History Recap / FamilyGuyS9E1AndThenThereWereFewer

** Diane is the first to make an accusation against someone--specifically Tom--while everyone else ponders who had a big enough motive to want revenge on James Woods. Considering that her goal is to frame Tom for her murder of James Woods, it makes sense for her to immediately cast all suspicion on him at the first possible opportunity.

* HypocriticalHeartwarming[=/=]TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Stewie saves Lois because he insists only he can kill her.

* UnwittingPawn[=/=]YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Priscilla was unaware of her status as a pawn in Diane's plan until just before Diane killed her. Diane notes that Lois also proved useful when she turned on Tom when she did.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When the male guests apprehend [[spoiler:Tom]] on suspicion for murdering James Woods, the former defiantly punches Joe in the face, causing him to quip that he's going to make sure that Creator/AdrienBrody plays him in the movie that's going to be based on the murder. [[spoiler:Tom]] retorts that it means [[TakeThat he doesn't want anyone to see it]], cue everyone bursting into laughter.

* TheBadGuyWins: While she does die, Diane succeeds in getting Tom arrested. Averted, however, when he is out of jail by the next episode.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: After Diane explains her plans to Lois, Lois's response is this:
-->'''Lois:''' Oh my God... you're ''forty''?

* DarkerAndEdgier: This episode is heavier on the drama than most other episodes and several recurring characters are KilledOffForReal.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Diane.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Diane is the first to make an accusation against someone--specifically Tom--while everyone else ponders who had a big enough motive to want revenge on James Woods. [[spoiler:Considering that her goal is to frame Tom for her murder of James Woods, it makes sense for her to immediately cast all suspicion on him at the first possible opportunity.]]
** When the gang finds Derek's body and Jillian begins to cry. Diane consoles her. [[spoiler: And then we find out it was a ''literal'' apology.]]

* {{Homage}}: Or rather a parody of Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone''.

* KilledOffForReal: The victims in this episode were confirmed to be irreversibly dead, and as such, they will never be seen again. [[spoiler:James Woods was resurrected in a later episode via Hollywood health care.]]
* MoralityChain: Priscilla helps James Woods find his inner goodness by introducing him to Christianity. [[spoiler: After his resurrection and Priscilla's death, James Woods goes back to being a jerk.]]

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Subverted. As Diane holds Lois at gunpoint, Lois tries to tell Peter that she is in trouble by calling him "Pete", which she never does. As Peter thinks about it, he decides that he would rather get into the car and play music. (Which he does.)
* OutOfCharacterAlert: As said above, Lois invokes this to try to get Peter to realize she's in danger, saying "Don't put a gun in my back" and calling him "Pete". Peter just ends up confused and leaves.

* ReformedButRejected: Nobody believes James Woods's claims of being reformed until after he dies. [[spoiler:When he returns in later episodes, he mostly goes back to being his usual jerkass self.]]
* [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]: Diane murders Priscilla and Muriel because it's clear they wouldn't keep quiet about the truth behind all this. Diane also tries to kill Lois for finding out she was the murderer.

* AnimationBump: This is the first episode produced in high-definition widescreen; it has several uses of [[ThreeDEffectsTwoDCartoon CGI]].

* ThreeDEffectsTwoDCartoon: Diane's SlasherSmile and Lois's [[OhCrap reaction]] briefly (and noticeably) swap out the hand-drawn characters for crude CGI puppets to making animating them in slow-mo easier.

* ExtraLongEpisode: This is the first of the three season 9 episodes to be broadcast as an hour-long episode.

* AnimationBump: This is the first episode produced in high-definition widescreen; it has several uses of ConspicuousCG.

* ConspicuousCG: This is averted for the most part, but Diane's SlasherSmile and Lois's [[OhCrap reaction]] briefly (and noticeably) swap out the hand-drawn characters for crude CGI puppets to making animating them in slow-mo easier.

* HeKnowsTooMuch: Diane murders Priscilla because it's clear she wouldn't keep quiet about the truth behind all this.

* [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]: Diane tries to kill Lois for finding out she was the murderer.

* RealityEnsues: Herbert requests to Chris that if the former dies, the latter must burn his house down so that no one will ever know his secret. Regardless of being PlayedForLaughs, Herbert ''is'' a pedophile and knows full well that being such is a crime.

* DarkerAndEdgier

* WhamEpisode

* UnwittingPawn[=/=]YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Priscilla was unaware of her status as a pawn in Diane's plan until just before Diane killed her.

