Road to Germany
"Road to Germany" |
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"Road to Germany" is an episode of the FOX animated series Family Guy which aired on October 19, 2008.[1] It is Brian and Stewie's fourth road adventure, following "Road to Rhode Island", "Road to Europe" and "Road to Rupert".
Plot
While the neighbors are watching the Academy Awards at the Griffins' house, Mort desperately needs to use the bathroom, so desperately that he runs into Stewie's room into what appears to be a portable toilet. The "toilet" turns out to be a time machine, and he is sent to the past. Realizing this, and that he does not have the return pad, a device that would bring him back to the present, Stewie and Brian take the device and go back in time to save Mort. They end up in Warsaw, Poland and find Mort in a synagogue. It doesn't take long for them to realize that the date is September 1, 1939, the day of the Nazi Invasion of Poland.
The three try to use the return pad, but it is broken, so they decide to go to England where they will be safe to fix it. They are chased by the Nazis, forcing them to make a getaway on a motorbike, followed by an elaborate undersea pursuit in a hijacked U-boat. The three make it to England safely, where Stewie finds that the return pad is out of uranium fuel, and that the only place they can find more in this time is at a "secret" nuclear testing facility in Nazi Germany. The three join the Royal Air Force and participate in a dogfight against the Germans to reach Berlin. Stewie disguises himself as Hitler and obtains the needed uranium. The group then runs into the real Hitler, who orders their execution, but they escape on the return pad to the present (Hitler offered to spare them if they performed a musical number, but Mort cuts Stewie and Brian off at the first line).
The group arrives back in Stewie's room, 30 seconds before Mort originally entered the time machine. To keep these events from repeating themselves, Stewie kills the Mort that travelled with them by shoving him into the time machine and blowing it up.
Production
After reading the script aloud, Jewish executive producer David A. Goodman, said "I'm going to get kicked out of my temple".[2]
This episode is Brian's second time-traveling adventure following "Meet the Quagmires" as well as Stewie's third (the first two being "Mind Over Murder" and Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story). It was the first "Road to..." episode not directed by Dan Povenmire, who left the show to create Phineas and Ferb for the Disney Channel. Unlike the previous "Road to..." episodes, this episode does not have a song-and-dance number for Stewie and/or Brian (though one is hinted at towards the end).[3] Also, this is the first "Road to..." episode to involve a major third character in the main Brian/Stewie plot.
Cultural references
Rick Moranis and the back-up singers from Little Shop of Horrors explain Mort's encounter with the time machine to Brian with the song, Da-Doo.[4] After Brian identifies the day they've arrived at as September 1, 1939, Stewie declares it is "the exact day and year that Renee Russo was born."[5] When Brian, Stewie, and Mort are chased by Nazis, a recreation of the chase scene from Back to the Future occurs where Stewie rides a makeshift skateboard, escapes, and has the Nazis crash into a truck of manure.[6][7] When Stewie picks up a Nazi uniform, there is a McCain-Palin button attached.[8][6][9] Guest stars, Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan, and his Hawkmen intervene to save Stewie, Brian, and Mort from the Luftwaffe, the German airforce.[10] Shortly after being saved, the plane almost crashes, and they are forced to use a raft, rather than parachutes to survive a fall from a crashing plane, a parody of a scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.[10][4]
References
- ^ "Listings — FAMILY GUY on FOX". The Futon Critic. 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
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(help) - ^ TV Preview: Family Guy Entertainment Weekly
- ^ TV Guide, ibid. "Finally, at the point of execution, Hitler offers Stewie and Brian the chance to live in exchange for a musical act. Just as they are getting under way, Mort pulls them back and just like that they are back in Quahog."
- ^ a b "Road to Germany". Family Guy. Season 7. 2008-10-19. FOX.
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- ^ a b Haque, Ahsan. "Family Guy: Road to Germany Review", IGN. October 20, 2008. Accessed October 20, 2008.
- ^ "Family Guy Episode Recap: "Road to Germany"". TV Guide. 2008-10-20. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
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(help) - ^ Chuck Raasch, "Landslide would challenge Obama" Sunday Free Press (Detroit) Sunday, October 26, 2008, page 13A. "The same day that Powell hit on his own party, the pro-Obama producer of the TV cartoon, "Family Guy," depicted Nazis wearing McCain-Palin campaign buttons."
- ^ Nicholas Graham, "Family Guy: Nazis Back McCain-Palin (VIDEO)" The Huffington Post, 19 Oct. 2008; acc. 30 Oct. 2008
- ^ a b "Family Guy Season 7 Episode 2 Recap: Road To Germany". Channel Guide Magazine. 2008-10-20. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
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