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The Thin White Line

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"The Thin White Line"

"The Thin White Line" is the first episode of the third season of Family Guy, and the first part of a two-part story arc (part two being "Brian Does Hollywood". It is the 29th episode of Family Guy. It guest-stars Leif Garrett as himself, June Foray as Rocket J. Squirrel, and Haley Joel Osment, as the kid in the bathroom.

Plot summary

At a company picnic, Mr. Weed, Peter's boss, announces a competition, in which he will hunt down the employees, with tranquilizer darts. Mr. Weed says he has enough tranquilizer darts "to take out Robert Downey Jr." Weed's audience reacts with umbrage to the remark, sympathizing with Downey's drug problems. Peter is the last one standing and wins a paid vacation.

As the family gets ready to go on a cruise, Joe recognizes the strength of Brian's nose and offers him a job as a police dog to look for drugs. Brian proves instrumental in busting a midget gang's drug ring.

When the cops go to the airport to greet Quagmire (who had been making love with two Filipino women and a man who Quagmire thought was another woman), Brian sniffs out a bystander who is secretly carrying cocaine and his reputation grows. But when Brian scents the drugs, he accidentally inhales them and becomes addicted.

When Lois discovers that Brian got addicted to drugs and goes to rehab, she insists that the family has to cancel the vacation to help Brian. Peter, however, joins Brian at the rehab center because he couldn't go on vacation. Peter causes chaos and distress, like causing premature births in pregnant teens.

After leaving the center, Brian stuns the family when he announces that he is leaving Quahog, to move in with his cousin, Jasper, in California. This sets the stage for the next episode, "Brian Does Hollywood."

Notes

  • This episode was originally intended to air as the second season finale, with the next episode opening the third season; FOX's constant shuffling of the show's schedule prevented this from happening as planned.
  • The newspaper containing an article about Brian also features the headline "Scientists Mystified by Paper Rain", a reference to the confetti seen on the image illustrating the article.
  • This episode's name is a reference to a thin line of cocaine many users put into to snort as well as the fact Brian, a white dog, joins the police, traditionally known as the Thin Blue Line.
  • This episode and "Brian Does Hollywood" aired together as the third season premiere of the show in Mexico.
  • Due to the initially announced cancellation of the series, this episode was the first episode to air in almost a year.
  • Even though Stewie appears to say a censored curse word, there was actually no word said; all that Seth MacFarlane recorded was "I don't have to... impress you", with a short beep in place of the silence.
  • The opening to this episode in which Mr. Weed hunts his employees is taken from the plot of a 1924 short story by Richard Connell, The Most Dangerous Game.

Cultural references

  • The name of the show is a refernce to The Thin Red Line movie.
  • A flashback shows Brian watching an episode of the VH1 program Behind the Music with Leif Garrett. The show is known for documenting the post-success breakdowns of once-popular recording artists, and Garrett's episode is one of the best-known[1].
  • A fantasy sequence shows Stewie and a group of sailors singing a parody of "My Gallant Crew" from the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta H.M.S. Pinafore.
  • At the school assembly Brian is called "McGriffin, the Drug Dog", a reference to the anti-crime mascot McGruff the Crime Dog.
  • Seth MacFarlane said that Brian's coke laugh is based on Mozart's laugh from the movie Amadeus.
  • When Peter attempts to pull Chris out of the time machine, he pulls out a lion instead. This occurrence and Peter's response ("Must've got the wrong hat!") is a gag often used when cartoon moose Bullwinkle pulls such a dangerous animal from a magician's hat. Rocky the Flying Squirrel then shows up and says "And now, here's something we hope you'll really like", completing the oft-used segué in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.
  • Brian refers to Lois as a "Stepford wife", a phrase used to describe a "perfect" suburban housewife after the satirical novel The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin and its film versions.
  • A flashback shows Peter as a security guard for former Beatle George Harrison, watching Charles in Charge while an intruder invades the home. Harrison was attacked in his home on December 30, 1999, by an obsessed fan named Michael "Mad Mick" Abram.
  • The picture hanging on the wall of the rehab doctor's office is the same as the one behind the Simpson family's couch.[2].
  • The movie Brian goes to see as a guide for a blind man is The Blair Witch Project.

References

  • S. Callaghan, “The Thin White Line.” Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 128–131.
  • A. Delarte, “Nitpicking Family Guy: Season 3” in Bob’s Poetry Magazine, 2.August 2005: 34–35 http://bobspoetry.com/Bobs02Au.pdf

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