Once everyone settles down at the dining room table, James Woods reveals himself as the host. Everyone thinks he has the worst intentions, but Woods claims to have become a born-again Christian thanks to his new girlfriend, Priscilla; as such, he wants to make amends with everyone he hurt. Woods and Priscilla leave the room to check on dinner, after which Quagmire's embarrassing girlfriend Stephanie gets shot in the chest and dies. Everyone tries to escape the mansion by driving over a stone bridge, but a bolt of lightning strikes a tree, which falls over and destroys the bridge. Fears that James Woods might kill one of them next makes the entire group paranoid, so when Woods and Priscilla return to the dining room, everyone accuses him of killing Stephanie. As Woods proclaims his innocence, the lights go out--and when they come back on, Woods lies dead on the floor, a knife in his back. Priscilla faints, Stephanie's body disappears, and everyone realizes that Woods could not have been the killer.

** Quagmire brings up how Woods stoke Cheryl Tiegs from him.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Diana is the first to make an accusation against someone--specifically Tom--while everyone else ponders who had a big enough motive to want revenge on James Woods. [[spoiler:Considering that her goal is to frame Tom for her murder of James Woods, it makes sense for her to immediately cast all suspicion on him at the first possible opportunity.]]

* YouMonster: When Peter accues James Woods of being the killer, he uses this phrase.

* CallBack: Of course, considering that a main plot point is that James Woods is trying to atone for what he’s done to much of the main cast in the past. While some of the cast isn’t explicitly shown to have been wronged by him (like Carl, Priscilla, Jillian, and others), there are a few examples brought up:

The Griffins receive an invitation to a secluded mansion for a dinner held in their honor; when they arrive, they see several of their friends and fellow Quahog residents, who all received the same invitation. Once everyone settles down at the dining room table, James Woods reveals himself as their host. Everyone thinks he has the worst intentions, but Woods claims to have become a born-again Christian thanks to his new girlfriend, Priscilla, and wants to make amends with everyone he hurt.

When Woods and Priscilla leave the room to check on dinner, Quagmire's embarrassing girlfriend Stephanie gets shot in the chest and dies. Everyone tries to escape the mansion by driving over a stone bridge, but lightning strikes a tree, which falls onto the bridge and destroys it. Fears that James Woods might kill one of them next makes the entire group paranoid, and when Woods and Priscilla return to the dining room, everyone accuses him of killing Stephanie. Woods proclaims his innocence, then the lights go out; when they come back on, Woods lies on the floor, stabbed to death. Priscilla faints, Stephanie's body disappears, and everyone realizes that Woods couldn't have been the killer.

During a search of the dining room, Joe discovers the gun that killed Stephanie -- it was timed to go off when Woods was in his chair, so Stephanie's death was a case of wrong place, wrong time. The group starts searching for Woods's killer, but soon realize that ''everyone'' has a motive for killing him. Mort's wife Muriel becomes the prime suspect when the group finds out how Woods blackmailed her into giving him prescription drugs. After Peter puts on a suit of armor and accidentally knocks out Joe, everyone splits into groups. While Brian and Stewie search, they hear Muriel scream, and soon everyone finds Muriel's body, stabbed with the same knife that killed Woods. The group returns to the dining room and notices that the fainted Priscilla has gone missing. Jillian's husband Derek tries to help by going to the top of the mansion to get a cellphone signal and call the police, but the murderer (whose identity remains a secret) kills him with a blow to the head that sends him falling to the ground below.

Everyone goes outside to examine Derek's body, and once they go back inside, Consuela points out that one of James Woods's Golden Globe awards has been stolen. Dr. Hartman identifies it as the object used to kill Derek based on his wound pattern. With their paranoia at its peak, the remaining group searches everyone's rooms together so no one can split from the group and commit another murder. As the group searches Tom's room for any clues, Meg finds a blood-covered Golden Globe under his bed. Tom defends himself by saying that Priscilla planted it there, but Joe discovers Priscilla's dead body in the air duct in Tom's room. After a brief chase, the gang captures Tom and holds him until the police can arrive.

The next morning, construction crews and police have arrived to repair the bridge and arrest Tom. As everyone prepares to head home, Lois tries to comfort Diane and asks what she'll do now that Tom will go to jail. Diane mentions she'll probably anchor the news solo, then shows off a shirt her mother made for her first solo newscast. Lois wonders why Diane would have a shirt for the occasion before she even knew she'd do the news solo...at which point Lois puts two and two together: ''Diane is the killer''.

