American Dadrevolves around the Smith family, including CIA agent Stan Smith, his wife Francine, their kids Hayley and Smith, the alien Roger and his ever-growing array of alter-egos, and Klaus, a German Olympic skier who had his brain placed in a goldfish.
However, not every episode has been a hit with fans. Some have sparked controversy for the way the characters have acted or for excessive gross-out humor. At times, it’s one certain scene that ultimately irks fans. Sometimes, fans get annoyed over continuity issues. There are a few times when fans get upset over what didn’t happen, feeling that stories or characters weren’t used to their full potential. Of course, even the most controversial story can have its saving graces, too.
10"Kloger"
“Kloger” exploresan unexpected pairingwithin the Smith household. Roger, feeling that everyone else around him has found their special something, explores a relationship with the lovelorn Klaus. Viewers are treated to a montage of the two in various acts of passion, all set to Kylie Minogue’s “Love at First Sight.” When the two get caught, Roger decides he wants a more serious relationship, but this drives Klaus to break things off. In an attempt to rekindle the flame, and make the relationship sordid again, Roger arranges for Klaus to become his legal guardian, but the scheme ends up getting the two getting arrested.
Eventually, some time in solitary confinement helps Roger cope with being on his own. Meanwhile, a subplot has Steve trying to get out of a school fitness test. Luckily for him, Hayley has contracted an increasingly widespread cases of pink eye.
9"Family Plan"
“Family Plan” sees Francine, who was abandoned by her rich parents as a baby, finally reunite with her birth family at a reunion. Unfortunately, Francine’s father, Nicholas, becomes so upset that the family is using their own Wi-Fi, and not the home network, that he forces them to fight to the death to get the family fortune, including his long-lost daughter. Meanwhile, Roger has been secretly living as Nicholas' increasingly inappropriate pet cat.
In addition to the violence, some viewers felt Francine’s behavior was out-of-character, since “Big Trouble in Little Langley” had her refuse to meet with her biological family out of respectfor her adoptive family. The plot also ignored how Stan already met them. This also meant Stan sacrificing his pony, a gift from Francine’s biological parents, was in vain. Some also disliked how Francine’s biological mother unceremoniously died offscreen before the reunion, denying Francine a proper confrontation.
8"Blood Crieth Unto Heaven"
“Blood Crieth Unto Heaven” is a more experimental episode, revolving around the charactersstaging a play, hosted by Patrick Stewart as himself. In the in-universe story, it’s Stan’s birthday, but he refuses to celebrate it. While piecing together why, Stan starts to believe his mother had an affair with a birthday party clown, driving away his father. It soon comes to light that the clown at Stan’s party was his father, and that he was actually arrested for crimes he committed in the same costume. Meanwhile, Roger raises Hayley and Bullock’s daughter in secret, only to end up killing the child.
While the story isn’t canon, a lot of viewers still disliked the idea that Stan was indirectly responsible for his parents' breakup and his father’s arrest, with some comparing it to victim-blaming. Other fans also felt the episode relied too much on “theatrical” humor instead of more conventional jokes. Similarly, the subject matter was seen as too dark.
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7"Hot Water"
“Hot Water,” serving as a parody ofLittle Shop of Horrors, complete with musical numbers, sees Stan purchase a hot tub. Unfortunately, the hot tub is sentient and evil, bitter that his previous owners abandoned him when they had a family. The hot tub has become possessive of Stan, and isn’t above a little murder to get what he wants. Eventually, the hot tub imprisons Francine and fatally wounds Stan.
At the last second, Stan remembers how to defeat the hot tub, only for him to succumb to his wounds and die, presumably dooming Francine, as well. Cee Lo Green, who voices the evil jacuzzi, ends the story, saying, “Welp, there you have it, that’s our story. Stan’s dead. Goodnight.” The episode was originally intended to be the series finale, with Stan’s death ending the show once and for all. However, the series ended up being renewed regardless, allowing for more adventures for the Smith family. Despite this, Stan’s death was retained.
6"American Fung"
“American Fung” is one of the more experimental episodes, starting with the titular Fung Wah, a Chinese tycoon, announcing his takeover of the series. After Stan forgets his anniversary, he has Francine place him in a psychiatric hospital to buy some time. Stan’s plan backfires horribly, ultimately ending in him and Francine being lobotomized. Meanwhile, the rest of the family goes on an adventure with an animated Fung Wah.
