Flirting with Disaster

American Dad! is a show which survives on its characters and their unique paired relations. As such, the characters are what people are going to relate to, and treating them with disrespect is going to create a disconnect between the viewer and the program. This is what this episode does. It begins surprisingly strongly. Its "The Office" application to Stan's workplace, while maybe rewriting the history of the setting, is funny and well done enough to get away with it. The last two-thirds are where the problems lie. The disconnect is instantaneous and leaves the viewer immediately detached from the rest of the episode. Keeping the brutality of it hidden until the end of the episode is unforgivable. Equally as unforgivable is leaving the viewer all alone after solving the episodes turning point in under a minute from the credit roll. American Dad!, while never fantastic (but often good) has done significantly better in past and in future episodes.