Freakin' Sweet Forum 11.05.07: Brain - Portrait of a Dog - Episode 7
Posted by Cory Lynn Schibler on 11.05.2007
I'll be on the veranda since you're already on the cross.
And welcome, to the season finale of the FREAKIN’ SWEET FORUM!!!!!!! That’s right, today is the last episode of season one. I know, it was really short but I’ll be bringing you season two before you know it. Also, this weekend is very special because it marks the 100TH FREAKIN’ EPISODE OF FAMILY GUY. That’s right, Family Guy has been going strong for a 3000 minutes and I’m going to be passing my whimsical review of said episode onto you. But first, onto one of the (in my honest opinion) top ten episodes in Family Guy history… Brian: Portrait of a Dog.
Brian: Portrait of a Dog Original Air date: 5/16/1999 Production Code: 1ACX07
Written by Gary Janetti
Directed by Michael Dante DiMartino
Principal Cast Peter/Brian/Stewie: Seth McFarlane Lois: Alex Borstein Chris: Seth Green Meg: Lacey Chabert
We start with the family sitting down to watch the Eight is Enough reunion. One of the daughters cracks wise that the father’s solution to everything is to make a sandwich. He begins viciously slapping the crap out of her until another daughter stops him and tells him that eight is enough. They all laugh and say they love each other. We then see the Griffin family with their jaws on the floor in horror.
We now see Stewie fashioning a parachute out of Lois’ blouses. Lois comes in and stops him, and thanks Brian for telling her.
While the family is sitting on the couch watching TV, Meg comes in and says that it is “so hot out there.” The family, in Match Game form asks her “how hot is it.” She tells them the temperature and Peter tells Lois he doesn’t get it. The newscasters say that Quahog is in a freak heat wave. Tom Tucker, the male newscaster, says she shouldn’t use the word freak because some might find it offensive. We then see Tom’s home and see that his son’s face is UPSIDE DOWN…THAT’S RIGHT, UPSIDE DOWN!
Back at the Griffin home, Stewie is threatening to call Child Services, while Meg is accusing Chris of hogging the fans. He promptly tells her “she is hogging up all the ugly.” Peter then enters and says that the Rhode Island dog show prize is $500 dollars and they could buy a new air conditioner. The family, after much convincing, gets Brian to agree to enter.
Now we get to one of my favorite gags ever. Peter and Brian are going over some commands. Peter tells Brian to sit and he goes and grabs a chair and sits down. He then tells Peter that he needs to call it a day. Peter goes into over-bearing dog owner mode, kind of like the people from Best in Show (great movie by the way) and drives Brian crazy. Brian says that he needs a cocktail and Lois tries to convince Peter to go easy on Brian.
On to the dog show, the family is walking up as the announcer says that the competition will be as hot as the weather, which is in the triple digits again. A bird in flight then SPONTANEOUSLY BURST INTO FLAME! That visual will have you rolling on the floor if you have any sense of humor at all.
Brian starts to get the pre show jitters and Peter offers him a pill to relax. There is then a great cutaway with Liza Manelli and a blue M&M that is better if you just watch it.
It’s time for Brian to hit the obstacle course. They announce him as Brain, which elicits a groan from Brian. He hits the course and is flying through. He then stops in the middle for a smoke before finishing the course. The family cheers for Brian, except for Chris who cheers for Brain. Peter then places a treat on Brian’s nose and asks him to beg for it. Lois says that Peter can’t expect Brian to do that and Chris tells her that it is not that hard. Brian gets made and storms out of the arena. Peter tries to call him back, but when he sees that everyone is seeing Brian disobey, he begins telling him to keep walking away. He then tells Brian to flip him off.
On the way home we get a great cutaway where the Griffins hit a family of deer in their car. The family of deer is trying to get Peter’s insurance information. Yes, the deer are also in a car. Brian gets out of the car and decides to walk home. On the way, he is stopped by a cop for walking without a leash, which gets the Griffin’s fined $10.
In the morning, Lois decides to make Brian cinnamon buns, which leads to a great gag with the Pillsbury doughboy. Lois wants Brian and Peter to go back to the way that they used to be, which apparently is like an old Mickey Mouse cartoon. The argument escalates until Brian storms out of the house…without his leash.
At the store, the clerk refuses to sell Brian anything. At the Griffins’ house, Peter is trying to forget about Brian and wants a new pet. Stewie says to get a kitty. The new kitty arrives and positions itself on the refrigerator where it begins to rain down firecrackers on the family.
Meanwhile, Brian is having trouble living outside the home because he is being treated like a normal dog. When he goes to the park, he is arrested for drinking out of the water fountain. Well he would have been, but he evades the police during a chase through a Middle East market. Brian is finally arrested for attacking a man on the street.
At jail, Brian is immediately sentenced to death, which Stewie is all in favor. Peter promises to get the best help he can find. He sends MacGuyver a letter accompanied by a rubber band, a paper clip, and a drinking straw. MacGuyver then shoots himself in the eye with the paper clip.
Peter gets the city council to listen to Brian’s case. We then get a montage of Brian studying the law in preparation for presenting his case. The council tries to send Brian away because he is just a dog, but Peter makes a moving speech that saves Brian’s life. Actually, he offers each council member $20. Stewie demands a mistrial.
Brian goes to the park and drinks from the water fountain that he was chased for earlier and feels he has had his day. Back at home, Lois welcomes Brian home and Brian then licks Peter’s face for helping him. Brian then tells Peter he will kill him if he ever tells anybody.
I wasn’t lying when I said that I consider this one of the top ten episodes of this show. We are now at episode 100 and this is still one of my favorites. It’s just awesome.
The 411: Unlike last week’s episode, this character is the perfect one to base an entire episode around. There is so much complexity to Brian that I would not mind one bit if every episode was about him. Like I said, this is one of my favorite episodes and it is just about perfect. 9.0 out of 10.0.
