Line #46 Recap/FamilyGuyS9E1AndThenThereWereFewer


1	[[quoteright:653:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_0744.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:653:Some vacations are to die for.]]
3	'''Airdate:''' September 26, 2010
4
5	The Griffins receive an invitation to a secluded mansion for a dinner to be held in their honor; when they arrive, they see several of their friends and fellow Quahog residents, who all received similar invitations.
6
7	->'''Peter:''' Hey, what are you guys doin' here?\
8	'''Joe:''' Well, I got this invitation that said they were having a dinner in my honor. I assume it was for all those arrests I made last month.\
9	'''Peter:''' Eh, that's weird. My invitation said it would be in my honor. I assume it was for being able to fart the alphabet, which I was able to do 'til I pooped on the "s". Ahwell, everybody on the bus was upset long before that anyway.
10
11	Once everyone settles down at the dining room table, Creator/JamesWoods 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, but when they return to the dining room, Stephanie's body has vanished. 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, and everyone realizes that Woods could not have been the killer.
12
13	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' killer, but soon realize that everyone in the group 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.
14
15	->'''Peter:''' All right, let's split up and search the house. I'll go with Lois. Chris, you check the basement with Herbert. Meg, you go with Brian and Stewie.\
16	'''Stewie:''' Uh, no, she...she can't.\
17	'''Brian:''' Yeah, uh, she can't. We...we...we were gonna use this time, uh...to figure out what to get you for your birthday.\
18	'''Peter:''' Ooh, ah, okay. Oh, yeah, no, you guys go. You guys--ooh, now I'm excited. Um, okay, um, Meg, you go with Carl. (Sorry, Carl.) Tom and Diane, you're a team. Quagmire and Bonnie, you're a team. Um...Seamus and Dr. Hartman? That, that could be funny; don't usually see the two of you together. Uh, Derek and Jillian, you guys take the attic. Joe and Priscilla are still passed out, so they'll be the unconscious team. And that leaves one three-person team of Mort, Consuela, and Mayor West. All right. Let's do this.
19
20	The various groups bicker with each other as they search the house, but that ends when Brian and Stewie hear Muriel scream; soon everyone finds Muriel's body, stabbed with the same knife that killed Woods. The group returns to the dining room and notices that Priscilla has gone missing. Jillian's husband Derek tries to help by going to the top of the mansion so he can 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.
21
22	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 the wound pattern. With their paranoia at its peak, the group decides to search 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.
23
24	The next morning, construction crews and police arrive to repair the bridge and arrest Tom. As everyone prepares to head home, Lois tries to comfort Diane and asks what she will do after Tom goes to jail. Diane says she will probably anchor the news solo, then shows off a shirt her mother made in honor of 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''.
25
26	->'''Diane Simmons:''' You shouldn't have stopped to say hi to me. You would've lived longer.\
27	'''Lois:''' God, why do I ever try to be friends with other women? But, Diane, why? How could you do all these horrible things?!
28
29	Diane holds Lois at gunpoint while she explains her motive: She wanted revenge on Tom because he had been pressuring the station to replace her with a younger newscaster after Diane's 40th birthday, and she wanted revenge on James Woods because he had spurned her in the middle of a romantic relationship, also because of her 40th birthday. Diane met Priscilla during the latter's internship at the station; recognizing an opportunity, Diane convinced Priscilla to help turn Woods into a born-again Christian, at which point he would invite everyone to his mansion for a reconciliation dinner. The timed gun that should have killed Woods would have let Diane frame Tom, so when Stephanie sat down in Woods's seat instead, Diane had to improvise. She stabbed Woods to complete that act of revenge, but realized she had left the knife behind, and it still had her fingerprints on it. 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 shows Quagmire taking Stephanie's body back home with him.)
30
31	After Peter fails to recognize Lois's covert pleas for help, Diane takes her 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--though Diane has a gaping bullet wound right through her chest. Diane 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 Stewie, armed with a sniper rifle.
32
33	->'''Stewie:''' If anybody's gonna take that bitch down, it's gonna be me.
34
35	----
36
37	!!"And Then There Were Fewer" includes the following tropes ([[YMMV/FamilyGuyS9E1AndThenThereWereFewer YMMV Goes Here]]):
38
39	* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects: A few examples, most notably the scene where the Griffins arrive at Woods' manor.
40	* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When the male guests apprehend 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 murders. Tom retorts that it means [[TakeThat he doesn't want anyone to see it]], cue everyone bursting into laughter.
41	* AnimationBump: This is the first episode of the series produced in high-definition widescreen; it has several uses of [[TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects CGI]].
