Many will argue that "Family Guy" has never been the same since its revival in 2005. Others will say that it has gone downhill recently. If you ask me, seasons 6 and 7 had signs that show could've possibly been losing its steam. Season 8 pretty much sealed the deal for me, especially this episode. Without Cleveland, Peter, Joe and Quagmire don't have a fourth friend. They find this cool guy named Jerome, and he's immediately part of the group. Peter and Jerome become great friends, but then Peter finds out that Jerome used to date Lois. This is where Peter makes a complete moron of himself. He nearly kills Jerome by burning his house, but this goes awry and Jerome ends up living with Peter. In this episode, Peter is a complete idiot and he's mean-spirited throughout to Jerome. He even goes as far as coming off as a KKK member, getting Jerome to leave. When Lois gets on him for it, Peter than realizes how much of a jerk he was.
The episode's subplot is good, and it saves the episode from being a complete and total misfire. Brian offers to be part of Peter's group after Cleveland's departure, but Peter tells Brian that Quagmire hates him. (Comes out of nowhere, really) Brian does his best to be friends with Quagmire, but he ultimately screws things up by mistaking Quagmire's abused sister for a date.
Brian sends him a fake letter from Quagmire's long-lost love Cheryl Teigs to go out to dinner. Quagmire finds out that he has to spend the night with Brian, and he reluctantly does so. Brian earnestly wants to know why Quagmire hates him, and Quagmire tells him. He rants about Brian being a total sponge, a pretentious diluted person who thinks he's a great author, being a horrible companion to Peter and the fact that's he's arrogant liberal and an atheist.
Most see that scene as an apology to the conservative viewers of the show, since the show has become one-sided in its political humor lately. However, why choose Quagmire to put Brian in his place? He's a bigger idiot than Brian. It's this episode that establishes Quagmire's hatred of Brian. (Brian gets back at him in "Quagmire's Dad") Quagmire does have some valid points (Brian does have a "I'm right, you're wrong" mentality that is beyond annoying, and he is very self-indulgent about his novel), the rest seem to be malicious attacks.
Overall, a mediocre episode saved by a decent subplot. Between Peter's mean-spirited behavior towards Jerome and the unfunny jokes, "Jerome is the New Black" is one of the worst "Family Guy" episodes I've ever seen. The jokes mostly misfire as well.
The episode's subplot is good, and it saves the episode from being a complete and total misfire. Brian offers to be part of Peter's group after Cleveland's departure, but Peter tells Brian that Quagmire hates him. (Comes out of nowhere, really) Brian does his best to be friends with Quagmire, but he ultimately screws things up by mistaking Quagmire's abused sister for a date.
Brian sends him a fake letter from Quagmire's long-lost love Cheryl Teigs to go out to dinner. Quagmire finds out that he has to spend the night with Brian, and he reluctantly does so. Brian earnestly wants to know why Quagmire hates him, and Quagmire tells him. He rants about Brian being a total sponge, a pretentious diluted person who thinks he's a great author, being a horrible companion to Peter and the fact that's he's arrogant liberal and an atheist.
Most see that scene as an apology to the conservative viewers of the show, since the show has become one-sided in its political humor lately. However, why choose Quagmire to put Brian in his place? He's a bigger idiot than Brian. It's this episode that establishes Quagmire's hatred of Brian. (Brian gets back at him in "Quagmire's Dad") Quagmire does have some valid points (Brian does have a "I'm right, you're wrong" mentality that is beyond annoying, and he is very self-indulgent about his novel), the rest seem to be malicious attacks.
Overall, a mediocre episode saved by a decent subplot. Between Peter's mean-spirited behavior towards Jerome and the unfunny jokes, "Jerome is the New Black" is one of the worst "Family Guy" episodes I've ever seen. The jokes mostly misfire as well.
