Play It Again, Brian

"Play It Again, Brian"

"Play It Again, Brian" is the tenth episode of the sixth season of Family Guy. The episode originally broadcast on March 2, 2008.

Synopsis

Peter and Lois are having marital difficulties, as Peter would much rather spend time with his friends than with his wife. Brian, who has announced that he won an award for an essay he wrote and was invited to Martha's Vineyard to receive it, offers to take them with him on vacation to ease the anxiety. Peter and Lois agree, and when the three arrive at their fancy hotel, Peter immediately begins enjoying himself. As such, he fails to arrive on time for the party at which Brian receives his award. Brian reads an excerpt from his poem, which is about Lois, and touches her heart. When Peter does arrive, he is completely intoxicated and consequently chastised by Lois.

The next morning, Lois decides to put the issue with the other night behind her, but agrees to spend the day with Brian as Peter has already made plans for himself. Toward the end of the day, Lois is dismayed to find that Peter is gone yet again, so she decides to spend the evening with Brian as well. As Brian makes preparations, he begins experiencing fantasies of himself kissing Lois and declaring his passion for her. That evening, Brian loses his self-restraint and Rapes her; Lois is greatly troubled by this, so she forces him out of the room.

As Brian mulls over the severity of his own actions, Lois remains concerned for both Peter and Brian. The next morning, Lois tells Peter about what happened, and Peter confronts Brian at the hotel bar. Brian says that Peter is too stuck-up to be good enough for Lois; Peter counters by saying Brian has never had a long-term relationship with any woman he has ever been with. Their argument quickly escalates to violence, but things quickly settle down as they agree to resolve this problem another way. Brian ultimately promises never to let Lois come between their friendship ever again, and they forgive each other. Brian formally apologizes to Lois for his actions and she forgives him as well, though she does admit that sometimes she feels the same way Brian does about her. Nevertheless, she chooses to remain faithful to Peter, and the three happily return home as if nothing bad ever happened.

Back at home, since no one else was available, Peter and Lois have decided to hire Herbert to look after Meg, Chris and Stewie while they are away. Herbert makes several sexual remarks to Chris as he always does. After Herbert reads Chris "Peter and the Wolf" as a bedtime story, Chris finally asks him, "Are you a pedophile?"

Notes

• After Peter married a drunk Nathan Lane, he stated the joke was on Nathan since gay people can't get married. Lois corrects him by stating they can in Massachusetts. Peter seems to be oblivious of anything regarding gay marriage, yet in You May Now Kiss the...Uh...Guy Who Receives Peter is fully aware of gay marriage and seems to support it to a degree.
• In actuality, Peter and Nathan Lane would not have been able to get married because neither of them are residents of Massachusetts.
• Peter mentions the break-up between Brian and Jillian which occurred eight episodes ago, stating that she's "dumber than Lou Ferrigno". Curiously, when they first met, Peter believed that she was brilliant when she "proved" that the sun and the moon were the same "person." He also remarked about her "smarts." It's possible that he may have finally noticed her stupidity.
• This is the first episode in the series in which Lois actually takes part in a random musical ensemble, especially with Peter who is most prone to such things.
• This is the first episode that Chris suspects Herbert is a pedophile, though seeming clueless in other episodes. In particular, when he whistles the theme to "Peter and the Wolf", it may be an oblique reference to the movie M in which Peter Lorre plays a sinister child murderer who whistles "In the Hall of the Mountain King" when agitated.
• Brian compares himself to Kobe Bryant after impulsively attempting to have sex with Lois. This is the third episode to make a reference to Bryant's rape accusation. The previous two episodes to do so were "The Perfect Castaway" and "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz."
• This is the second episode in which Lois is seen wearing a sweater while talking to brian alone on a couch, the first time was in the episode Brian in Love.
• The classic "The End" montage was the proverbial conclusion to the the Long-Lasting love infatuation Brian has had towards Lois, ever since the episode Brian in Love.
• The golfing green where Brian and Lois are during the montage is the same spot in The Cleveland–Loretta Quagmire where Stewie meets Annika Sörenstam.

