Lethal Weapons

"Lethal Weapons" is the seventh episode from the third season of the FOX animated series Family Guy, another episode produced for Season 2. It is the 35th episode of Family Guy, and originally aired in the United States on August 22, 2001. Written by Chris Sheridan and directed by Brian Hogan, the episode featured guest performances from Michael Chiklis, Peter Gallagher, Phil LaMarr, Alastair Shearman, and Nicole Sullivan, as well as several recurring voice actors for the series.

Plot summary

The peace of Quahog is disrupted when the leaves start turning fall colors and "leafers" from New York invade town. When the family drives to church, the kids start arguing. Stewie tries to control them, but Lois tells them to stop, or else they wouldn't get to go to McDonald's after church. Peter says that they would still be able to go to McDonald's, but wouldn't be able to get the supersize when Chris objects Peter says they can get the supersize but no apple pie. When Meg objects Peter says they can get an apple pie but can't blow on it to cool it down. Lois, tells Peter, not to contradict her in front of the kids.

Bonnie invites Lois to a Tae Jitsu class where Lois quickly advances to black belt. After getting into a fight with a leafer which is broken up by Lois knocking him out with a single punch, Peter exploits Lois' fighting abilities to drive the leafers back to New York. This gets Lois aggressive enough to challenge and successfully beat up her teacher. Her victory over her teacher makes her so assertive she immediately kisses Peter and then grabs him by the crotch, to which she claims ownership.

That night, Lois rapes Peter, who is too frightened to object to Brian the next morning and eats graham crackers belonging to Stewie. Seeing this, Stewie promptly strikes Peter with a baseball bat. Seeing this, Lois blames herself for serving as a bad role model, and decides to rid the family of anger. Stewie then goes to show he caught her speech on tape, but instead played him doing a radio show.

Family therapy fails to rid Stewie of his rage issues, and so does an attempt by Brian to convince them they've taken mood elevating drugs, when he really gave them placebos. The family ends up in an all-out brawl to get it out of their system. They start to realize how ridiculous the fighting is after Peter gets his head stuck in a picture of a horse's rear end, but when Stewie smashes Lois' head with a chair, they all resume fighting each other.

Finally exhausted, and showing visible wear and bruises, they eventually blame the violence on TV. Peter wonders how come "the government (couldn't) step in and tell us what we can and can't watch". He then "shame(s) on the network (FOX) that puts this junk on the air", to which Lois nervously warns him not to badmouth the network despite that. Peter doesn't seem afraid, not thinking their budget could be cut. He says he's going into the kitchen for a beer. He then exits in a very slow-transition-of-frame motion.

Production

This episode was written by Chris Sheridan and directed by Brian Hogan before the conclusion of the third production season.

In addition to the regular cast, actor Michael Chiklis, actor Peter Gallagher, voice actor Phil LaMarr, actor Alastair Shearman, and voice actress Nicole Sullivan guest starred in the episode. Recurring voice actors Lori Alan, Johnny Brennan, writer Mike Henry, writer Danny Smith, actress Jennifer Tilly, and actor Patrick Warburton made minor appearances.

Cultural references

• The title is a reference to the movie Lethal Weapon and its sequels.

• Peter says brothers and sisters fighting is as natural as a white man's dialogue in a Spike Lee movie. The setting of the following cutaway scene is the pizza shop from Lee's 1989 film, Do the Right Thing.

• When Peter says about Lois, "She floats like a butterfly and stings like when I pee," it is a reference to boxer Muhammad Ali's famous phrase, "Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee."

• During Lois's bar fight when Peter says "Krypton sucks.", the three Krypton criminals, General Zod, Ursa, and Non from the movie Superman II are shown sitting at the bar then fly at Lois who easily defeats them and sends them into the Phantom Zone that they were put into in the first Superman movie.

• Lucy van Pelt from the comic strip Peanuts appears and pulls away a football as Lois tries to kick it (as she does to Charlie Brown). Lois then kicks her in the face and she cries.

• When Peter and Lois go to the Drunken Clam, Lois wishes they would go to a fancier restaurant, such as Olive Garden, where she can taste the breadsticks.

• Lois says she is cutting loose just like "Julie Andrews in that movie where she shows her breasts," leading to a cutaway of Mary Poppins in which Andrews inexplicably opens her blouse. In reality, the movie Lois is referring to is the 1981 film S.O.B..

• Peter calls Lois' tae-jitsu teacher Ralph Macchio. Ralph Macchio played the part of Daniel LaRusso, the kid from the 1984 movie The Karate Kid.

• Whilst fighting with her tae-jitsu teacher, Lois yells, "Spin the wheel, raggedy man." This is a reference to the Mad Max 3 film in which Aunty Entity (Tina Turner) calls Mad Max (Mel Gibson) the Raggedy Man.^[1]

• Fun fact: While in church, Stewie tells one of the leafers about Jacks Joke Shop and mentions that it is off exit 14 on Hwy 295, while there is a Hwy 295 in Rhode Island, there is no exit 14.

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Lethal Weapons

• S. Callaghan, "Lethal Weapons". Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 152–155.