Life of Brian

I first read about this episode online as I was out of town and wasn't able to catch it when it first aired. I've been a pretty big fan of Family Guy since it's inception in 1999 and enjoyed growing up watching it as a "safe" show that always raised my spirits. Knowing this I was shocked when I read about MacFarlane killing off arguably the deepest character in the cast with little warning and it took me a day or two to muster up the courage to actually watch the whole thing.

There was not much difference in the episode as a whole in regards to comedy style and language. Brian and Stewie had their usual chemistry that was fun to watch and Peter mixed things up with a quip here or there. The show began with Brian and Stewie running from a group of armed, 21st Century Native Americans which set an accurate focus on at least Stewie for a majority of the episode.

The critical (and controversial) event in question does not happen until just before midway into the episode. This was an interesting strategy but effective in surprising the viewer(s) (at least those who had not been on the internet before watching) when Brian is struck down. The second half of the show has probably been used by most to recover and process what they just saw. Again, besides this there is very little else of note on which to comment (which in itself makes up very little of the episode anyway.)

I was saddened watching Brian die. Not only was he one of my favorite characters (and a dog at that), but his relationship with Stewie was one of the few really rich parts of the show that had developed with age. It was also tough to see Stewie struggle in the aftermath of his death and reveal for only the second or third time how much Brian really meant to him.

What warranted the low rating? There was no further emotional digging after Brian passed. Sure the rest of the family was crying and obviously sad but even then there was a briefness and laziness to their lines and emotions. Brian was the family dog and best friend for 12 seasons, and Stewie is the only one to really say anything more than the usual, "Oh, sad, he's dead?" Even by the end Stewie seemed to recover rather well and embrace the new dog Vinny despite his hatred for him when he first arrived. I know he confided in Vinny about Brian which thawed his heart a bit, but it still was off.

I guess the bottom line is it did not feel like the show truly represented the emotional repercussions of Brian's death within the family. Stewie was much closer, but even then something did not feel quite right. A character as important as Brian dies so suddenly, you would expect a much deeper reaction amongst the Griffin's than what was given.

I can draw only one conclusion from this: Brian's death is not permanent. It was not meant to be an event (in itself) to change the makeup of the character's themselves. Otherwise, we would have seen a much more thorough look into how each family member coped with the grief.

I know it's a cartoon, but when you grow up with a show and the writers decide to sever it's most important relationship in the blink of an eye you take a bit to recover. Seth MacFarlane has a knack for allowing a few episodes before revealing his true intentions, and I like to believe he is a smart man who knows what he is doing. If my suspicions are correct this rating could jump a great deal.

Until then this was a bit of a cheap shot to the feels.

With hindsight, it seems that season 12 was when Seth MacFarlane told Fox that they needed to give him complete creative control to do whatever he wanted.

The result was an episode that fails as both comedy, and drama, because there was never any reason doubt that MacFarlane writing out what he'd already told us was his favourite character in favour of another voice actor would only ever be a temporary stunt.

That 25,000 people fell for it and demanded the inevitable return of Brian was rather sad.

The episode isn't a total dud: there are the usual racist tropes, and a couple of moderately well observed character jokes even after The Incident.

But the core concept is rushed and forced, like the rape jokes that MacFarlane is obsessed with making.

At this point we were already four seasons beyond MacFarlane's interest with the whole show, and he was already busy stinking up the screen elsewhere, in Ted, and hosting the Oscars. Everything since then has just been managed decline.

I loved Family Guy in the first six seasons. I know it is cliché for a fan to become disenchanted with a show after a while, but to me, (and to most others it seems), Family Guy has declined into an unfunny and lazy show.

This Episode has become popular for involving the death of Brian, a move which aggravates me in a way seemingly ignored by most people. This episode was incredibly unfunny and uninteresting. Many people are crying and even (pathetically) petitioning for Brian to come back to the show. Why aren't these people mad because the episode contained no funny jokes, or even attempted to make the audience laugh.

It is not impossible for a TV episode about death to be without laughs, I draw your attention to the quirky 'Twin Peaks', but more importantly to the South Park episodes "Stanleys' Cup" and "Kenny Dies". These South Park episodes examine a wholly tragic and depressing subject matter whilst also being hilarious and a little provocative. They did this by transcending the depressing elements of death prominent in other shows or films that deal with death in an overly melodramatic way.

Family Guy's new writers are not smart or witty enough to use humour to lighten-up a dramatic moment, instead, lazily having the Griffins cry and mope for the majority of the episode to no humorous effect. Family Guy main objective is to make the audience laugh, and in this episode they failed. In fact, this episode was hypocritical, as often family guy uses humour to invert the tragedies of life (Anne Frank, WW2, 9/11) yet when it came to Brians' death, the writers just said "That'll be enough, we don't need to make this interesting or funny".

To me and other fans, 'Family Guy' died when Seth Macfarlane lost passion for the show and declared it has gone on too long. This is why they have to pull attention-seeking publicity stunts like this, and judging from the reaction, audience members have eaten it all up, showing that they are happy to be easily manipulated by hacks. I do not care Brian is dead, he hasn't been interesting or funny for over 5 seasons, just annoying. That is the tragedy.

I cant beleive that my all time favoritest show would be ruined, i come and watch family guy to have some laughs, to have joy, but wow, i cant beleive they would pull a curvedball our way, brians death scene is one of the few movies to make me cry, brian was basically my friend and seth macfarlined ruined it, they bringed him back later but i can tell brian was never the same. r.i.p brian.

the one star was because they acheive the emotion they looking for

I didn't feel that I wanted to watch an episode widely publicised as portraying Brian's death.

We have lost sufficient family, friends and pets not to need a lesson in grief or any reminder of the intense pain that accompanies loss. However, this was handled in true FG style, and I was therefore pleasantly surprised to see an element of sensitivity creeping in.

Whilst not the best FG episode around, but it is a fair reflection of how terrible life can be, and I felt the message that "you never get over the pain of losing a loved one, it just subsides to the point where you can live with it" was put across extremely well.

Whether it was "trolling" or not, it was successful in attracting publicity to the show. Perhaps it was the writer's way of telling us that the show cannot go on forever?

(Yes, this is written in real English)