Peter, Chris, & Brian

"Peter, Chris, & Brian" is the fifth episode of the fourteenth season of the animated sitcom Family Guy, and the 254th episode overall. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 8, 2015, and is written by Patrick Meighan and directed by Joe Vaux.^[2]

Plot

Peter receives a letter from his late mother Thelma's estate, stating that her house is being sold, and he is upset since he has a box of pornography stashed there. At the Drunken Clam, he tells his friends the problem and convinces them to assist him in breaking into the house to find the porn. Before they put their plan into action, the current owner finds them and upon learning about why they're at his house, he hands the porn over to them. While Peter is watching the porn (and quickly getting turned off by it), he discovers a videotape that he recorded as a teenager and notices all the ways that his childhood dreams didn't come true, leaving him feeling like an aging loser. As the young Peter dances to the song "Danger Zone" while twirling nun chucks around, Chris mimics his actions. Peter then decides he will make sure Chris becomes successful and doesn't repeat his mistakes.

Peter starts his mission by keeping Chris from watching TV, much to Lois' annoyance. He progresses his mission by making Chris dress up in flashy clothing and wear giant top hats while walking in high steps. When Brian discovers the plan, he advises Peter to let Chris follow his own way to life. Peter misinterprets his advice, thinking that Chris would be better off if he followed Brian around and do the same things he does. Brian, although unsure at first, agrees to this. Chris and Brian have a splendid time together with smart activities, such as doing art and solving a complex math question. When Chris and Brian come home for supper, Chris begins acting like Brian, making Peter proud of his successful mission. He suggests a celebration by throwing tater tots at a newborn infant giant panda at the zoo, only for Chris to turn him down in favor of going to a terrible film screening with Brian, disappointing Peter.

Jealous of Chris and Brian's bonding, Peter rues his plan to make Chris a success and wants his son back. He tries to win Chris over with a "World's Greatest Son" mug, but he has 'son' misspelled as 'sun'. His attempt to provide Kate Upton for Chris also proves to be a failure, as Chris is more attracted to Catherine Keener. During his latest attempt, Peter says to Lois that, although Chris now has a successful future ahead of him, he misses the old Chris and, unknown to Peter, Chris overhears this. At a book club, Brian starts giving inaccurate details about a book the club is reading, much to Chris's annoyance, prompting him to covertly confront Brian and eventually stop bonding with him. Chris sees Peter throwing tater tots at the infant panda at the zoo, and they reconcile when Chris mentions about how Peter isn't afraid to be his foolish self around others, which makes him Chris' role model, much to Peter's joy.

Back at the Griffin home, the family (minus a missing Meg) begin talking about the morality of being true to one's self while Tom Tucker is talking over them on the television commenting how studies have been telling that merely turning your head and speaking to the "fat and gross family members" will not deactivate a functioning television. This leads to Stewie to shut it off as Tom quotes "There we go."

Cultural references

Peter, Quagmire, Joe and Cleveland preparing to break into Peter's old house wearing Barack Obama masks, which Peter thinks are Bill Cosby masks. Peter's old tape to himself mentions that he is sure in the future he will be a doctor like the kid from Doogie Howser, M.D., whom young Peter assumes will be "getting so much ass," which Peter says is partly true. Peter watches his younger self practice with nunchucks while listening to Kenny Loggins' song "Danger Zone," and is shocked to realize Loggins rhymed "danger zone" with itself. One cutaway shows Peter challenging Larry Bird to a basketball shooting contest to win a Big Mac, a spoof of the 1993 Larry Bird and Michael Jordan "Nothin' But Net" commercial for McDonald's. Another one mocks the band Mumford & Sons, in which a young Marcus Mumford prepares to leave the house before his father demands he dress properly in an old-fashioned way, like a "dry goods clerk from the Garfield administration" and that he needed to "write the same song 25 times." Another cutaway features Chris as an NASA mission control engineer helping to successfully rescue the crew of Apollo 13, only to complain that he was still beating himself up for buying the failed Nook e-reader.

Peter cries while listening to the song "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls, and then cheerfully listens to "Happy" by Pharrell Williams, and states he is easily influenced by music. Peter dresses himself and Chris up like Lenny Kravitz, by wearing items from all over the world that don't go together, before flying away in an old-fashioned multi-wing plane. Brian tries to get Chris to read The Bell Jar by changing the author from Sylvia Plath to Spider-Man; later, he walks in on Chris dressed like Spider-Man with his head in the oven. Peter and Brian go see a Michael Ian Black show, with Chris excitedly saying Black "says the things we don't care to say." Lois mentions Peter's old "Walk Like an Egyptian" phase, with a cutaway showing a crying Peter giving a eulogy before walking off stage like the song's music video featuring Ancient Egyptian reliefs. Peter tries first to get Chris's attention by bringing model Kate Upton home, but Chris says he isn't interested as he is now a Catherine Keener man; Peter then plans to impress him by showing him a French version of Rocky III, called Le Rocque Trois. At their book club, Chris discusses their current selection, The Shipping News, which Brian compares to Portnoy's Complaint, prompting Chris to realize Brian had not read that week's book and was faking to impress the rest of the club.

Reception

The episode received an audience of 2.58 million, making it the fourth-most watched show on Fox that night behind Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Bob's Burgers, and The Simpsons episode "Friend with Benefit".^[3] Lisa Babick of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4/5.^[4]

References

External links

• "Peter, Chris, & Brian" on IMDb
• "Peter, Chris, & Brian" at TV.com