Towards the end of the story, Fung Wah abruptly assures viewers that Stan and Francine were rescued offscreen, before revealing he has sold the series again. Now known as American Chinese Dad!, the Smiths are seen working at a rice paddy, where the subplot of Stan forgetting his anniversary starts up again. After a visit from a purple “Mickey Mouse,” the family breaks into Snoopy dances to Sammi Cheung’s “Mei Fei Se Wu.”
5"Stan’s Best Friend"
“Stan’s Best Friend” sees Francine get Steve a dog. While Stan is initially against it, he soon warms up to the puppy. Unfortunately, when the dog gets injured by pirate cats, Stan will stop at nothing to keep him alive. It soon comes to light that Stan previously had a dog as a child, only for his mother to trick him into putting it down, despite being perfectly healthy.
Some viewers found the story too gruesome, especially the ending, which sees Stan blow up the dog with dynamite. Some fans also thought the plot was ridiculous, since the family had already owned at least two dogs in earlier episodes. This is actually acknowledged in the episode, though Stan claims the previous times were just dreams.
4"Camp Campawanda"
“Camp Campawanda” sees Steve and Snot spend the summer at the titular camp. However, tension strikes when Snot is given a counselor-in-training job, which he takes to avoid having to pay tuition. Resenting Snot, Steve tries to start up a panty raid, but he is ultimately thrown out of camp after Snot alerts the other counselors. Eventually, he gets involved in a plot by the locals in town to attack the camp.
The episode’s B-plot is what proved controversial for fans. Hayley and Jeff plan to go to Burning Man for their anniversary, but prove unable to get tickets. Roger decides to throw his own version for them as a surprise. However, everyone suspects Roger is using the event as a front to harvest everyone’s organs. It eventually comes to light that Roger was actually selling his own organs to pay for the event. After hisgood deed nearly kills him, Roger’s organs fortunately return to him through his anus, all to a parody of “Let’s All Go to the Lobby.”
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3"Da Flippity Flop"
“Da Flippity Flop” sees Klaus, who has spent the series trapped in the body of a goldfish, learns that his human body has been found and is being kept frozen by the CIA. Unfortunately, by the time Klaus gets to it, his body has already started to rot. Blaming Stan for not taking him to the CIA sooner, Klaus gets revenge by forcibly switching bodies with him. Francine has no sympathy for her husband, agreeing that Stan owes Klaus. However, Klaus subjects Stan’s body to one humiliating act after another, until he eventually performs a deadly ski trick.
In order to stop him, Stan has to enter Klaus' rotting body, effectively becoming a real-life zombie, which actually allows him to experience what skiing meant for Klaus. For some audiences, the second act of Stan as a festering corpse was too dark, relying too muchon gross-out humor.
2"Rubberneckers"
“Rubberneckers” has Stan getting into trouble with Francine after staring at a bartender. His CIA friends tell him about “rubbernecking,” allowing him to eye women without detection. This backfires when Stan gets into a car accident while taking a photo of a jogger. Stan schemes to keep what happened a secret from Francine while an insurance adjuster is investigating what really happened.
When the case goes to trial, Stan eventually confesses to rubbernecking, earning everyone’s disgust. However, Stan convinces Francine to show up in a red dress, to make the point that everyone rubbernecks. Eventually, everyone breaks outinto a musical number, praising the virtues of looking and being looked at. During the song, Steve even admits that he would find Francine attractive if she wasn’t his mother. That said, Stan still gets six years for insurance fraud.
1"Tapped Out"
“Tapped Out” reveals that Francine has secretly been feeding Steve her own breast milk over the years, which she collects in a secret room. After getting the lead role in an adaptation ofOedipus Rex, Steve is convinced that the breast milk helps him stay focused. Klaus soon realizes that Francine has actually been messing with Steve’s drinks to keep up this delusion. During the play, Francine ends up breastfeeding Steve on stage.
Eventually, Francine attempts to wean Steve using bee venom, which puts him in a coma. Meanwhile, the rest of the family finds ways to experiment with their looks. Stan has his neck stretched out, so he can wear turtlenecks. Jeff gets a chimpanzee’s face after a transplant, which eventually ends up falling off. While the episode had a lot of shock humor, the subplot of Klaus working as a security guard for the Smith house proved popular with fans.