Diane holds Lois at gunpoint while she explains that she wanted revenge on Tom (because he'd been pressuring the station to replace her with a younger newscaster after Diane's 40th birthday) and James Woods (who spurned Diane in the middle of a romantic relationship, also because of her 40th birthday). Diane met Priscilla during the latter's internship at the station and used her as a pawn in the revenge plan -- she got Priscilla to help reform Woods, who would then invite everyone to the mansion for a reconciliation dinner. The timed gun that should've killed Woods would have let Diane frame Tom, but when Stephanie sat down in Woods's seat instead, Diane had to improvise. Diane stabbed Woods to complete that act of revenge, but realized she couldn't leave the knife there because of her fingerprints. She killed Muriel and Priscilla when they saw Diane fixing her mistakes, then killed Derek to stop him from contacting the police before she could frame Tom. (When Lois asks what happened to Stephanie's body, Diane remarks that she doesn't know; a cutaway then shows Quagmire taking Stephanie's body back home with him.)

Diane takes Lois out behind the mansion and prepares to kill her, all while Lois begs for her life. Lois cringes when she hears a gunshot, then opens her eyes to see that she has no wounds -- and that Diane has a gaping bullet wound right through her chest. She stumbles towards Lois, then falls off the high cliff to the rough ocean below. Grateful for having her life saved, Lois thanks the unknown assailant...who turns out to be a sniper-rifle-carrying Stewie ("If anyone's taking that bitch down, it's gonna be me").

!!"And Then There Were Fewer" contains examples of ([[YMMV/FamilyGuyS9E1AndThenThereWereFewer YMMV Goes Here]]):

* AnimationBump: This is the first episode produced in high-definition widescreen -- with amazing use of ConspicuousCG.
* TheBadGuyWins: While she does get killed, Diane succeeds in getting Tom arrested. Averted in that he's out of jail by the next episode.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: Stewie kills Diane at the end before she can kill Lois.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: After Diane explains her plans to Lois.

* ConspicuousCG: Averted for the most part, but Diane's SlasherSmile and Lois's [[OhCrap reaction]] briefly (and noticeably) swap out the hand-drawn characters for crude CGI puppets to making animating them in slow-mo easier.
* ContinuityNod: Quagmire points out that Brian has a grudge on Woods for ruining his TV pilot in "Brian Griffin's House of Payne".

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Diana is the first to make an accusation against someone, Tom specifically, when everyone is pondering who had a big enough motive to want revenge on James Woods. [[spoiler: Considering that her goal is to frame Tom for her murder of James Woods, it makes sense for her to immediately try and cast all suspicion on Tom on the first opportunity she gets.]]
* FridgeLogic: InUniverse: Lois catches on to Diane being the killer because Diane packed a fresh shirt prepared for her first solo news broadcast. The only reason she'd have done that was if she knew for a fact that Tom wouldn't be broadcasting with her.

* HypocriticalHeartwarming: Stewie saving Lois because he insists only he can kill her.
* KilledOffForReal: The victims in this episode have been confirmed to be dead and will never be seen again. [[spoiler:With the exception of James Woods.]]

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou:
-->'''Stewie:''' If anyone's taking that bitch down, it's gonna be me.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Subverted. As Diane holds Lois at gunpoint, she tries to tell Peter she's in trouble by calling him "Pete", which she never does. As Peter thinks it, he decides he'd rather get into the car and play music. (Which he does.)
* PsychoticSmirk: Diane puts one on when she's revealed to be the killer.
* ReformedButRejected: Nobody believes James Woods's claims of being reformed until he gets murdered. [[spoiler:When he returns in later episodes, he mostly goes back to being his usual jerkass self.]]
* [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]: Diane almost kills Lois for finding out she was the murderer.
* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: This is a one-hour, semi-serious murder mystery special with only two cutaways (which are both relevant to the story).

* UnwittingPawn[=/=]YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Priscilla wasn't even aware of her status as a pawn in Diane's plan until Diane killed her.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The younger anchor that Tom has hired to replace Diane is never seen again after this episode. Instead, we get Joyce Kinney.
* YouMonster: Peter calls James Woods this when he accuses him of being the killer.

* PlotHole: It's never explained why Quagmire took Stephanie's dead body, especially since he clearly hated her.

* Foreshadowing: Diana is the first to make an accusation against someone, Tom specifically, when everyone is pondering who had a big enough motive to want revenge on James Woods. [[spoiler: Considering that her goal is to frame Tom for her murder of James Woods, it makes sense for her to immediately try and cast all suspicion on Tom on the first opportunity she gets.]]