Cultural references

• The title of this episode comes from the popular misquote, "Play it again, Sam" from the movie Casablanca, and more specifically the Woody Allen movie Play It Again, Sam, which has a similar plot, and which the episode directly references when Brian repeatedly has flashes of his hopes for the night with Lois.
• While trying to find someone to watch the kids, Peter says that Cleveland is busy touring with Black Box; the cutaway scene shows Cleveland and Black Box singing "Everybody Everybody."
• The prize at the carnival game is a misshapen Stewie doll, which is a meta-reference to the fact that Stewie dolls are often given as prizes in carnivals. The doll also bears a resemblence to the depiction of Stewie in the South Park episode Cartoon Wars. The mangled looking doll could also be considered a reference to the large amount of bootlegged (and thus often sub-par in quality) Family Guy merchandise.
• The street artist draws Lois and Brian as Jane Jetson (of The Jetsons) and Snoopy (of Peanuts).
• Peter's fart while he and Lois are in bed is parodied from the movie Love Stinks.
• The second half of Brian's essay-- "no person I've ever known has ever done more to make me feel more sure, more insecure, more important, and less significant"-- is taken verbatim from the book/film Summer of '42. At the end of the episode, Brian confesses to plagiarizing it.
• Brian proposes to Lois that they spend more time that evening by watching bad movies like Vanilla Sky, a Tom Cruise movie. Lois declines with the response that what they need is a bad movie, not an abortion.
• At the end when Peter, Lois and Brian are dancing, Quint from Jaws is behind Peter. This references the fact that Jaws was actually filmed in Martha's Vineyard.
• Peter discovers Nathan Lane is staying in the same hotel as they are, and in a state of drunkenness, he marries him, not realizing that gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts.
• The old film being spoofed while Lois and Brian are watching on television is Roman Holiday. The reference also hits upon Family Guy's view on Gregory Peck's acting when he says "You bitch! I'm going to punch you in the face!" In a previous episode, "Saving Private Brian," Gregory Peck threatens to hit his children. It's possible the producers may be showing Peck as violent.
• Peter's song "The Spirit of Massachusetts" and its accompanying visuals derive from a 1980's television advertising campaign for Massachusetts tourism.
• While at the Grateful Dead concert, Stewie's eyes are (extremely) dilated, a common effect of LSD use. Selling the tie dye shirt he was wearing is a reference to Deadheads selling things on the road so they can continue traveling with the Grateful Dead.
• Herbert reads his own interpretation of Peter and the Wolf to Chris as a bedtime story; Herbert then whistles some of the music from Prokofiev's incidental music for the story.
• When Peter sings the Massachusetts song, Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird is seen wearing a green jersey in the background. There is also an unknown man wearing a Boston Bruins Jersey.
• When Stewie talks about Lois's vagina and writing "Brooks was here," he is referencing the The Shawshank Redemption. This is the fourth time The Shawshank Redemption has been mentioned; the first was in "One if By Clam, Two if By Sea," the second was in "Sibling Rivalry," and the third was in "McStroke."
• At the end of the episode, Peter, Lois and Brian break into a song backed by several locals much like several musicals, though the song they sing is a reprisal of one of only two songs in the episode. The final shot with the words "The End" over fireworks mirrors the ending of the legendary comedy movie Airplane!.
• After Lois tells Peter that Brian tried to have sex with her, Peter asks "Was he bigger than me?", a quote from Animal House.
• Herbert mentions Boy Meets World, a sitcom that aired in the 1990's on ABC.
• During the montage of Lois and Brian's unofficial date, Seth MacFarlane sings As Time Goes By. This a possible reference to the film Casablanca, since As Time Goes By is played and sung many times in the movie.
• The roller coaster that Peter rides is a fairly accurate representation of Superman: Ride of Steel, located at Six Flags New England.

Reception

This episode was watched by 7.1 million people and had a 3.7/9 audience share. It received positive feedback from fans but negative feedback from TV Squad, saying "The cancer joke was painfully unfunny and the show seems to be running out of ideas." However, blogger Brad Trechak enjoyed this episode, saying "Overall, a good episode. I particularly liked the Disney-style ending. The show itself reopened and furthered some of the slowly-developing subplots of the Family Guy universe and proves that it is willing to go places that The Simpsons considers beneath them."

External links

• Template:FGwiki
• "Play it Again, Brian" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Play it Again, Brian" at TV.com