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American Dad! Season 21, Episode 5 “Under (And Over, and Beside) the Boardwalk”

In which the Smiths are excited about the Boardwalk

More like boredwalk am I right? Tonight’s episode was pretty slow in terms of the A-plot but the various subplots tried to keep this one afloat. We’ve got five subplots on top of the main plot, keeping the entire family engaged on the boardwalk without ever diving into any one plot too deeply. (These expressions are not based on this being a boardwalk episode)

The Smiths are excited that the Langley Boardwalk is open once again (or for the first time for us viewers). Everyone decides what they want to do with Stan playing skeeball, Roger and Klaus trying to get a table at Skimboardos, the fanciest restaurant on the boardwalk, Jeff getting a job making taffy and Steve ending up watching a kid after he needs to tie his shoe. Meanwhile, Francine wants to just have some fun on the boardwalk but declares that Hayley will cramp her style. Hayley tries to have fun but something nags at her about the odd things around the boardwalk.

She discovers that when building the boardwalk, the engineers hit a fault line which is going to cause a tsunami which will wipe out the boardwalk. Hayley is going to tell Francine but then thinks about how she does not want ruin Francine’s fun. She tries to help out the Baywatch-esque lifeguards but it become a disaster when they all end up dying. In the end, Hayley tells Francine and they rush to save the boardwalk. They take Jeff and his taffy which he is now stuck in and stretch it along the boardwalk, saving the boardwalk and redirecting it to France. Until France redirects it back to Langley

Stray Observations

  • The kid in the arcade wasn’t alive for 9/11 is which is funny in a meta way given the original premise of American Dad! and the fact that it has been around so long
  • Tuttle makes an appearance and was going to go for a hike before the birds went all Hitchcock on him.
  • Like Stan I also don’t know what skee balls are made of.

Final Thoughts

To be honest, boredwalk was a pretty apt description to me. It wasn’t terrible but nothing of a standout moment or something unexpected.