The One That Got Away (American Dad!)

"The One That Got Away" is a fourth season episode of the animated series American Dad!, first aired on October 5, 2008.

Plot

When Roger returns home, the Smiths chastises him for taking things from them and disappearing all day in one of his persona's, which they presume to be an inferiority complex. Afterwords he discovers that someone has maxed out his credit card, he is certain it is identify theft and is determined to bring down the crook. He finds the crook to be Sidney Huffman, a lovable bible maker. After playing "Death Wish" for a few days and dishing out some street justice, he realizes things are not quite right and seem all too familiar.

A flashback turns to Sidney, who was enjoying his life but finds that Roger had been misprinting Bibles(Transvestites who poop mozzerella dinosaurs), destroyed (and raped) his garden and told his girlfriend Judy Panawits that he has diseases. Sidney knew there was only one way to get rid of Roger -- order a hit on him. At that moment, Roger is nearly killed by the hitman hired by Sidney. Klaus advises Roger to pretend to be Sidney and call off the hit. But the hitman requires the password just in case Sidney wanted to call it off so Roger goes to Judy to ask about his favourite words. Unfortunately, the hitman comes in with his daughters and spots Roger. He hides in a change room, overhearing that the hitman is threatening to kill Judy. Roger thinks to abandon her when Sidney appears in a mirror, who chastises Roger. Roger then begs his alter ego to give him the password but Sidney refuses to so, seeing that Roger needs to pay. Roger informs Sidney that they are one and the same, showing the black gloves that were separated, which Sidney remembers is when he met Judy. Roger then remembers everything. He wanted a pair of black gloves so badly that he pretended to be a sober person to get close to the Judy's key to a case. After buying a necklace (which cost much more than the pair of gloves) he snatched the key and got the gloves but the manager blamed Judy for losing it. Roger then snaps and become Sidney and saves her career, developing MPD in the process as he was unaware of being Sidney until the beginning of the episode. Sidney gives Roger the password, which is "Password 1". Roger then stabs Sidney (who comes out of the mirror) and throws away his girlfriend. But seeing her cry, he decides to stick with her. Roger than tells Judy that he's a drunk and that he has no genitals, and then she tells him that "she" has both sexual reproductive organs.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Smith family gets sucked into a mean game of Simon, while Klaus feels ignored. Unfortunately, they get addicted to it, not moving except to touch the pieces and eventually find themselves sitting in stains of week-old urine. This forces Klaus to use a smoke bomb to make it disappear, along with himself (something that Roger has tried repeatedly throughout the episode, only to fall asleep each time). The Smith family is overjoyed that Klaus has freed them from the "spell". Another puff of smoke appears, revealing a strange sea creature that Klaus slays from the inside with a sword. Klaus claims to have been gone for sixty years from his perspective, and that he was crowned king of whatever place is was he had transported to.

Notes

• Francine references Professor Jordan Edelstein, which was Roger's character in Camp Refoogee. The costume Roger uses is from Francine's Flashback.
• The woman behind Roger at the convenience store appears to be the liquor store cashier that Roger claimed to have a crush on in The Magnificent Steven.
• When the hitman appears at Sidney's apartment, his hand is bare but when he takes the shot at Roger, he is wearing a glove on his gun hand.

Cultural references

• Francine finds a Simon game when she moved the couch, and then they become addicted to the game.
• Roger talked about Death Wish to Klaus. His main disguise is that of Charles Bronson.
• Roger's cell phone appears to be an iPhone, and when he finds out he is going to die he mentions he still has 2 years left on his AppleCare.
• Pizza Uno is mentioned around the end of the episode.
• The girlfriend is a reference to Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors.
• In Sidney's room, there is a poster for the movie The Glenn Miller Story, and his alarm plays "Pennsylvania 6-5000", by Glenn Miller.
• Sidney has a very similar look to a James Stewart nice guy. He even has a similar dialect.
• When the hitman's daughter begins crying, he calls her "Little Miss Fusshine", in reference to the film Little Miss Sunshine.
• Roger's dilemma recalls that of the nameless protagonist in Fight Club, who learns he has been maintaining an alter-ego, Tyler Durden. Interestingly, while Tyler, the film's protagonist's other self, is antagonistic and amoral, Roger's other self is kind and morally upright.
• While Roger is waiting for his credit card to be run he hums the beginning of the German national anthem.
• When Sidney gets a call from Roger, he mentions that he may be dyslexic and angry at Disney.
• The way Roger's MPD evolves during the episode is very much similar to the way the fictional Niki Sanders' develops hers in the series Heroes.
• How Klaus was crowned "King of wherever I was" and was gone for 60 years from his perspective, is a spoof of Narnia.
• The store where Sidney's girlfriend works is called C.J Neppey of J.C Penny