42	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking:
43	-->'''Joe:''' I'm saying James Woods isn't the murderer. The murderer is one of us. And someone ate the last goat cheese tartlet.\
44	''[everyone yells angrily]''\
45	'''Peter''': Now I ''hope'' I die next!
46	* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: Stewie kills Diane before she can kill Lois.
47	* BaitAndSwitchGunshot: Diane holds Lois at gunpoint, and is just about to execute her when she is herself sniped by an out-of-sight Stewie.
48	* {{Blackmail}}: Becomes Muriel's motive for killing James Woods. She had been supplying him and his young girlfriend prescription drugs, and he threatened to expose her when she tried to back out.
49	* BludgeonedToDeath: If DeathByRecognition is the way the story kills Derek, this is how he physically dies, as the killer bashes him in the head with [[TrophyViolence a Golden Globe award]]. Falling over a high balcony probably didn't do him any favors, either.
50	* BodyInABreadBox: Priscilla's corpse is found in an airshaft in Tom Tucker's room.
51	* 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, Seamus, Jillian, and others), there are a few examples brought up:
52	** Quagmire brings up how Woods stole Cheryl Tiegs from him.
53	** The incident where Woods ruined Brian's television show is also discussed.
54	** The Griffins allude to how many times Woods has messed with them as a whole, with Brian even growling at him the moment he makes his presence known.
55	** Tom Tucker's dream of being an actor comes up again. He was apparently up for the role of [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]], which references him having played [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael Meyers.]]
56	* CaptainObvious: As the Griffins are trying to escape the mansion after Stephanie is killed, lightning strikes a tree and breaks the stone bridge, leading to this exchange as the Griffins teeter on it:
57	-->'''Lois:''' Oh my God, Peter, back it up!\
58	'''Peter:''' [[SarcasmMode Oh really, Lois? I thought I might drive forward. I thought that-that might be a fun thing to do.]]
59	* CellPhonesAreUseless: When the dinner party turns deadly, the remaining party goers try to call for help, but the isolation of the mansion means a weak signal in good weather, and no signal at all during the raging thunderstorm. However when Derek, Jillian's husband, manages to finally get a (very weak) signal, he tries to call for help, only to be ambushed and killed.
60	* ClosedCircle: Everyone is stranded in the mansion for the night after a storm takes out the bridge.
61	* ContinuityNod: Quagmire points out that Brian has a grudge against Woods for ruining his TV pilot in "Brian Griffin's House of Payne".
62	* DarkerAndEdgier: This episode is heavier on the drama than most other episodes, namely by having the actual murder mystery played completely straight, resulting in several recurring characters being KilledOffForReal.
63	* DeathByRecognition: Story-wise, this is how Derek meets his end.
64	-->"Hey, what are you doing up here? Wait a minute...What the hell is this?! Oh my God...it's YOU! The man or woman who's been killing everybody!"
65	* DisneyVillainDeath: Diane, though the fact she was shot in the chest by a sniper rifle effectively did her in; the fall off a cliff was just to ensure that [[KilledOffForReal she's completely gone.]]
66	* EveryoneIsASuspect: Everyone invited to the manor has been wronged by James Woods in some way. Lois and Mayor West note how ''everyone'' had a motive.
67	* EvilDetectingDog: Brian growls when James Woods show up.
68	* ExtraLongEpisode: This is the first of the three season 9 episodes to be broadcast as an hour-long episode.
69	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
70	** 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. Though she does cover her tracks with the Dan Rather[=/=]Danny Bonaduce story, followed by her immediately accusing Herbert.
71	** Plus, Tom and Diane were at each other's throats more than usual, underlying the fact that Diane hates Tom for replacing her and that Tom simply can't stand Diane and is more than glad she'll be out of his life.
72	** When the gang finds Derek's body and Jillian begins to cry. Diane consoles her. And then we find out it was a ''literal'' apology.
73	* FormulaBreakingEpisode: This is a one-hour, semi-serious murder mystery special with only two cutaways (both of which are relevant to the story).
74	* FrameUp: Diane's plan was to frame Tom Tucker for James's murder, so as to destroy both of the men who ruined her life.
75	* FridgeLogic: InUniverse: Lois catches on to Diane being the killer because Diane packed a fresh shirt prepared for her first solo news broadcast. She only would have done that if she knew for a fact that Tom would no longer be broadcasting with her.
76	* HeKnowsTooMuch: Diane murders Priscilla and Muriel because they both caught her in the act while she was setting up the frame job on Tom. Diane also tries to kill Lois for finding out she was the murderer.
