Fresh Heir

"Fresh Heir" is the fourteenth episode of the twelfth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the 224th episode overall. It aired on Fox in the United States on March 23, 2014, and is written by Steve Callaghan and directed by Mike Kim.^[1] The episode revolves around Lois's greedy father Carter Pewterschmidt who, after injuring himself, chooses his grandson Chris Griffin to inherit his fortune.

Plot

Chris wants to spend time with Peter, who blows him off. When Carter breaks his leg at the mall trying to go up the downward escalator, Babs needs someone to look after him while she goes out of town; Lois can't, and Meg won't, so Chris is stuck. However, Chris and Carter hit it off; Chris teaches Carter how to masturbate by giving him a handjob, order pizza online, and play in a garage band.

After Carter's leg is healed, he tried to pay Chris, who turns it down; impressed by his grandson's humble nature, Carter makes him the sole heir to the family fortune--and Chris' reluctance to accept further elevates him in Carter's eyes. Upset at Carter's decision, Peter sets about sucking up to Chris to get closer to the money: he tries dressing like Chris, sharing a classic teen movie, and engaging in a series of stunts--all unsuccessful.

At the Drunken Clam, the guys note that Peter looks exhausted, but hope that whatever girl--or boy--he loves someday will make him happy. This inspires Peter to propose a Vermont gay marriage to Chris when he gets home that night. Peter reveals that he got Lois unknowingly to sign a divorce agreement, so Chris decides to go with the wedding idea--anything that means that father and son will finally be spending time together.

As they drive up to Vermont, Chris notes all of the preparations they must make, such as the gift registry and reception dance. On the wedding day, Lois interrupts the ceremony to tell Peter he is doing wrong. Chris stops her to reveal he knew all along it was for the money, he just wanted to spend time with his dad. Peter and Chris agree to settle for being father and son, and they return home. Peter does a closing narration that references the Woody Allen movie Annie Hall and Woody Allen's marriage to his stepdaughter, Soon-Yi Previn.

Reception

Eric Thurm of The A.V. Club gave the episode a D, saying "What makes the whole thing worse is that there’s a decent enough episode of Family Guy buried in here. Scrape away the incest jokes, have Peter go to increasingly desperate lengths to win Chris’ love and get at the money (which is where it seemed like everything was going), and there are a hundred different things Peter could have done. Seth Green does his best to save this story, selling Chris throwing himself into the social inanities of marriage just to spend time with his dad. With the exception of the episode I was unfortunate enough to miss, this season has been on a real cold streak lately, parading around all of the things that make Family Guy so unpleasant when it wants to be. Even at this late date, it’s still capable of being decently funny in not-terrible ways. “You just have a way of looking at things that’s delightfully fresh,” Carter tells Chris. If only."^[2]

The episode received a 2.2 rating in the 18–49 years old demographic and was watched by a total of 4.38 million people. This made it the most watched show on Animation Domination that night, beating American Dad!, Bob's Burgers and The Simpsons.^[3]

References

External links

• Fresh Heir at the Internet Movie Database