Hello internet dwellers, it’s your friendly neighborhood content creator here, diving deep into the animated trenches once again. This time, we’re not talking about sunshine and rainbows; we’re plunging into the murky depths of a Family Guy episode that left a particularly bad taste in my mouth – Season 12’s “A Fistful of Meg.”
Now, I’ve been around the block with Family Guy. There was a time, long, long ago, when I’d defend its edgy humor and even some of Seth MacFarlane’s antics. But let’s be honest, like many shows that overstay their welcome, Family Guy has seen better days. For every glimmer of its former comedic brilliance, we’re bombarded with episodes that make you question if the writers are even trying anymore. While I might still appreciate the craftsmanship of the animators and voice actors, the writing… well, that’s another story.
This particular episode, “A Fistful of Meg,” had been lurking on my review radar for a while, primarily due to its notorious reputation. After finally gritting my teeth and watching it, I can confirm the internet whispers are true. This episode isn’t just bad; it’s frustratingly misguided, especially in its treatment of Meg Griffin.
Season 12 itself seems like a contender for the show’s nadir. This is the season that brought us the Brian-killing-and-resurrection saga (“Life of Brian” and “Christmas Guy”), the herpes-spreading debacle (“Herpie the Love Sore”), the aptly named “Brian’s a Bad Father,” and let’s not forget the cringe-inducing “Fresh Heir,” where Peter contemplates marrying his own son. Amidst this collection of questionable choices, “A Fistful of Meg” manages to stand out for all the wrong reasons.
While I’ve heard whispers that “Meg Stinks” might be a redeeming moment in this season, the episodes I’ve personally witnessed have been… rough. And “A Fistful of Meg,” starring the family punching bag herself, Meg, is no exception. I’m not against a good butt monkey character, but there’s a line, and Family Guy often gleefully pole-vaults over it when it comes to Meg. If you think Squidward Tentacles gets it rough in Spongebob, you haven’t witnessed the relentless torment Meg endures.
Unlike Squidward, whose grumpiness at least offers a flimsy justification for some of the abuse, Meg is presented as… normal. Yet, she’s treated like dirt by everyone around her. What might have started as dark humor has devolved into something genuinely unpleasant. While “Seahorse Seashell Party” hinted at the disturbing idea that Meg’s abuse is somehow necessary for the family’s equilibrium, “A Fistful of Meg” takes the Meg-bashing to a whole new level. And believe me, it’s not in a good way.
So, buckle up, folks, because we’re diving into “A Fistful of Meg.” I’m bracing myself for another viewing, all in the name of dissecting just how Family Guy managed to seemingly out-awful even themselves after “Fresh Heir.”
A Fistful of Meg
Written by: Dominic Bianchi and Joe Vaux
(You know you’re in for a ride when the only enjoyable part is the opening theme song.)
The episode kicks off with the obligatory cutaway gag before settling into a scene with Peter and Brian. Peter, in his infinite wisdom, is musing about the gay undertones of “The Three Little Pigs” while casually stripping naked. Charming. Another cutaway later, and we’re abruptly transported to Meg’s school.
She opens her locker to a… baby.
“Mama?” the baby coos.
“What are you doing out of your box?” Meg responds, with a level of deadpan that suggests this is just another Tuesday for her.
… Right.
Another cutaway interjects, and we’re introduced to the new kid at school – a bully of legendary proportions.
“I heard he knifed a kid on the playground, then beat up the knife!” someone whispers ominously.
… Okay, I’ll admit, that line got a chuckle out of me.
After a brief, bizarre encounter with this bully, we’re back at the Griffin household for the subplot. Peter is determined to be naked in front of Brian. That’s it. That’s the entirety of the subplot. Groundbreaking stuff, truly.
(And yes, naturally, another cutaway.)
Back at school, Meg inevitably bumps into the bully, who predictably gets enraged.
“What’s your name?” he snarls.
Chris, bless his oblivious heart, chimes in helpfully: “Meg Griffin!”
Bully, now thoroughly incensed: “I hate you.”
Meg returns home, and after enduring more of Naked Peter’s antics, we jump to the next day. Apparently, the entire school is now invested in Meg getting into a fight with this bully.
“All wagers for Meg Griffin’s slaughter must be on my desk by Thursday,” announces an authority figure. “Also, Zack Morris, if you could stop freezing time to talk to the camera, the day would go a lot faster.”
