This season of American Dad has mostly focused on Stan so far, which is hardly an anomaly for the show. The character and his job at the CIA have been a deep well of stories, so it’s not surprising to see the show once again playing with the idea of subverting Stan’s status there and his confidence in himself. Meanwhile Roger tries to help out the financial situation in the Smith household (as the weekly pay checks that Stan is now taking in aren’t doing much, in spite of how much they might excite him in their week-liness) by finally opening that bed and breakfast, “The Inn Under the Attic” that he’s always talking about. Roger’s only hesitation is that his five circle (or are they owl eyes? Areolas?) rating on TripPlanner might suffer from the experience of going into business. The idea that Roger’s non-existing B & B already has a rating, in spite of not being open yet, is some complicated Roger logic at its best. Of course all of the satisfied clients that have “stayed” there so far have all been various guises of Roger. Back on campus, Stan takes to the security game pretty swimmingly, whether it’s helping crippled mushroom-soccer players, doing air guitar riffs that are confused for seizures, trying to locate the school’s missing orangutan mascot (and the suspicious appearance of the new teacher Mr. Tang Ooh Ooh Ah Ah), or becoming crunch brothers (mixing five separate cereals together). This is largely due to Stan wanting to be thought of as the cool uncle of the security guards, there to chill and hang out, rather than actually keeping anyone safe. Quickly Stan finds his policing attitudes changing when he’s not seen as an authority figure and is essentially rendered useless, as the cool uncle is unable to be taken seriously. Frankly, this is a pretty predictable route for the episode to go down, and the sort of storyline that we’ve seen often with Stan. It moves smoothly enough here, but it’s hardly the most engaging Stan storyline, and you can’t help but wish to be returning to Roger’s side of things with Mr. Cavendish’s unreasonable standards (your dewberry bushes better be pristine!). Hailey is briefly mentioned in relation to the college (before stating that she’s always dropped out by midterms), but is then swiftly forgotten. Having Hailey around too would have at least added another level on top of what was already going on and inject even more flavor into this. It’s all still entertaining though and a more than satisfactory effort here. Stan’s story comes to a close when he flips out and goes rageful with power when the injustice of calling him a “lame uncle” is uttered and he gets all trigger-happy with the pepper spray, dousing the campus—in slow motion—in sync to the works of Beethoven (something that I could have seen more of, actually, with a more elaborate set piece going on here). This is likely not going to be anyone’s favorite American Dad episode, and it might end up being one of the lesser entries of the season even, but there’s still plenty to enjoy here and at a certain point you want to just let Stan sign your cast and enjoy the ride. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!
