Y tu Luna también: American Dad!: Season 9, Episode 2 – “Poltergasm” (2013)

*Episode premise spoilers.*

I can’t remember when I stopped watching American Dad! I feel like it was after this point, because I think I have vague recollections of this episode, though I can’t say for certain. Compared to animated shows like The Simpsons or BoJack Horseman, which have featured their share of very deliberate guest stars, the old Seth MacFarlane shows on Fox feature prominent film actors showing up in surprisingly small or random roles. Diego Luna’s part in this episode isn’t quite a throwaway, but it’s not something I’d have expected to pop up in his filmography.

Not long after breadwinner Stan’s latest round of scheduled sex with his wife Francine, strange and paranormal things start happening around the house. It becomes clear that the family is being haunted by a ghost of sorts: the ghost of Francine’s long-dormant sexual pleasure. If they’re to escape its wrath, Stan is going to have to satisfy his wife for the first time in years.

Even though it’s been years since I’ve watched American Dad!, I fell back into the swing of the show pretty easily. Blustering alpha Stan. Unchallenged housewife Francine. Boundary-pushing daughter Haley. Nerdy son Steve. Kooky alien in the attic Roger and dryly sarcastic East German spy in the body of a fish Klaus (Stan works for the FBI, just go with it.)

There are some amusing bits in this episode, like Stan putting on the national anthem as mood music—“Ah, Frankie Scott Key, he’s like the white Marvin Gaye”—and a training montage for Stan to get “in shape” for foreplay. This is a fun line: “Stan, just because a Jack-in-the-box doesn’t pop out, it doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy you cranking the handle!”

Maybe it’s because, in the years since I used to watch Seth MacFarlane shows, I’ve seen stuff like Sex Education and Big Mouth, but this definitely feels less “edgy” to me than it once would have. It’s actually kind of nice, the idea that Francine going along with a dissatisfying sex life actually manifests a physical presence to voice its frustrations. She’s been prioritizing Stan’s ego over her own needs for so long that her pent-up energy needs an outlet, while Stan is so impressed with his alleged prowess that he hasn’t stopped to pay any attention to what his wife really wants.

Part of the reason this “poltergasm” is manifesting now is due to Haley’s new hook-up buddy, which is where Luna comes in. As his character Mauricio explains to Francine, he and Haley are “benefits,” a.k.a. friends with benefits, but without the friend part. As they conduct their ongoing sex marathon, Francine’s long-ignored desires are reignited.

Mauricio isn’t a complicated character, or a very original one. His basic function is to be hot and have lots of sex, which he does. As per the animation, he’s hunky, tireless, and inventively acrobatic. Luna gets in a few entertaining line readings, such as when Mauricio carries Haley up the stairs to her bedroom, telling her, “Please, save your legs for spasming.” But there’s nothing special here.

Recommend?

In General – A mild maybe. This is a decent episode of an okay show, and it has its moments.

Diego Luna – Not a must. Luna gets the job done, there just isn’t much to it.

Warnings

Sexual content/references, violence, disturbing images, and language.

Joel Fry-days: Difficult Second Coming: Episode 1 – “Grassroots Shit” (2016)

Joel Fry was in a couple episodes of this short web series. First impressions? Kind of amusing but hasn’t pulled me in yet. We’ll see how it goes.

In the 21st century, the Son of God returns as a stressed London millennial. JC wants to ease the suffering in the world, but He has a hard time wrangling His unruly flatmates/possible disciples(?) to give Him a hand.

That’s basically the bit, modern-day Jesus in a world where no one cares. In this episode, JC tries His hand at feeding the hungry and healing the overdosed, but nothing really goes according to plan. The series leans into awkward humor and the irony of, for instance, someone accusing JC of being a pervert when He lays hands on them to heal them.

Dylan Edwards directs, co-writes, and stars as JC. After a brief opening scene at the flat, we mainly see Him with Matthew Aubrey’s Carl, an annoying disciple who hangs onto JC’s coattails without actually doing much to help the less fortunate.

