Brian: Portrait of a Dog

"Brian: Portrait of a Dog"
Family Guy episode
Brian meets his cell mate after becoming incarcerated.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 7
Written by	Gary Janetti
Directed by	Michael Dante DiMartino
Production no.	1ACX07
Original airdate	May 16, 1999
Guest stars
Dick Van Patten Mary Scheer
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "The Son Also Draws" "Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater"
Family Guy (season 1) List of Family Guy episodes

"Brian: Portrait of a Dog" is the final episode of the season one of Family Guy, originally aired on Fox on May 16, 1999. It guest stars Dick Van Patten as Tom Bradford. The episode's title is a reference to the movie Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Brian swallows his pride when Peter convinces him to join a dog show so they can win money for a new air conditioner. But after an argument over a trick gone bad, Brian realizes he's a second-class citizen and runs away from home, but his fight for his civil rights lands him in the pound on the death row.^[1] It received overwhelmingly positive comments from video game website IGN, who named it one of the "best in the series".

Plot summary

Quahog is in the grip of an unusual heat wave and, not having air conditioning, the Griffins are suffering. Peter learns of an upcoming dog show offering a top prize of $500, which he sees as the perfect way that would enable him to buy an air conditioner. He persuades a reluctant Brian to participate. Brian performs his tricks at the dog show, stops for a quick single puff of a cigarette midway, and almost wins first place for the family. Peter puts a bone biscuit on Brian's nose; Brian finds this demeaning and becomes angry, so he refuses to "perpetuate the stereotype of the 'good dog' ", as well as since Peter said he was feeling embarrassed that Brian wouldn't comply. Brian subsequently exits in a huff.

Peter and Brian performing at the dog show

On the way home, Peter and Brian argue until Brian gets out of the car. The police give Brian a ticket, for which Peter has to pay $10, for violating the local leash law, which only widens the rift between Peter and Brian. Another argument ensues and Peter mentions that he found Brian on the road as a stray dog. Angry that Peter brought that up, Brian leaves the house, whereupon he is treated badly and unfairly by the community, and is ultimately forced to sleep at the bus station. Peter buys a new cat which turns out to be mischievous and abusive; the family get rid of it and search for Brian. By the time Peter decides to apologize to Brian, Brian has been kicked out of a restaurant and a public store and chased by the police when he was found drinking from a water fountain. Brian becomes homeless, having actually attacked a man on the street for treating Brian as a drunken hobo and for not believing that Brian was a good dog. He is subsequently taken away by the police and so waiting for a death sentence via a lethal injection. Peter writes to MacGyver asking him to save his dog, and sends him a drinking straw, a rubber band and a paper clip. Unfortunately, the objects malfunction and poke MacGyver in the eye.

At an office, a social worker announces to Brian and the rest of his family that Brian is sentenced to be put down before anyone could speak up, which shocks the whole family. While Peter works on Brian's appeal, Brian decides to study the laws as much as he can and goes to court to defend his own case, but when he finally gets the chance to plead his case, the court decides that "it is stupid" to listen to a dog. During Brian's parole hearing, he references the court case Plessy v. Ferguson. Just when he is about to be dismissed, Peter steps in and delivers a last-ditch emotional appeal on his behalf; his speech deeply moves his family to confess some of their own personal crimes, including the fact that Chris stole $10 from Meg, who stole that money from Lois, who had counterfeited it in the first place. The people are still not on Brian's side, but Peter promises to give them $20, which convinces them to free Brian. The charges against Brian are finally dropped and the town shows him new respect, allowing him to finally drink out of a water fountain, showing his status to be the same as that of the other citizens of the community. Back at home, when the two are alone, Brian licks Peter's face in an endearing dog gesture, and threatens to kill him if he ever tells anyone about it.^[1][2]

Reception

Ahsan Haque of IGN rated the episode a 9.6/10, praising the random jokes and calling it "yet another finely crafted early episode that tells a great cohesive story, has some great random jokes, and throws in a bucket of social satire for good measure. This was also the final episode of the extremely short but groundbreaking first season, and definitely ranks amongst the best in the series."^[3]

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Brian: Portrait of a Dog

Family Guy portal

• "Brian: Portrait of a Dog" at TV.com
• "Brian: Portrait of a Dog" at the Internet Movie Database