The Big Picture: Dog, Gone

[Evonisia]

I'm going to miss Brian. I stopped watching the show years ago but I did enjoy him. Yeah it does seem a little odd to kill him off when they're about to do a crossover and get new characters, and to replace him with that... thing (when we know alternative dogs don't really survive).

I don't like how people are saying "they should have killed Meg". All bias aside Meg had more potential than Brian, simply because her screen time was lower than Brian's to a massive extent.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I'm not at all invested in Family Guy so I don't really care one way or the other. Although I did like Brian.

 

[immortalfrieza]

Who cares?

Not to be over cynical about a show that made cynicism its motto, but I don't think, for a moment, this stunt is going to stick. This is as permanent as when DC tried to kill Batman, and Marvel did the same with Captain America. Remember that episode that ended with Stewie "finally" killing Lois? How permanent was that? In a couple episodes, it will all be revealed to be a dream, Ryan will be resurrected with pseudoscience (or even magic, since the show is not above that), his ghost will became a regular character or the new dog will be replaced with someone that is pretty much just exactly like Ryan.

I give it 3 episodes. If in the next 3 episodes Ryan does not reappear within the main cast in one way or another I will consider myself corrected. in any case, I won't particularly care about that since I don't watch the show regularly to begin with...

Pretty much this. I don't buy for a second that this is permanent, and I'd be surprised if there's anyone in the world who does. The only way this would REALLY happen is if the producers were deliberately trying to off the show, they wouldn't kill off one of the most popular characters on the show otherwise.

 

[Groxnax]

Wow, so Brian died? That sucks, I liked him.

And he got hit by his own car? I wonder how that happened?

But we shouldn't worry about that, Seth will probably get enough pleas, complaints and death threats that he will initiate a Deus Ex Machina and resurrect Brian.

Just look at Kenny from South Park, Superman and other comic book characters.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

My genuine reaction to this whole thing:

 

[-Dragmire-]

In terms of the individual episode, this ranks up near the top in terms of being able to effectively relay one of the most difficult concepts in television: death.

Spoiler: Just in case you haven't seen it

The episode starts out normal (albeit in medias res), if a tad racially offensive. We see Stewie's rational for destroying the time machine, which is totally reasonable in light of the numerous time traveling they've done. Brian says, bluntly foreshadowing, "it's the end of an era."

When Brian and Stewie find the hockey goal after junking every component part of the time machine, it looks like the standard story plot device similar to the steroids in Stew-roids and tanning in The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Nothing out of the ordinary at this point other than a generally par episode for the series.

Then Brian is hit by the car.


It's quick. The entire sequence between the car appearing and him laying still on the ground is 8 seconds. And it's not a clean hit. He's ran over by the car and severely mangled up close and is left bleeding in the street. The car, a silver Mercedes with a blank European plate (possibly repurposed from Leggo my Meggo), is never seen again and no driver is seen.

At this point, a part of us is still snikering on the inside they were outside for some much needed exercise and were hit because of it. Brushes with death are quite common with the characters (particularly Brian), as every character except Chris has ended up near-death at some point. The squirrel kick provides some relief to the audience that "everything is going to be fine. It's just going to be another close call." Then it cuts to commercial, similar to prior "tragic" events int he series. In reality, they are signals to misdirect the audiences feelings about how serious this is.

Brian's death is front and center, with no censorship of his mangled body on the table. The entire sequence (minus commercial) is less than two minutes. The death is emotional and humorless, but most of the audience is of the idea that it is still temporary. After all, Stewie can easily rebuild a time machine.

Except he can't, as he discovers with the audience that a key component is no longer available and can't be synthesized. This is when it really starts to set in that this is a real death.

The new character appears at first to be a signal that this is temporary. He's one note and overly stereotypical with his thick New York accent. But he appears to be more substantial as he comforts Stewie. Whether or not he's a permanent fixture in the household remains to be seen, but a new character takes time to develop effectively and compared to the other dogs they've brought in, he's far more likely to meld into the show than most characters.

There's really two kinds of death in television. Long, strung out deaths due to illness or deathwishing (i.e. being in organized crime or the target of a terrorist organization) are extremely common. Far rarer are the sudden deaths that come without explanation, and this episode effectively used the show's existing framework to manipulate expectations and make it built to transmit the sudden "oh fuck, he's dead" that will make this a key moment in the series. Fox was even smart enough to not release anything about the episode to broadcast the key nature of this sudden change.

Well, Death

can still potentially fix it. Timeline alteration and death mulligans are in his repertoire.

... I didn't see the ep, was Death around?

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

Well, Death

can still potentially fix it. Timeline alteration and death mulligans are in his repertoire.

... I didn't see the ep, was Death around?

He was absent. I don't think the writers plan on having Brian come back.

At this point whether there is going to be a abrupt change of mind will be dependent on the integrity of the current creative team. Fox has opted to pull and refuse to air episodes in the past, but it was almost entirely based on externalities related to subject matter (abortion, antisemitism, and terrorism being the reasons). And while death is not exactly permanent in the Family Guy universe, not many characters that have died between the three shows have come back to life.

 

[Something Amyss]

Vinnie died on the way back to his home planet.

I think he was sick. His voice changed in his last seconds on earth.

Anyway, I have serious trouble caring if Brian stays dead or not. Bob provides and interesting theory, but it's mostly academic to me.

 

[-Dragmire-]

Well, Death

can still potentially fix it. Timeline alteration and death mulligans are in his repertoire.