Okay, the Zack Morris joke landed, but seriously, what is happening? It’s one thing for her family to constantly belittle her, but now the entire school is seemingly against her and actively anticipating her violent demise. It’s not funny; it’s just… excessive cruelty.
After yet another cutaway, Meg, understandably, tells Lois she wants to move.
Lois, in her infinite parental wisdom, responds with: “Just because a Facebook page has over 2,000 likes, doesn’t mean you have to kill yourself.”
Yes, you read that right. There’s a Facebook campaign urging Meg to commit suicide. This is casually dropped in, seemingly referencing a previous episode, “Meg’s Little Yellow Book,” where she was involved in a storyline about… trying to get Chris raped. Lovely continuity. Suddenly, feeling sorry for Meg becomes a moral tightrope walk. Thanks, writers.
This plot point goes nowhere, and after – you guessed it – another cutaway, Meg decides her next brilliant plan is to release a sex tape to get expelled. It garners a grand total of one view. The punchline? “CUZ MEG IS UGLY, GET IT?” Subtlety is clearly not on the menu.
There’s another cutaway (seriously, the cutaways in this episode are relentless – GODDAMMIT STOP IT WITH THE FUCKING CUTAWAYS), and then Meg hires some thugs to beat up Mike the bully. Predictably, it backfires spectacularly. Mike, apparently a seasoned fighter, dispatches them with ease.
… That’s… remarkably dark. And wouldn’t hiring thugs to commit assault be a more expulsion-worthy offense than a nonexistent sex tape? Logic, where art thou?
We then get a cutaway to Meg’s funeral, where she’s conversing with the friends who conveniently materialize whenever the plot demands it.
“We decided maybe it’s best if you don’t talk to us anymore,” one of these plot-device friends declares.
“We could be targeted by association,” another explains.
Of course they ditch her. Can’t let Meg have even a fleeting moment of social connection, can we?
But fear not, Meg might have found an unlikely savior in the form of… Quagmire.
Quagmire, in his… “base of operations,” which is presumably some den of questionable activities, proclaims: “This is my base of operation.”
It’s funny because he’s a caricature of a pervert and, let’s be real, often portrayed as a rapist. Ha. Ha.
He offers to help Meg fight Mike. Quagmire. The epitome of physical prowess and responsible mentorship. Later, he reveals his motivation: as a child, he was bullied by a girl for drinking RC Cola. Don’t ask.
“You know what else RC stands for? Chick rule!” Quagmire exclaims, in a moment of… something.
“She was dyslexic,” he clarifies.
…
“That was the beginning of a long and abusive relationship. To this day I can’t have sex with a woman against her will without thinking of rape.”
… Quagmire’s predatory behavior is now explained as stemming from childhood trauma and an abusive relationship. There’s so much wrong with this. Firstly, it retroactively makes the already uncomfortable “Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q” episode even more awkward. Secondly, they attempt to play abuse for laughs here while seemingly addressing it “seriously” in other episodes. The hypocrisy is palpable.
So, Quagmire, abuse survivor and questionable role model, is going to train Meg. And after – you guessed it again – another cutaway, we return to the Naked Peter subplot. He’s still trying to traumatize Brian with his nudity. It’s still not funny.
Stewie, the voice of reason in this descent into madness, observes: “He won’t stop until he’s stopped.”
Genius-level logic, Stewie.
Stewie suggests Brian retaliate by going nude himself. By which he means… shaving off all his fur. Another cutaway quickly distracts us from that horrifying mental image. Back to the main plot, Quagmire unveils his master plan for Meg.
“Your weird body can be a dangerous weapon if used properly,” Quagmire announces, with an air of… disturbing confidence.
And here we arrive at the part that truly grinds my gears. It’s one thing for Meg to be the family’s punching bag for no discernible reason. It’s one thing for the entire school to want her dead.
But it’s another level of messed up for the episode to actually validate this hatred. They are explicitly stating that Meg IS inherently disgusting. And spoiler alert, her “method” to defeat the bully works precisely because of this supposed grossness. Not only are they subjecting a (mostly) innocent character to relentless abuse, but they are now providing her tormentors with a justification for their cruelty.
I could stomach the standard Meg abuse, but I draw the line at the show confirming that her “awfulness” is an objective truth. It’s cruel, it’s mean-spirited, and most importantly, it’s not funny!
It might seem like a minor point now, but trust me, it escalates to even more uncomfortable territory.
