In which this yearly custom becomes a tedious tradition…
When American Dad! first started doing its Christmas episodes, it was born of the same ideas of the overall ethos of the show: “making fun of American Conservatism while also being weird” eventually that evolved into “just be weird” and we got some great episodes from it.
But as American Dad! evolved further the writers decided to have this runner where Santa became the Smiths (im)mortal enemy. Getting shot and buried in the woods will probably do that but there is such a concept as diminishing returns. And if we didn’t hit that point already, well I think this episode confirms it.
Stan is the man when it comes to Christmas and he is excited as always to go to the office Christmas party. The rest of the Smiths are less enthused about it given that it’s at a dive bar. Stan thinks it’s great until he overhears Jackson talking about Bullock’s party. Stan is determined to get into the party. He takes Klaus along but they aren’t on the list and despite pleading to Bullock aren’t getting in.
Stan eventually convinces this random woman to make him her plus one when her husband apparently abandons her. Stan is excited because the party is amazing (Shrimp cocktail and Wide Receiver Stefon Diggs among the highlights). However, his “date” won’t let him out of her sight and it’s soon revealed why. In the episode’s only genuinely interesting turn, it turns out that the woman is Mrs. Claus and Santa is there as the lead singer of the band.
Santa sees Mrs. Claus in the arms of Stan and of course he flips out. He decides to chase Stan down and the only way Stan can escape is in Santa’s sleigh with Mrs. Claus. She flies them to the North Pole and Santa eventually crashes with the Smiths. He doesn’t try to kill them but does eventually come to realize he’s been a bad husband. Stan eventually escapes Mrs. Claus but despite Santa’s previous understanding still tries to kill Stan. So we reset the status quo and we get to do this again (hopefully not. you used to be better than this AD!)
Stray Observations
- No B-Plot and Roger only comes in at the end of the episode.
- “Zooka Sharks!” “Does that guy live around here?”
- Not much else to say on this but if you want to talk about better AD! episodes check out Raven Wilder’s list of top 10 American Dad! Christmas episodes Here. This episode does not crack my top ten.
Final Thoughts. I can’t say this is the worst AD! Christmas ever but it’s easily the bottom two. I found the Grounch off-putting but Nasty Christmas was simply boring