Our Idiot Brian

"Our Idiot Brian" is the eighth episode of the thirteenth season of the animated sitcom Family Guy, and the 239th episode overall. It aired on Fox in the United States on January 11, 2015, and is written by Aaron Lee and directed by John Holmquist.^[1] The title is a play on the film Our Idiot Brother. The episode centers on Brian failing an SAT test, leading the family into thinking that he is not as smart as he claims to be, although Peter shows him the upside to being unintelligent. The cause of Brian's change in behavior is found to be a brain tumor, and Stewie longs for Brian to have it removed to return to normal.

Plot

Meg worries about passing her SAT to get into college, so her friends suggest she hire a smart person to take the test for her. She convinces Brian to do so, flattering him by reciting quotes from his novel Faster Than the Speed of Love. Brian disguises himself as Meg, goes to school and takes the test for her. Meg shows Brian that he failed badly, scoring just 1,000 out of 2,400. Chris decides to spread the news and rides off on his horse Artemis. When he arrives in the village, Chris forgets what he is going to say and assumes that the news is that Brian is getting another book published. After Chris leaves, the villagers are relieved that the news is not about another Meg episode.

Peter tries to get Brian to look on the bright side of being less intelligent, and together they do low-brow activities like watching a demolition derby and visiting Orlando, Florida. However, Stewie is puzzled about Brian's change in attitude as being very uncharacteristic of him.

When Brian suffers a massive nosebleed and collapses, he is rushed to the hospital and Dr. Hartman reveals that Brian has a benign brain tumor. The family members are split on whether Brian should have the surgery to remove it, with Stewie wanting Brian to return to his old self and Brian enjoying his newfound life of enjoyable stupidity. Stewie uses the fake lure of a Kenny Chesney concert to take Brian to "cultured" activities like the opera, yoga, and an upscale restaurant.

However, Brian fully embraces being less intelligent and Stewie gives up and decides to adjust to the new reality--until Brian and Peter decide to enjoy a garage-set "London Fog" night where they'll take long and deep breaths as the exhaust from the car envelopes them, and Stewie realizes Brian's behavior is actually going to kill him. Deciding to use his stupidity against him, he tricks Brian into getting the operation by claiming that it was an operation to graft him another penis.

At the hospital, Brian is returned to his normal pretentious self, and sarcastically thanks Stewie for taking away his life of restful sleep and much casual sex and returning him to being a pompous alcoholic who can only hang out with a baby. Peter comes in stating that he has gotten the two-penis surgery, but the original one falls off.

Reception

The episode received an audience of 4.12 million, making it the second most watched show on Fox that night after The Simpsons episode "Bart's New Friend".^[2] The Parents Television Council, a long-time critic of Family Guy, named this episode as the "Worst of the Week" saying it promoted not being concerned by "sexism. Or racism. Or anti-Semitism. Or rape and child molestation or violence or hate speech".^[3]

Seth MacFarlane's role in the episode was nominated for the Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards.^[4]

References