The Series Finale of F is for Family. It's Christmas once again, and Frank is trying to save his Christmas bonus by hiring a daredevil for a publicity stunt for Alahican. The stunt show becomes a focal point for both Frank's and Rosie's story arcs. Frank also finds out the meaning behind "Box 16." Neither of these things go the way Frank expected, much to his disappointment, and Frank finds himself faced with the choice of letting go of his past and moving on with his life.
Tropes:
- Actor Allusion: With a bit of Self-Deprecation thrown in. After Bill tells a couple of funny jokes that make his family laugh, Frank tells him, in the final spoken line in the entire series, "Don't slack on your studies, Bill. Can't make a living making people laugh!"
- Armor-Piercing Response: This exchange with Dick Sawitzki is what drives home to Frank that he is in danger of destroying his own family the way his father destroyed the family growing up.Frank: How fucking hard is it to not be an asshole to your own kid?
Dick: Well you're here drinking on Christmas, so you tell me. - Bittersweet Ending: On the positive side, Kevin reconciles with Alice, Rosie has managed to stop his district from being demolished, Mayor Tangenti has been indicted, Lou Gagliardi is dead, Sue patches things up with Louis and has opened her own parenting class, and Frank finally starts moving on from his past and doing his best to be a better father and husband. On a more bittersweet note, Frank come to terms with the death of his father, though he's still understandably sour about the relationship and that they'll never be able to fully reconcile. As for Bob Pogo, he will have to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, although he seems to be okay with this. And on the down side, Frank has been demoted to a position that pays half as much as his previous position, Louis and Stan’s relationship goes back to the stage of estrangement, and Ginny has abandoned her two sons with Greg.
- Blatant Lies: Jim Jeffords claims that his pregnancy fetish was a lie concocted by the mayor to ruin his reputation to prevent the reporter from revealing the mayor's corruption and partnership with the local mob.Rosie: So you ain't freaky for late bitches?
Jim: (while rubbing Bob Pogo's fat belly) Pure fiction. - Book Ends: The series ends the way it began: with the Murphys sitting down to a dinner of pigs in blankets when the phone rings, while the family waits for Frank to explode in anger. This time, Frank chooses to hang the phone up and take it off the hook so that the family can have a nice Christmas dinner together with no interruptions.
- The Cameo: Several characters who have been Out of Focus for some time make brief appearances.
- The opening sequence ends with a quick exchange between Ben and Kenny, who were significant characters in the first season but had much less screen time after season 2.
- Vivian, who disappeared from the show after Sue's baby shower, has a one-liner at the stunt show.
- "Haircut Girl" also appears briefly but doesn't speak.
- Continuity Nod: Daniel still has a broken jaw from Kevin punching him.(through gritted teeth) "I have to drink hamburgers through a straw now!"
- Dying Alone: Among the montage of characters shown watching Buster Thunder make his big jump, we see Julie's cats watching the TV while eating her corpse.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Rosie successfully exposes Mayor Tangenti, resulting in his resignation and indictment on multiple felony charges. As a result, the tollway that would have resulted in the destruction of Rosie's neighborhood is canceled and Rosie's neighborhood is saved.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: After chatting with Dick Sawitzki at the bar, Frank realizes that his refusal to move past his childhood trauma is causing him to repeat what his father did to Sue and the kids. Thus, he decides to do better to stop history from repeating.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Louis Gagliardi's attempt to skim money by cutting corners on the construction of a scaffolding at the stunt show results in his death.
- Mayor Tangenti is also involved in the collapse of the scaffolding while he is trying to murder Rosie for attempting to expose his Mafia ties. He is shown on TV, badly injured while announcing his resignation as mayor after being indicted for corruption and attempted murder.
- Never My Fault: Sue calls Frank out for having this attitude throughout most of the run of the series, blaming his work and his father for his woes.
- Not So Above It All: Dr. Goldman stops being a psychiatrist for a moment after he sees the set up for the big jump."Oh, no way he's gonna make that."
- He shows another instance after catching Kevin and Alice in bed."Never come near my daughter again, you gentile piece of shit!"
- He shows another instance after catching Kevin and Alice in bed.
- Parents Walk In at the Worst Time: Kevin and Alice reconcile. Dr. Goldman walks in on Kevin and Alice again. This time, Kevin is about to score a home run. Needless to say, Dr. Goldman isn't quite so understanding this time. However, since Kevin was shown using one of Smokey's damaged condoms, he may have prevented a Surprise Pregnancy.
- Redemption Equals Affliction: After being a racist and a general Jerkass throughout the series, Bob Pogo ends up paralyzed for life after being shot by Louis Gagliardi and then saving Rosie from being crushed by the collapsing scaffold.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: When Buster Thunder finds out they expect him to jump an Alahican airliner lengthwise instead of crosswise, he tries to back out. Only pleading from Frank convinces him to change his mind - and he insists on doing it twenty minutes ahead of schedule before he loses his nerve.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- Given by Buster Thunder to the town after they watched him risk his life for a jump he didn't feel comfortable doing, calling out Frank for begging him to do the jump in particular, Alahican for appropriating Native American imagery and stereotypes in its advertising, and insinuating that he has slept with at least one married woman in town. Unfortunately, Alahican's board of directors is watching this tirade, and Frank ends up getting demoted because of Buster's speech.
- Frank spends his Christmas morning miserable about the publicity stunt backfiring and complaining. He finally gets on the entire family's last nerves, and they all let him have it. Frank decides to go for a drive to cool down after this.Sue: That's enough of your "poor-me" bullshit!Frank: What'd I do?Sue: Frank Murphy. This family supported you these past few weeks, when all you could do was talk about Buster Thunder. So it didn't work out. And now you blame him for your shitty mood. There's always somebody to blame: Bob Pogo, or Roger Dunbarton...Maureen: Grandma Nora...Kevin: The Beatles...Bill: Johnny Unitas that one time...Frank: Now Bill, I've told you a thousand times, that was Earl Morrall's fault! Christ, they put Unitas in at the end of the game, he almost pulled it out! Shit, if they'd put him in earlier, like they should've, they would've won instead of losing to Joe Willie Namath, that pantyhose-wearing fucking jackass! [sees his family still glaring at him] What? it's true.Sue: But your favorite person to blame is your father. Well, he's not here, but we are. All we want is to have a nice Christmas as a family, but you chose to mope around all day.[Megan starts crying]Sue: Nice going, Frank. Hell of a first Christmas for your daughter.