... I didn't see the ep, was Death around?

He was absent. I don't think the writers plan on having Brian come back.

At this point whether there is going to be a abrupt change of mind will be dependent on the integrity of the current creative team. Fox has opted to pull and refuse to air episodes in the past, but it was almost entirely based on externalities related to subject matter (abortion, antisemitism, and terrorism being the reasons). And while death is not exactly permanent in the Family Guy universe, not many characters that have died between the three shows have come back to life.

I'm rather curious how the writers decided go about doing this. I buy the seasons mainly for the commentary however the last few seasons have had very few episodes that included commentary. Also, the people with the most overall production knowledge/ability to keep the dialogue flowing without large stretches of silence have been notably absent. It's sad but I'll probably stop buying them if they drop the commentary, especially in times like this where there is a chance to hear some unique insight about the writing decisions.

 

[Baresark]

I don't think it's over for Brian. I mean, the Brian/Stewie episodes are the absolute best episodes in recent memory. I think one of my favorite was the one where they go back in time and Brian changes things and they eventually end up with a bunch of screwed up Brian and Stewie in a huge group... I almost died laughing.

 

[Flunk]

Seeing as Brian and Stewie are the only characters on that show I actually like anymore (everyone else is horrible) I thought this episode was really cheaply put together. The whole thing seems so contrived and silly.

Because of this I'm fairly certain they're going to do an episode arc that concludes with Stewie building/repairing a time machine and making sure this never happens. It seems like that's what they're foreshadowing, but who knows, maybe the writers are just a bunch of idiots. At this point I wish Family Guy had been canned instead of The Cleveland Show, that show had likable characters.

 

[Redd the Sock]

I've pretty much given up on Family Guy, only coming back for the Stewie / Brian episodes, and anything pushing the depravity barrier, but had to watch when a few sections of the internet went nuts before the show hit my time zone.

I won't deny it's a shock. Episodic television is known for stability. Barring weddings or birth, you usually don't fiddle with things. Actors could be replaced or recast, or just left to go where chuck cunningham went, but beyond that, lessons learned got forgotten, dating relationships weren't long term, and other elements contribute to the "same time next week" feel that "Poochies" are created to try and break up.

STill, this being Family Guy, it's hard to think it's lasting. It just a question of how In show plot devices like Death or the alternate reality machine are a possibility. Or there's a list of TV show rip offs they could pull: dream sequence, Brian possesses someone's body, just showing up and "aren't you dead" "you must be mistaken", evil twin gets mentally reprogrammed, having Brian show up with a different look and voice like they changed the actor, I could go on.

 

[daxterx2005]

He'll be back. Anyone who thinks this is permanent is crazy.

 

[Brockyman]

What I really hope happens is that Stewie fixes the Time Machine and goes and gets the Brian from the first 2 seasons. That Brian's dry wit and straight man gimmick was a major factor in those being the 'better seasons'. The more recent Brian is whiny, irresponsible, argumentative and unlikable in any episode other then time traveling with Stewie.

Bring Back 2000s Brian!

 

[immortalfrieza]

What I really hope happens is that Stewie fixes the Time Machine and goes and gets the Brian from the first 2 seasons. That Brian's dry wit and straight man gimmick was a major factor in those being the 'better seasons'. The more recent Brian is whiny, irresponsible, argumentative and unlikable in any episode other then time traveling with Stewie.

Bring Back 2000s Brian!

And while Stewie is at it, go back and get the evil genius Stewie that was actually funny and enjoyable to watch and then kill the Stewie that's nothing more than a walking gay joke, in other words himself.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

Haven't watched Family Guy since I lost my TV Connection (which is about a couple of years ago) but it's still kind of surprising news to hear. Strange how Brian was able to get shot, beaten to near-death and torched with a flamethrower, but in the end it's a car that does him in! Guess that's cartoon logic for you...

 

[Gilhelmi]

Let him stay dead. I like Brian, but the joke is just too stale (as is Family Guy, ba-zing).

So, apologies to Brian supporters, but let him stay dead.

 

[Psychobabble]

Haven't watched the show in years. Like Brian sometimes things just need to die. When your writers are so bored they resort to antics like this it's really time to pull the plug.

 

[TechTim]

Well, Death

can still potentially fix it. Timeline alteration and death mulligans are in his repertoire.

... I didn't see the ep, was Death around?

He was absent. I don't think the writers plan on having Brian come back.

At this point whether there is going to be a abrupt change of mind will be dependent on the integrity of the current creative team. Fox has opted to pull and refuse to air episodes in the past, but it was almost entirely based on externalities related to subject matter (abortion, antisemitism, and terrorism being the reasons). And while death is not exactly permanent in the Family Guy universe, not many characters that have died between the three shows have come back to life.

I'm rather curious how the writers decided go about doing this. I buy the seasons mainly for the commentary however the last few seasons have had very few episodes that included commentary. Also, the people with the most overall production knowledge/ability to keep the dialogue flowing without large stretches of silence have been notably absent. It's sad but I'll probably stop buying them if they drop the commentary, especially in times like this where there is a chance to hear some unique insight about the writing decisions.

or maybe they could say he's always been a clone and stewie has to get a "new" one for every week.

 

[Jeroenr]

It may be just a coincidence, but the Simpson announced weeks ago that they were going to "kill off" a prominent character.
so this this seems a little like an attempt to beat them to the punch.

I wouldn't put it past them at least.
If i'm wrong about this, Good job keeping this under the radar.