Line #23 Recap/FamilyGuyS2E18EPeterbusUnum


1	'''Original air date:''' 7/12/2000
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3	'''Production code:''' 2ACX-13
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5	A trip to city hall reveals that Peter's house is not on the Quahog map, so Peter (who has had it with the government not giving him a tax refund and telling him he can't build a pool around his house) decides to declare his house his own country -- which causes an international crisis when he invades Joe's backyard pool.
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8	!!"E. Peterbus Unum" contains examples of:
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10	* AllNaturalFireExtinguisher: During "Can't Touch Me", Peter sings about how he can light a fire and then pee it out, which he does.
11	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Excused by RuleOfFunny: many of the dictators who attend Peter's pool party (e.g. Mao Zedong, Idi Amin, Manuel Noriega, and Slobodan Milošević) were already dead or removed from power by the time the episode aired. Noriega and Milošević were both in prison at that point, and (presumably) would have found it difficult to make it to a pool party.
12	* BigNo: Joe's reaction to his cable going out during one of his Steven Seagal movies.
13	* BluntNo: The end of the episode "E. Peterbus Unum" has Peter negotiate to end the existence of Petoria, his own country that resulted from a surveying error that said the house wasn't on American soil, and being formally annexed into the U.S. After returning Joe's pool, which he annexed as way to expand his national border, Peter tries to secure rights to use it on weekends to which Joe says "no." When he tries to secure the rights of his house as an independent nation, Mayor West tells him "absolutely not." When Peter tries to get the "cheap little pen" used to sign the treaty, West says "no." Disappointed that he's not getting anything, Lois tries to console Peter by promising to scratch his back with a matchbook every night, and when he asks her to call him "Big Rudy" while she does, [[OverlyLongGag Lois answers "no."]]
14	* BuxomBeautyStandard: Creator/SusanSarandon in her out-of-nowhere appearance.
15	-->'''Susan Sarandon:''' For less than the ticket price of one of my movies about capital punishment or neo-feminism, you can make sure that Stewie never goes hungry again.\
16	'''Stewie:''' Yes, and from the look of those sweater cows, so could you.
17	* ComicallySmallBribe: Peter attempts to get something from the U.S. while negotiating his surrender in an effort to save face, but Mayor West rejects each of his increasingly small demands, until he dejectedly asks for a single ordinary office pen; Adam West then describes at length how little the pen is worth, and ''still refuses.''
18	* DiplomaticImpunity: "Just like the bad guy in ''Film/LethalWeapon2''/I've got diplomatic immunity, so [[Music/MCHammer Hammer]] you can't sue."
19	* DirtyCommunists: Mayor West's immediate reaction to discovering the Griffin household was not on the town zoning map (and therefore not part of the United States) was to accuse Peter of being one of these.
20	* DistantFinale: The episode turns out to be a video shown to a class 200 years in the future, where one of the students [[AudienceSurrogate asks if anyone understands Stewie]] (which was a common fan question. According to commentary, people do understand what Stewie says, but, because he's a toddler, they don't take him seriously).
21	* DudeNotFunny: The opening scene:
22	-->'''Peter:''' Okay, here's another riddle. A woman has two children. A homicidal murderer tells her she can only keep one. Which one does she let him kill?
23	-->'''Brian:''' That's...that's not a riddle. That's...that's just terrible.
24	-->'''Peter:''' Wrong! The ugly one.
25	* EarlyBirdCameo: When Lois tells Peter that a swimming pool is one of those things the family doesn't really need, we get a flashback of the last time Peter brought home something the family didn't need: another talking dog, who looked and sounded like a CampGay Brian. That dog would later be Brian's cousin, Jasper (re-introduced as such in the season three episode "Brian Does Hollywood").
26	* {{Egopolis}}: Petoria.
27	-->'''Peter:''' I was gonna call it "Peterland", but that gay bar down by the airport already took it.
28	* EveryoneHasStandards: This episode establishes Adam West as a complete whackjob, but even he thinks Peter becoming his own country is a bad idea.
29	* FictionalFlag: Peter's flag is a white banner with the words "PETORIA" along with a crude drawing of his face.
30	* ForeignerForADay: The town zoning map revealed that the Griffin's land was not even a part of the US. Thus was born the tiny, four-bedroom republic of Petoria (It would have been Peterland, but that was already the name of a gay club by the airport).
31	* HotForTeacher: Or in this case, his own mother (Chris for Lois, given the situation).
32	* HotTeacher: Lois is this, according to Chris.
