"A Fistful of Meg" is the fourth episode of the twelfth season and the 214th overall episode of the

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

comedy series Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first United States television ...

'' Family Guy''. It aired on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

in the United States and Canada on November 10, 2013, and is written by

Dominic Bianchi Dominic E. Bianchi (born February 22, 1979) is an American animation director and storyboard artist. Bianchi is known for directing multiple episodes of the animated series '' Family Guy'', most notably the show's celebrated 150th episode, " Bria ...

and Joe Vaux and directed by Joe Vaux. In the episode, Meg tries to get out of a fight with a tough bully while

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

retaliates against

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

for posing naked. The episode was made to reference 1987

teen Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

Three O'Clock High ''Three O'Clock High'' is a 1987 American teen comedy film directed by Phil Joanou. The script, about a meek high schooler who is forced into a fight with a volatile new transfer student, is based on the high school experiences of screenwriters R ...

''.

Plot

At school, Meg hears about a new student named Mike Pulaski from her friends, mentioning that he is an unstable bully, which Meg gets to see firsthand when he turns Neil Goldman into a

balloon animal Balloon modelling or balloon twisting is the shaping of special modelling balloons into almost any given shape, often a balloon animal. People who create balloon animals and other twisted balloon decoration sculptures are called Twisters, Ballo ...

and pops him. While in the cafeteria with her friends, Meg accidentally spills her lunch on Mike, leading him to threaten her with a showdown later. Meg unsuccessfully tries to get out of the fight first by asking Lois to transfer her to another school. The school in mind is too expensive. The next day at school, Principal Shepherd announces on the PA that he is accepting bets on who will win the showdown. For her second attempt to get out of the fight, Meg intentionally releases a

sex tape Amateur pornography is a category of pornography that features models, actors or non-professionals performing without pay, or actors for whom this material is not their only paid modeling work. Reality pornography is made porn that seeks to e ...

in an attempt to get expelled from school. It is only watched by Stewie. Finally, Meg pays four of the toughest jocks in school to beat up Mike for $1,000. Mike grievously beats them all and writes "You're next, Meg!" on a hallway wall in their blood. Meg goes crying to the bathroom where her friends decide to abandon her for their own safety. While crying, Quagmire calls her into one of the stalls that serve as his "base of operations" and admits to Meg that he had been bullied by a girl named Tracey Bellings as a teenager over preferring

RC Cola RC Cola (short for Royal Crown Cola) is an American brand of cola invented by Claud A. Hatcher in 1905. Royal Crown Ginger Ale was the first product of the RC Cola line, and it referred to the original ingredient: ginger. More ingredients w ...

during the

cola wars The cola wars are the long-time rivalry between cola producers The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo, who have engaged in mutually-targeted marketing campaigns for the direct competition between each company's product lines, especially their flag ...

. She then forced him into a long and sexually abusive relationship. His reasons for helping Meg is because he never stood up to his bully, and doesn't want Meg to go through the same thing. After extensive training with Quagmire, Meg faces Mike at school on Friday. Initially getting beaten up where some of the punches to Meg's face causes it to switch between her normal face (which is considered the ugly one) and the beautiful face, Meg decides to kiss Mike grossing him out. Meg then further grosses him out by popping a

pimple A pimple is a kind of comedo that results from excess sebum and dead skin cells getting trapped in the pores of the skin. In its aggravated state, it may evolve into a pustule or papules. Pimples can be treated by acne medications, antibioti ...

onto him before finally lifting up her shirt in front of Mike, while everyone else looks away. Mike, however, does not look away, and is gruesomely melted, similar to what happened to Major Toht in '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. Although Quagmire tells Meg that she will be alive to tell the story for a "long time," Meg reveals in a narration that she dies a year later from septic shock due to her body reacting to a frozen hot dog. Meanwhile,

casually starts taking his clothes off in front of

while talking to him about the ''

Three Little Pigs "The Three Little Pigs" is a fable about three pigs who build three houses of different materials. A Big Bad Wolf blows down the first two pigs' houses which made of straw and sticks respectively, but is unable to destroy the third pig's house ...

'' as he sometimes prefers sleeping nude. Brian is disgusted by it, although Peter points out that Brian himself is typically nude, and claims that everyone undresses in front of their dogs. After another encounter with Brian in the bathroom nude after he has just finished showering, Peter realizes that Brian doesn't like to see him nude and starts harassing him in the nude including using Lois in a

bait-and-switch Bait-and-switch is a form of fraud used in retail sales but also employed in other contexts. First, customers are "baited" by merchants' advertising products or services at a low price, but when customers visit the store, they discover that the a ...

tactic and even cutting off his own penis and mailing it to Brian in a package (though Peter collapsed from blood loss). At Stewie's suggestion, Brian decides to shave all of his fur off to give Peter a taste of his own medicine. After falling into Brian's trap, Peter is shocked at seeing Brian hairless, wrinkled, and with six nipples. Brian is very affectionate to Peter, scaring him even when he asks why Brian has six nipples. Too scared by what he has seen, Peter agrees to wear clothes at all times in front of Brian, having learnt his lesson the hard way. Although Stewie's idea worked, Brian's fur won't grow back for three months. In the meantime, Stewie allows him to wear a pair of his own clothes in the interim to keep warm.

Reception

Eric Thurm of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' gave the episode a D, criticizing the running theme of the show making fun of Meg as "distasteful," specifically taking issue with the episode's jokes as unfunny beyond a typical ''Family Guy'' offensiveness. Thurm commented positively on the side story between Brian and Peter, but opined that the latter was ultimately overshadowed by the jokes at Meg's expense. On November 15, 2013, five days after the episode's airdate, the

Parents Television Council The Parents Television and Media Council (PTMC), formerly the Parents Television Council (PTC), is an American media advocacy group founded by conservative Christian activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995, which advocates for what it considers ...

filed an indecency complaint to the FCC, alleging that the episode jokes about child molestation, exploitation, rape, the sexualized use of food and the perverse 'internal defrosting' of frozen hot dogs, and the overall theme of the episode about a boy bullying and beating up a girl, violated the FCC's indecency guidelines. The episode received a 2.0 rating and was watched by a total of 4.18 million people, this made it the second most watched show on Animation Domination that night beating '' American Dad!'' and ''

Bob's Burgers ''Bob's Burgers'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard that premiered on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox on January 9, 2011. The show centers on the Belcher family—parents Bob Belcher, Bob and Linda Belcher, Linda and t ...

'' but losing to ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'' with 4.20 million.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fistful Of Meg Family Guy (season 12) episodes 2013 American television episodes Television episodes about bullying