American Dad! Season 15 Episode 5
The Mural of the Story
Grade: D

A largely laugh-free American Dad! split its time between Roger’s Whiplash clown parody and Stan’s raging narcissism in an inexplicable low. Nothing was really working tonight, with plenty of set up and exposition, but very little pay off.

I’m struggling, in fact, to even damn with faint praise. The clown stuff… was ok. Roger coming back as Pennywise and his drain monologue brought a smile to my face.

But then there was Stan’s mural obsession, which was as arbitrary and callous and ultimately meaningless as anything he did in the first season before he was really developed as a character. Performing surgery on Hayley’s face like that is the kind of thing I’d expect from Family Guy on an off night, and the episode’s tone never recovered from it. Nor did Stan experience any real comeuppance for his actions.

Random Observations
• “No. No I did not.”
• ‘Australia Disappears into Sea’
• ‘President Eaten Alive by Jackals’