33	* IncestSubtext: While homeschooled, Chris tries passing a note to the other student Meg which reads "I think Mrs. Griffin's hot". He gets sent to his room for it.
34	* IGotARock:
35	-->'''Cleveland''': No, I just got a big tax refund. Uncle Sam sent me $500.\
36	'''Joe''': I got $600.\
37	'''Quagmire''': I got $850!\
38	'''Charlie Brown''': I got a rock.
39	* ImprovisedDiaper: Stewie has to use newspapers for diapers.
40	* InsultBackfire: After the repairman says zoning laws prohibit him from installing a swimming pool, Peter mocks him for having eyes too close to his nose.
41	-->'''Repairman''': Well, that may be, but you know what? I only have to wear one goggle when I go swimming in ''my'' pool.
42	* KarmaHoudini: Played with and subverted. Peter believes because he's technically the president of his own country he can't be tried in America, it works until he decided to take over Joe's pool.
43	* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Even after being barricaded in his own house and having his electricity, heat, and power cut off, Peter refuses to give in and return Joe's pool. However, he ''does'' give in when a tank is about to blast him at point-blank range.
44	-->'''Peter''': [''to Brian''] Can I tie you to a stick and use you as a WhiteFlag?
45	* LandOfOneCity: More like Land of One House. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] and TruthInTelevision if it was inspired by the micronation of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Molossia Molossia]].
46	* LetMeAtHim: A livid Woodsy Owl has to be held back when Peter defiantly litters in his music number.
47	* MyEyesAreUpHere: With the power cut off, the family has to wear miner hats. While talking over the situation, Peter keeps glancing at Lois's chest, which she eventually notices ("Peter, I'm up here"). Peter eventually leaves the room, but a beam of light from off-screen suddenly hits her chest.
48	-->'''Lois''': Peter, stop starin' at my chest!\
49	'''Brian''': Oh, uh, sorry, Lois.
50	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: UsefulNotes/BillClinton is given the details of Petoria while sitting in a chair in the buff. Neither he nor his advisors comment on it.
51	* OverlyLongGag: Mayor West enjoying taffy.
52	* PrisonRape: Quagmire mentions that Peter might go to jail for taking his beer mug outside, and not the good jail you see on Cinemax, the "man" jail.
53	* SadisticChoice: What opens the episode:
54	--> '''Peter''': OK, OK. Here's another riddle. A woman has two children. A homicidal maniac tells her she can only keep one. Which one does she let him kill?\
55	'''Brian''': That's... that's not a riddle, that's... that's just terrible.\
56	'''Peter''': Wrong! The ugly one!
57	* ShoutOut
58	** The episode title is a play on the original American motto, "E. Pluribus Unum." [[note]]It is a Latin phrase roughly meaning, "The one from the many."[[/note]]
59	** [[Film/AsGoodAsItGets "You're why cavemen painted on walls"]]
60	** Lois' "first lady" outfit is based on that of Jackie Kennedy. Lois also compares herself to [[UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton Hillary Clinton]], except "without the penis."
61	** Slobodan Milošević brings coleslaw that he jokingly says "[[Film/SoylentGreen is made out of people]]."
62	** In Peter's pool party, UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein and UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi talk about the Series/{{Seinfeld}} episode "[[Recap/SeinfeldS4E20TheJuniorMint The Junior Mint]]".
63	* SpontaneousHumanCombustion: When Brian says that he's been with Peter through worse, there's a cutaway to them on a Ferris wheel where Peter is on fire with no explanation.
64	* StealingTheHandicappedSpot: One of the many actions Peter brags about being able to do with [[DiplomaticImpunity impunity]], as a result of his diplomatic immunity. When Joe tries to object, Peter chains his wheelchair to the back of a truck and has it tow him away.
65	* TrapDoorFail: When Mayor West realizes that Peter's house technically isn't part of the US territory, he [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext calls him a communist]] and activates a trapdoor under him. Unfortunately, Peter's too fat to fall all the way through (West hadn't considered that he'd be dealing with a "portly malcontent"), and West resorts to pushing him the rest of the way through with his foot.
66	* VillainCred: Played for laughs. Peter's only allies after annexing Joe's pool are the world's pariahs. Later, he has a pool party with them.
67	* YouAndWhatArmy: When Chris tells Peter that someone's blocking the fence, Peter asks "Him and what army?". Chris replies "The ''U.S.'' Army".
68	-->'''Peter:''' [[OhCrap Oh, that's a good army.]]

Context Recap / FamilyGuyS2E18EPeterbusUnum