Recap / Family Guy S 4 E 16 The Courtship Of Stewies Father

Lois mistakes Stewie's drawings of her being killed for him not being around Peter enough, so she tells Peter to bond with Stewie, which they do, by pranking Lois constantly. Meanwhile, Chris accidentally breaks Herbert's window playing baseball and has to do chores for him, much to the old man's delight.

This episode contains examples of:

• Anachronism Stew: During their Disney World visit, Peter and Stewie watch Captain Eo. By the time this episode aired in 2005, the film hadn’t been shown anywhere since 1998, and it hadn’t been shown at Epcot since 1994 (though it would come back for a limited time a few years later).
• Bowdlerise: In the FOX version of this episode, when we see Quagmire's gestures as Peter covers Stewie's ears, the part where Quagmire points at his own crotch was replaced with a reaction shot of Peter and Stewie.
• Comically Missing the Point: When Lois sees drawings of Stewie violently murdering her, she comes to this conclusion: there aren't any pictures of Peter, so they should spend more time together. The teacher concurs.
• Domestic Abuse: Played as comedy. After Peter accidentally knocks a box off a tall shelf and it hits Lois, Stewie laughs uproariously, and Peter sees it as, "Everytime I hit Lois, Stewie will laugh and look up to me," and thus his opening to bond with his youngest son. This accelerates until they shove Lois in the back of the station wagon and then drive it to a nearby marina, where they drive the car into the water. Lois is not happy when she comes home hours later.
• Mistaken for Dying: After Herbert's song, he's shown sleeping at the table.
  Chris: ...Are you dead?
• Mood Whiplash: After finding out that Peter's taking him to Disney World, Stewie starts yelling happily a mile a minute while bouncing around the car, before sitting still and coldly telling Peter he's still mad at him.
• Motor Mouth: Stewie's reaction about going to Disney World.
• Never Smile at a Crocodile: A whole float of crocodiles eats Michael Eisner after his Disney Villain Death.
• Overly Long Gag: Peter and Stewie laughing as they kidnap Lois, lock her in the car, drown her, hitchhike home, stop at a diner, and come home^note According to DVD commentary, Seth MacFarlane did the laughing for both Peter and Stewie in one take and it tired him immensely.
• Shout-Out
  • The title is based on The Courtship of Eddie's Father.
  • A cutaway show Peter conducting a chorus made up of sand people.
  • Soundwave is one of the employees at the brewery.
  • Herbert has a fantasy based on Little Shop of Horrors.
  • The climax is based off of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
    • Stewie's Tiny World outfit is based on Short Round, but Peter thinks he's dressed as Rerun from the 1970s sitcom What's Happening?.
    • Michael Eisner is acting like Mola Ram.
• Take That!
  • The third act is this for Disney in general. For example...
    • One of the rides is called the "Disney Stock Ride", which sends the rider plunging down.
    • One of the lost kids forced to sing on the Tiny World ride says if Stewie doesn't sing, he'll be put in "a Christmas movie with Tim Allen".
  • While in Florida, Peter muses to himself that "Right now, in this state, Jeb Bush is eating a live puppy."
• Trapped in a Sinking Car: Peter and Stewie do this to Lois as a prank. Fortunately, Lois survives, and when she gets back home, she is not happy with them at all.

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