Bend or Blockbuster

Compared to the season premiere, this one felt a little bit like something was missing. But it wasn't entirely horrible either. The jokes were great throughout, and I commend the new voice actor behind Cleveland for sounding almost identical to Mike Henry's version. This episode feels like a great conversation starter between Gen-X/Millennials and Gen Z, as any one of us born between 1963 and somewhere in the early to mid 1990s can teach today's youth about Blockbuster and video stores in general. I am a Millennial myself, born in 1988. While the town I grew up in didn't have a Blockbuster, we did have Movie Gallery. Those times were definitely great to go to a video store and browse for movies long before things like RedBox and streaming services took over. I think what would have made a wonderful joke is if there has been an exchange between Peter and Chris about the adult video section, because EVERY video store had one!

The diner scene with the Maga hats was funny, but I found what they were talking was to be incomprehensible. But maybe that was the point of the joke. I thought the Dominos joke was spot on, but it seems like the show is on more of a 90s joke kick in the last few seasons, so I'm surprised they didn't decide to go with Pizza Hut instead. Because let's face it, 1990s Pizza Hut was one of the places to be when it came to fast food (other than Burger King and McDonald's)!

Another joke I found entertaining was the hot air balloon bit. It definitely rounded out the solid caliber of joke delivery for this episode. This is one of those episodes that may be considered a bit of a clunker over time, but could possibly gain a cult following in the future. I think it's on trend that the season is going to be including a lot of 90s references more so than 80s, which is definitely refreshing. This episode brought some solid laughs, but was missing a few moments of going the extra mile.

There's another review here by jfilu named "Very entertaining episode". I read that review before watching it. And this was a new experience for me, because after watching.... I agreed with that review just about 100%, every word!

It DID feel like old Family Guy. I am an older dude so I've seen much and laughed a lot... So nowdays, when watching Family Guy or American Dad, also noting that their Prime Days are waaaaay gone, I'm totally fine with just giggling a couple of times: I still enjoy them anyway.

But this time, I LAUGHED! Not just giggle: LAUGH. They were about to play a card-game and I LAUGHED. But a couple of seconds later, Peter learns some harsh truths about hell and I LAUGHED again. And I believe at least four more times, I LAUGHED! I was shaking and wiping tears at some point... And the episode did not have one dull second. Not one.

Well that was a welcome surprise right..? But then I wondered: how on earth does this episode have an overall score of just 6.4..?

Well thats where the other review "Trigger Warning!" by bnevs18 came in. I read that and in just a few sentences that mystery was cleared up too.... the little joke about MAGA of course: the most humorous group of people on earth, our jewels of tolerance that can always take a joke just fine....

Thank you bnevs18 and jfilu!

This episode genuinely made me laugh a couple times, not a forced laugh but like genuinely laughed out loud at some of the jokes. Like how it was back in the first couple of seasons. The plot is pretty solid and I like how, unlike in many family guy episodes these past couple of seasons. Is that the plot doesn't take long to get going. This episode also for once doesn't have the family consistently fighting, insulting meg, or etc. They feel a lot more functional here. Making every character a lot more likeable. The episode is one I would not mind watching again, really it blends perfectly with like a season 7 or season 8 episode. I have not felt this way about a family guy episode for a long time.

Never find any dull moment resuscitating golden-FG moments bringing interesting cut-outs, amusing culture and entertainment references, strong punchlines, typical Rhode Island family going bonkers with daily activities. It's fun.

It got to my attention(reading several reviews) FG getting rusty, fading, and shelving into lackluster homeshow failing to keep you active for good 40-45 mins, which I felt it's overblown due to the fact that Seth has perfectly captivated the formulae of FG "enthralling" experimenting around the plots and pulling punches after punches. No, he's not devoted to The Orville.

This episode is very interesting to say the least. It demonstrated how the Griffins were able to spend quality time together by showing some depth to family values in weird ways. There were some funny moments here and there and current topics that can be a bit divisive, but that's the show. It's always spoke It's mind whether we like it or not. This episode in my opinion was a 9.2/10. It was certainly a bit better than this season's premiere. I hope the rest of this season will be entertaining and watchable than the past few seasons. Long running shows need to change to the current times unfortunately.