Joel Fry plays Mark, another of JC’s flatmates. Mark is that friend who doesn’t have it together—all party drugs, bad nutrition habits, and underdeveloped adulting skills. When JC is looking for volunteers to help Him pass out food to the homeless, He looks at Mark and just shakes His head, not even bothering to ask him.

Although Fry only appears briefly in the episode, he’s fun in it. He gives us an immediate picture of Mark when he trudges into the kitchen eating toothpaste after staying up all night (because “peppermint settles the stomach, innit?”) I’m not sold on the series yet, but I enjoy Mark.

First impressions:

Accent Watch

London.

Recommend?

In General – Not necessarily. Mildly amusing, but it doesn’t grab me that much.

Joel Fry – Maybe. I’ll report back once I’ve seen more of him in this role!

Warnings

Language (including the R-word,) drug use, and thematic elements. 

Other Doctor Lives: W1A: Series 2, Episode 3 (2015)

*Episode premise spoilers*

It’s interesting—Twenty Twelve paints Ian as a well-meaning but largely ineffectual man trying to steer a massive ship. Faced with some crises, he just kind of dithers. At other times, he’s doing his best but hamstrung by idiots or unable to corral people pulling things in different directions for their own self-serving purposes. On the occasions when he does get a win, it’s often by the skin of his teeth. But on W1A, he’s gradually emerging as both a savvy and considerate leader. While this is partly just in comparison to some of the useless execs he’s surrounded by, it’s not only that.

Anna has been officially named Director of Better, head of the new BBC Better initiative. Pretty much everyone—Anna included—still doesn’t know what that actually means. But Siobhan is going full steam ahead on a lavish launch party anyway. Meanwhile, thanks to Will’s habit of attracting technical glitches, Ian gets a sneak peek at Simon’s planned restructuring of the BBC’s executives.

At this point, everyone is sort of playing chicken with the whole BBC Better thing, or maybe it’s an Emperor’s New Clothes situation. Nobody knows what it is, but nobody wants to admit they don’t know, so they all just kind of pretend to know what they’re talking about. This is trickiest for Anna, who’s supposed to be giving a speech at the launch. Since she’s vaguely aware that Better will have some oversight on the other departments, she resorts to asking other execs to type up “a few thoughts” and send them to her.

Our character of the week is entertainment format producer David Wilkes, played by Rufus Jones. He’s Lucy’s colleague with the trite, half-formed reality show ideas, and a regular dynamic between them is for him to casually compliment her hair/outfit/etc. while she waits to hear what he actually wants from her. She’s been his cleanup batter since the start of the series, taking his mess and making some sense of it, and now he’s failing upward on the strength of the help she’s given him. When it comes to race, Twenty Twelve doesn’t get much more advanced than “these white people don’t know what they’re talking about, but they’re desperate to prove they’re not racist,” but W1A is doing a decent job of quietly showing how Lucy is treated like an underappreciated workhorse at the BBC. She struggles to get her own projects off the ground but is always expected to come in and save other people’s.

Like I said, Ian has been kind of coming into his own on this show. Ever since the series 1 finale, when he figured out the magic formula to make things happen, he’s been doing pretty well for himself. More than once, we’ve seen him finagle his way around the managerial mud pit. Simon has taken to passive-aggressively calling him “Captain Values,” and when Ian gets a look at Simon’s restructuring, he’s able to get the jump on him. Additionally, Ian’s own title as Head of Values is sort of nebulous too, but he does take it seriously. His values are displayed in how he cares about others. Although, like the others, he can get caught up in jockeying for position, those concerns often fall away when someone really needs help. When that happens, he prioritizes just being there for them.

Here are my favorite David Tennant narration lines from this episode:

• Nice euphemism for Will accidentally swapping his schedule with Ian’s on their respective tablets – “In his new official capacity as assistant to the Head of Values, Will is already making a big difference to Ian’s working life.”
• More Syncopatico jokes, whose convenient “you can print from anywhere in the building!” is less convenient when it doesn’t tell you which printer it sent your document to – “Ian is one of the many people in New Broadcasting House who’ve been brought closer together by the BBC’s cutting-edge new Syncopatiprint technology.”
• Classic Twenty Twelve/W1A phrasing – “By 6:00, it’s time for the 6:00 news.”