Airdate: October 2, 2011
In part two of the Night of the Hurricane crossover with this show, The Cleveland Show, and American Dad!, the hurricane that blew through Stoolbend, Virginia makes its way to Quahog, Rhode Island. While Brian uses psychedelic mushrooms to pass the time, the Griffins once again abuse Meg — and Meg finally lets her family know that they're all assholes for treating her badly... until she learns that it's all the only thing keeping them from tearing each other apart.
"Seahorse Seashell Party" contains examples of:
- Because You Can Cope: Tragically, this is what ends up happening at the end. Because the rest of the family can't function without somebody to routinely abuse, Meg chooses to stay with them because she can put up with it better than any of them can.
- Blatant Lies: When Meg dresses her family down, Chris defends Peter's humming by saying that he found it entertaining, even though he was clearly getting annoyed by it.
- Body Horror: In his Mushroom frenzy, Brian imagines that he gets horrifically swollen after getting stung by bees.
- Bowdlerization: The following scenes were altered between the DVD version and the TV version:
- The family telling Meg not to finger-bang anyone: On DVD, Lois says, "Why don't you go finger-bang yourself." On TV, it was toned down to "Why don't you go do that to yourself."
- Meg complaining about how the family treats her has an extra scene on the DVD version of her pointing out that Brian is the only one who doesn't treat her like crap, but Brian is too high to respond and Stewie warns Brian not to get involved.
- The cutaway of the Italian man and the black woman fighting and the whole thing set up like a nature documentary: The part about a group of Hasidic Jews flying away like birds has the narrator's line on the TV version as, "Sensing the impending battle, a flock of Jews flies quickly away, as avoiding confrontation is their best chance for survival." On DVD, the line is basically the same, except "their" is changed to "the Jews'".
- The scene after the nature documentary cutaway on DVD is Brian (still high on shrooms) staring outside the window and commenting on the "emotional storm" in the house, and Stewie comforting Brian as he continues to trip.
- Meg pointing out Lois' past sexual exploits: On TV, Meg says Lois let Gene Simmons and Bill Clinton "go to town on her". On DVD, the line was "...climb inside her."
- Chris calling Meg a "fucking bitch" has "fucking" bleeped out on TV.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Meg calls out both Lois and Peter for being Abusive Parents, her sentiment so strong that Lois ends up in tears.
- Can't Take Criticism: Once Meg finally decides to stand up for herself to her family, they all start to lash out on each other, pointing out every issue and flaw they have. Truth in Television as Abusive Parents rarely admit they’re in the wrong or are hurting someone, including their own family members, until someone else bravely points it out.Peter (After Meg’s "The Reason You Suck" Speech on him): Wait a second, these are criticisms! Hey Lois, tell her to knock it off!
Lois: Oh, and where the hell were you when she was laying into me?! - Continuity Nod:Meg: Is this coming from my role model mother? The shoplifter, the drug addict, the porn star, the whore who let Gene Simmons and Bill Clinton climb inside of hernote .
- Darker and Edgier: While not as much as the following episode, it actually marks a pivotal moment in the series in which Meg accuses her family of their faults. We also have Brian's mushroom-fueled nightmare.
- Delayed Reaction: Peter finally realises that all of the things Meg is saying to him are criticisms only after Meg calls him a waste of a man. Everything else before that went over his head.
- Disney Acid Sequence: Brian has an absolutely terrifying one after eating Mushrooms.
- Disowned Parent: Meg tells Lois that she is seriously considering severing all contact with her forever once she turns 18. It's Meg saying this that finally gets Lois to realise what a horrible parent she's been.
- Foreshadowing: Meg saying that she never wants to see Lois again when she turns 18. Later on in the season, Meg turns 18 and is just about to have sex and presumably run away with Quagmire before she's stopped by her parents.
- Ear Ache: Brian, in a Mushroom frenzy, cuts his whole left ear off with a pair of scissors in a drugged attempt to "help world peace", leading Stewie to help sew the ear back into place.
- Fake Orgasm: Chris confesses to Meg, "I faked all my orgasms!" and runs away, after Meg stands up for herself and, rightfully, criticizes the rest of her family for constantly abusing her.
- Heel Realization: Lois, though it doesn't stick.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Meg decides to regain her role as the family's Butt-Monkey in order for the family to not turn against each other.
- Honor Thy Abuser: Meg learns to accept her family's abuse to keep them from turning against each other.
- Hypocrite: When Meg stands up to her family, Lois accuses her of taking her problems out on everybody else, which is the exact same thing the rest of the family (including Lois) are doing to Meg (and have been doing for a long time)
- Ignored Epiphany: Meg apologizes for all the things she said to her family, and all their bad feelings about themselves are forgotten.
- Insane Troll Logic: Meg believes that her aggressors cannot function without a "lightning rod to absorb all the dysfunction". It shouldn't matter that they can't function without her because their feelings are clearly not worth it.
- Italian-American Caricature: A cutaway gag in which a fight between a stereotypical Italian American and a Sassy Black Woman is given a Wildlife Commentary Spoof narration.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: While ripping into Peter, Meg explains that if anyone in the outside world could see the way he treats her, Peter would be in prison.
- Love Martyr: Meg decides to apologise to her family and become their lightning rod again because they can't have a healthy relationship with each other without her.
- Made Out to Be a Jerkass: After Meg rightfully gives Peter, Lois and Chris a piece of her mind, she ends up feeling guilty for it since they cannot function without a human punching bag to take their frustrations on.Meg: (to Brian) You think it's possible that this family can't survive without some sort of lightning rod to absorb all the dysfunction?
- Mushroom Samba: Brian tries magic mushrooms, and has a series of grotesque and horrifying hallucinations.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Meg of all people has this reaction when she realizes her family will tear itself apart without someone to blame for all their flaws, and decides to be the family's Butt-Monkey again.
- Negated Moment of Awesome: Meg's moment of berating her family for their abusive behaviour is definitely warranted and they certainly had it coming after what they've been doing to her...it's a shame she decides to apologise to them for making them feel bad so the family can function again by making her their lightning rod.
- Overly Long Gag: The scene where Peter makes "dad noises" lasts for about a minute, and it's basically a repeat of the London Gentlemen's Club scene from an earlier episode with Peter in place of the three men.
- Pet the Dog: Brian telling Meg that she is a strong girl for putting up with her abusive family.
- Pervert Dad: While Meg chews him out, Peter sarcastically believes that Meg is yelling at him because she loves him.
- Protagonist-Centered Morality: Apparently, according to this episode, it's okay for the Griffins to assault and brutalize Meg all they want. But, according to the next episode, when other people treat their partners in the exact same way, they're irredeemable and deserve to die.
- The Scapegoat: It's revealed the family abuse Meg the way they do, because they need 'someone' to blame other than themselves for their flaws, and based on the fight at the end, Meg is the only member of the family who would accept it rather than defending herself.
- Status Quo Is God: As soon as Meg dishes it out, she backpedals and apologises to everybody. Nobody learns their lessons, nobody changes, and nothing really gets any better for Meg.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Dear God, Meg dishes out an epic one to Peter, Lois, and Chris - one that was a long time coming.
- Took a Level in Badass: Meg, for sticking up for herself.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Meg calls out her father, mother, and brother for treating her like shit... and then winds up being the family's Butt-Monkey again as a sort of Heroic Sacrifice.
