Guy remembers the tooth-filled bite of yesteryear that helped the series last as long as it has.