Back at the Griffin house, Peter tries his nude scare tactic again on Brian, only to be confronted with a completely furless Brian. It’s as visually repulsive as you can imagine. Seriously, it’s genuinely hard to look at. The intention might have been humor, but the execution lands squarely in disturbing.
It gets even worse when Chris sees furless Brian and starts tearing at his face, adding some lovely bloody visuals to the already horrific sight. Peter, finally realizing he’s created a monster, agrees to cease his nude escapades. So, that pointless subplot mercifully concludes, but the awfulness train is still chugging along.
Now, it’s time for the climactic fight. It starts predictably, with more Meg abuse. Then…
Quagmire’s voice echoes in Meg’s head: “Remember what I taught you. Use the gross.”
And Meg does. She kisses Mike, projectile vomits green goo at him, and then… takes off her shirt. This triggers an “Arc of the Covenant” effect. Mike’s entire body melts into a grotesque puddle. It’s far more visually disturbing than anything Meg’s body might actually look like.
You know, in theory, I should be cheering. Meg actually stood up to one of her abusers and won. But instead of feeling triumphant, I’m just… nauseated. Because to achieve this “victory,” they had to completely derail her character and inflict visual trauma upon the audience.
… Then, in a final, soul-crushing twist, Meg narrates that she died a year later, and everyone still found her death “gross.” Wow. Just when you thought they might offer a sliver of redemption, they flush it down the toilet. Lovely.
The episode concludes with more furless Brian content as Stewie, in a desperate attempt to make him palatable, dresses him up as… himself.
Chris, in a moment of glorious confusion, enters: “Hi Stewie and… STEWIE?!”
Stewie breaks the fourth wall with a chillingly meta line: “This is next week’s story. Get there!”
Not after enduring this episode. At least it’s finally over.
… Huh, this episode felt shorter than I remembered. At least it wasn’t as agonizingly drawn out as “Fresh Heir” or even “Life of Brian.” Gotta grasp at those straws of positivity, right?
Final Thoughts:
Okay, while “Fresh Heir” might technically be “worse” in some abstract sense, “A Fistful of Meg” genuinely provoked a stronger negative reaction in me. Yes, it’s not as overtly horrifying as some other Family Guy episodes, and it even has a few mildly amusing moments scattered throughout. But my hatred for this episode stems from its fundamental premise and its treatment of Meg.
The B-plot with Naked Peter was utterly pointless, weak, and culminated in some genuinely disturbing visuals. But at least it was just dumb, which is a slight upgrade from the main plot’s utter terribleness. Not only does it traffic in tired jokes about abuse and some of the most brutal Meg-bashing in recent memory, but it makes the profoundly misguided choice to have her “win” precisely because of her supposed inherent grossness.
It would be great to see Meg win for once, but not like this. Not by leaning into the very qualities that are used to demean and abuse her. It’s one thing to turn a perceived weakness into a strength, but this is something else entirely. It almost validates the relentless abuse she endures, suggesting that she deserves it because she’s inherently repulsive. And yes, “Seahorse Seashell Party” flirted with this idea, but at least Meg herself emerged from that mess relatively unscathed.
“A Fistful of Meg,” however, solidifies the idea that Meg’s “grossness” is an objective truth within the Family Guy universe. Other episodes hint at it, but this one hammers it home with unsettling force. And to top it all off, the ending throws in one last dose of cruelty, just in case we dared to think they might let Meg off the hook for once.
It’s not as overtly offensive as “Not All Dogs Go to Heaven.” It’s not as confusingly offensive as “Family Gay.” It’s not as tasteless and uncomfortable as “Screams of Silence,” but by making an already relentlessly abused character’s supposed flaws the very weapon she uses to “win,” this episode solidifies itself as my most hated Family Guy episode to date.
Like I said, there are likely “worse” episodes out there, perhaps even within Season 12 itself. But “A Fistful of Meg” just hit a particular nerve. I’m sure I’ll stumble upon even more egregious examples of Family Guy’s decline in the future, but for now, this one resides firmly at the bottom of my personal barrel.
Before I sign off, I can’t help but recall that Seth MacFarlane himself made a guest appearance in a Phineas and Ferb episode (“Nerds of a Feather”), where his character ironically chastises Dr. Doofenshmirtz for lazy writing.
TALK ABOUT THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK.
Grade: D
Yikes. Suddenly, even the prospect of watching “Fairly Odd Summer” seems appealing in comparison. But whatever, at least it wasn’t “Ren Seeks Help.” And no, I will not be reviewing that one. Don’t even ask.
…. See ya.
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