77	* {{Homage}}: The episode does have smatterings of the typical ''Family Guy'' comedy, but it's otherwise a rather faithful pastiche of Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone''.
78	* InTheBack: James Woods and Muriel Goldman are both killed courtesy of a steak knife to their backs.
79	* ILoveTheDead: Lois asks Diane what happened to Stephanie's body, and even Diane is unable to figure that out. An AnswerCut shows Quagmire driving away with Stephanie's corpse in his truck. (shrugs [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4J6oPsNj7U Who else but Quagmire?]])
80	* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: It could be said that karma finally caught up to Tom and Diane for their April Fools joke about the world ending from "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS8E16AprilInQuahog April in Quahog]]", with Tom seemingly going to jail after being framed for murder by Diane and then Diane being shot by [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou Stewie when she tried to kill Lois]].
81	* KarmicDeath: Diane's karma in this episode comes in the form of being killed by Stewie.
82	* KilledOffForReal: The victims in this episode (sans James Woods) were confirmed to be irreversibly dead, and as such, they will never be seen again.
83	* LaserGuidedKarma: Diane is punished for the murders she committed in the James Woods Mansion by being killed by Stewie in a discreet fashion as he fired the bullet at her from the mansion.
84	* LightsOffSomebodyDies: As the guests are confronting James Woods in the dining room, the storm briefly knocks out the power. When the lights come back on again, everyone finds James dead from a knife to the back.
85	* MilestoneBirthdayAngst: Diane Simmons turns 40 and her life falls apart after Tom Tucker plans to replace her and James Woods dumps her, leading to her murder plot.
86	* MoralityChain: Priscilla helps James Woods find his inner goodness by introducing him to Christianity. After his resurrection and Priscilla's death, James Woods goes back to being a jerk.
87	* NoSympathy: Because she was so annoying, Quagmire wasn't exactly upset over Stephanie's death.
88	* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: [[DownplayedTrope Well, some things.]] James Woods's death was reversed later on, but [[KilledOffForReal Muriel Goldman, Derek, and Diane Simmons haven't come back.]]
89	* OhCrap: Lois has this reaction when she realizes Diane was the killer.
90	* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Stewie saves Lois because he insists only he can kill her.
91	* OutOfCharacterAlert: Lois tries to invoke this 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.
92	* PsychoticSmirk: Diane puts one on when Lois figures everything out.
93	* ReformedButRejected: Nobody believes James Woods's claims of being reformed until after he dies. This appears to have been a good call, as when he returns in later episodes, he mostly goes back to being his usual {{Jerkass}} self.
94	* SecretRoom: The guests are searching the dining room where James Woods was murdered for clues. Someone leans on a bookshelf, which opens to reveal a hidden chamber.
95	* SelfServingMemory: When Quagmire points out Brian could have murdered Woods as revenge for him ruining Brian's TV pilot, Brian claims he backed out of the project willingly. Of course, Quagmire (who hates Brian for many reasons) doesn't believe that.
96	* ShoutingFreeForAll: After experiencing a murder, all of the party guests begin accusing and arguing with each other, resulting in all of them shouting over each other. Peter, however, is arguing about something completely off-topic and inconsequential.
97	* ShoutOut:
98	** The opening credits of the family driving to the mansion is done like the opening shot of ''Film/TheShining''.
99	** When wearing armor, Peter attempts to go down the stairs by saying, "[[WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget Go-go gadget skis!]]"
100	** The episode title is a reference to the Creator/AgathaChristie play ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone''.
101	** To pass the time, Brian and Stewie play "Name That Tune" to the themes from ''Series/LostInSpace'', ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'' and ''Series/{{Dynasty\|1981}}''. The scene itself is in reference to the opening of ''Film/TwilightZoneTheMovie''.
102	** Carl references ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}, Film/NoWayOut1987'' and ''Film/TheGreatOutdoors''. In the DVD extended edition, he also references ''Film/HardRain'' and ''Film/DaysOfThunder''.
103	** Also in the DVD extended edition, Dr. Hartman pretends to attack Seamus with a knife while imitating the score from Hitchcock's ''[[Film/{{Psycho}} Psycho]]''.
104	* SkewedPriorities:
105	** For a while, everyone seems more concerned that there aren't any goat cheese tartlets left than they are that there's a murderer amongst them. Peter even says he hopes he dies next.
106	** After Diane explains her plans to Lois, Lois does indeed comprehend what Diane just told her... but it's the fact that [[OlderThanSheLooks Diane is 40]] that Lois gets hung up on first.
