Family Guy’ s milestone 450th episode upends the Stewie-Lois relationship thanks to a mix-up with some gummies
Sunday is a big night for Fox’s enduring “Animation Domination” primetime lineup. Not only is The Simpsons airing its 800th episode (as detailed in this week’s Editor’s Note on page 5), but Family Guy is marking a similar milestone: this week’s season premiere not only kicks off the show’s 24th season, but will also be the 450th episode to air.
For fans of the show — even casual ones who may only watch occasionally — episode No. 450 is a must-see that takes one of the show’s most enduringly complicated relationships and turns it on its head.
“We’ve had 449 episodes to establish all the intricacies and realities of Lois and Stewie’s relationship, resentments and past experiences that it gives us so much to work with,” Family Guy exec producer Rich Appel told TVLine of the episode.
As viewers may recall, Stewie (voiced by series creator Seth MacFarlane) has made countless attempts to murder Lois (Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Emmy winner Alex Borstein), considering his mother to be his nemesis — until an episode in the sixth season found him running a simulation of how that would actually go down, with the dire unintended consequences leading Stewie to wisely abandon those attempts.
Since then, their mother-son relationship has grown more complex and nuanced, and becomes even more so when the two accidentally get stoned together. Thanks to her altered state, Lois can actually hear what Stewie’s saying for the first time. Being able to communicate, the two are able to understand each other very differently than they had previously — including Stewie finally explaining why a Rhode Island toddler inexplicably has a British accent.
“They talk about the stuff that fans would want them to talk about — the history of their relationship, Stewie’s desire to kill her, his opinion of her, hers of him, their approach to life, and similarities they might have that we couldn’t touch on between two characters who don’t speak to each other,” added Appel. “The third act is basically a character play.”
Those who know the show won’t be surprised to find out that their altered state comes courtesy of family dog Brian (also voiced by MacFarlane) — and that there are consequences for feeding marijuana to a toddler, accidentally or not.
“The episode starts with Brian going to a [dispensary] and bringing home gummies,” explains exec producer Alec Sulkin. “Stewie thinks they’re candy, so he gets into them, and Lois is deemed an unfit parent.” As a result, Stewie is taken out of the Griffin family home and sent to live with the Swansons in temporary foster care.
According to Sulkin, this ranks as “one of my favourite episodes,” revealing that “the audience went crazy for it” when the cast assembled for a live table read of the episode at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Creating an episode focusing on the two characters, Sulkin added, has been a long time coming. “That’s the other thing that’s fun about being both in season 24 and on an animated show that has the luxury of having a cast of 50 characters we know,” he explained. “There’s always these interesting pairings that you hadn’t thought of before, to see how they play out.”
Speaking with ComicBook.com, Borstein hinted that viewers will experience a story with more emotional impact than a typical episode of Family Guy. “There was actual acting. We did a live reading of that, and it was very touching. It was really interesting,” she said.
Family Guy airs Sundays on CIty & Fox