A Fish out of Water

"A Fish out of Water"
Family Guy episode
Peter after nearly two weeks jobless.
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 10
Written by	Alex Borstein and Mike Henry
Directed by	Bert Ring
Production no.	3ACX05
Original airdate	September 19, 2001
Guest stars
Michael Chiklis Ralph Garman Brian Doyle-Murray Alfonso Ribeiro as Himself Lisa Wilhoit
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "Mr. Saturday Knight" "Emission Impossible"
Family Guy (season 3) List of Family Guy episodes

"A Fish out of Water" is an episode of Family Guy that first aired September 19, 2001. It guest stars Michael Chiklis, Ralph Garman, Brian Doyle-Murray as Salty, and Lisa Wilhoit. This episode is rated TV-PG L. It was the first episode to air after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Plot summary

Jobless, unmotivated, and depressed, Peter becomes very obese. Inspired by a "walk" on the docks on which he is confused with Mercury by Tom Tucker when his son Jake asks him what's "that", he resolves to lose the weight and become a fisherman. Afterwards, he loses the weight without explanation (the same thing happens in the Season 2 episode He's Too Sexy for His Fat, where Stewie becomes thin without any explanation). Joe takes Peter to a police seized-property auction, where Peter buys a boat for $50,000; he names the boat "S.S. More Powerful Than Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and the Incredible Hulk Put Together."

To pay for the vessel, Peter takes out a loan with his house as collateral. The bank is so certain that Peter will default on the loan that they sell the house to another family and repossess his furniture before the payment deadline arrives. Peter must now raise $50,000 before the imminent deadline arrives or his house and furniture will be permanently taken away from him. Peter's new fishing career does not prove very successful. Fellow fisherman tricks him with a "good fishing spot." The coordinates given to Peter (42 degrees North, 71 degrees West - in reality this is the location of Milebrook Road in Bridgewater, Massachusetts). Peter ends up crushing a clown at a child's bar mitzvah. Thus, the other fisherman mistreat Peter.

Rejecting Quagmire's idea of prostituting himself to fat women for quick cash, Peter decides to catch the legendary killer fish Daggermouth for a $50,000 reward. Shamus, the fisherman with two wooden legs, and two wooden arms, warns Peter about the fish. Peter decides to forge on anyway.

Meanwhile, Lois and Meg go on spring break, but Lois fits in better with the party crowd than Meg does. In a moment of exuberance, Meg flashes her breasts, but both she and Lois are quickly arrested. They escape from the police car and are returning home when a car full of spring breakers from school pull alongside them, honking and yelling. They are not cheering for Lois, as it first appears, but for Meg. Meg obliges them by flashing again (with one boy saying, in reference to Meg's nipples, “One is an innie; one is an outie”).

Quagmire, Cleveland, and Joe accompany him on his quest. They spend time on the boat, drinking beer and talking. When Peter, Cleveland, Joe, and Quagmire are talking about which woman they would have if they were not married, Joe chooses Mariel Hemingway, Cleveland chooses Margaret Thatcher, because he finds power sexy, Peter chooses "the chick from Total Recall with the three knockers", and Quagmire chooses Taylor Hanson, but freaks out when Peter and Joe reveal that Hanson is a male.

Peter and his friends manage to track the fish to his lair, where they discover Daggermouth is a robotic fish created to generate a demand for merchandise. In exchange for his silence, Salty (who was voiced by Brian Doyle-Murray, the voice of Captain K'nuckles from The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack) gives Peter $50,000, which he promptly uses to pay off the loan, buy back his furniture, and get the other family out of his house. The episode ends with Peter saying, "Good night, Lois. Good night, Jim and Abby", members of the other family.

Cultural references

When Peter saved Cleveland, Joe, and Quagmire from getting raped is a reference from Pulp Fiction when Bruce Willis saves Ving Rhames from being killed in the middle of being raped.

References

• S. Callaghan, “Fish Out of Water.” Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide Seasons 1–3. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 152–155.

External links

• A Fish out of Water on Family Guy Wiki, an external wiki