107	* SlashedThroat: When Priscilla comes across Diane pulling the knife out of James Woods's back, Diane kills her this way.
108	* SpannerInTheWorks: Diane had a foolproof plan to murder James and frame Tom for it. What she didn't count on was Stephanie coming to the villa with Quagmire and mucking everything up, which forced her to improvise as the night progressed and murder multiple people. In short, Stephanie obliviously and indirectly was responsible for Muriel, Priscilla, and Derek all dying when they didn't have to.
109	* SpecialEditionTitle: The episode opens with the Griffins driving to James Woods' mansion in a reference to ''Film/TheShining'' set to an orchestral version of the main theme.
110	* SuspiciouslyPrescientPlanning: After the police have arrested Tom Tucker for the previous night's murders, Lois decides to stop by Diane's room and comfort her over the whole thing. At some point, Diane shows off a blouse her mother made for her first solo newscast, something she wouldn't have packed in her luggage unless she knew that Tom would no longer be her coworker by the time they all went home. It's then that Lois realizes that Diane Simmons is the real killer and had set everything up to frame Tom.
111	* TakeThat: Diane compares Creator/DannyBonaduce to a midget turning 30. Also, when arresting Tom, Joe punishes him by having Creator/AdrienBrody play him in the movie (their reaction to Tom's response being under ActuallyPrettyFunny above). Also, in the extended version on the DVD, Stewie goes on a whole diatribe against the Golden Globes.
112	* TonightSomeoneDies: Four recurring characters (James Woods, Muriel Goldman, Derek, and Diane Simmons) and two new characters (Priscilla and Stephanie) die during the course of the episode.[[note]] James gets better.[[/note]]
113	* TrophyViolence: When Derek attempts to call for help, the killer steals James Woods's Golden Globe Award and caves in his head.
114	* TheUnreveal: Before Derek is pushed off from the balcony by the killer, he sees the killer...but never refers to their name or even their ''gender'' just to keep the mystery going for the viewers.
115	* UnwittingPawn: 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.
116	* VerbalTic: Consuela calls everyone "Mister" regardless of their gender. Stewie makes an aside to Brian that she does not know what "Mister" means.
117	* VillainousBreakdown: Diane Simmons reveals to Lois, she was the one behind the five murders and started this whole plot to get revenge on Tom Tucker and James Woods in a furious meltdown shouting "There's no way she could have known that I planned to kill James Woods and frame Tom Tucker. Thereby destroying the two people who cast me aside '''and ruined my life!'''" just moments before almost killing off Lois Griffin.
118	* VillainousRescue: Stewie kills Diane before she can kill Lois, though only because [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou he wants to kill Lois himself]].
119	* WhamEpisode:
120	** Diane, a character we've known since the beginning of the series, is revealed to be a deranged murderer. She kills several recurring characters before being killed herself, Tom Tucker is falsely arrested, and Stewie reveals that he still has plans to kill Lois.
121	** ''And Then There Were Fewer'' also acts as a jumping off point for several later episodes that explore the secondary effects of Diane's rampage killing, such as [[Recap/FamilyGuyS9E2ExcellenceInBroadcasting Channel 5 hiring a new anchorwoman]] [[Recap/FamilyGuyS9E9AndImJoyceKinney that has it out for Lois]], [[Recap/FamilyGuyS10E15BurningDownTheBayit Mort's pharmacy going bankrupt because Muriel was no longer around to fleece customers]], [[Recap/FamilyGuyS10E13TomTuckerTheManAndHisDream Tom Tucker's exploration of his Hollywood career, James Woods's resurrection]], and the [[Recap/FamilyGuyS9E14TiegsForTwo newly-widowed Jillian being available for Quagmire to seduce]].
122	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
123	** The younger anchor Tom had hired to replace Diane is never seen again after this episode. Instead, we get Joyce Kinney (unless she was the "young" anchor who was given a redesign later).
124	** Derek and Jillian's unborn child, only mentioned in the extended version, is never brought up again after this episode.
125	* WhoMurderedTheAsshole: As mentioned under EveryoneIsASuspect, James Woods wronged a ''lot'' of people, and everyone who was invited to the manor had a reason to want him dead.
126	* WouldHitAGirl: James Woods once punched Bonnie in the throat because of the way her voice sounds.
127	* WraparoundBackground: When Brian and Stewie are walking down a long corridor (pay attention and you'll notice they pass the same series of paintings more than once).
128	* YouMonster: When Peter accuses James Woods of being the killer, he uses this phrase.

Context Recap / FamilyGuyS9E1AndThenThereWereFewer