In this Family Guy-esque take on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, the ghost of Patrick Swayze visits Peter (who's been left alone by his family on Christmas for not wanting to visit Lois' wealthy family) and tries to get him back in the Christmas spirit.
The episode contains examples of:
- Argentina Is Nazi Land: It's implied that Carter's mother is a Nazi that fled to Brazil when he has the family give her a call.
- Bad Future: In the future where Peter doesn't learn the error of his ways, he's dead (and stuck forever as Brian's flatuence), Chris is a Colombian drug mule, Meg has a minimum-wage job at Yale Locks, Stewie is fat, and Lois has married the waiter that worked for Carter.
- Bait the Dog: The family see Peter's car coming and run out of the house to greet him, only for Peter to drive straight past and go to the Drunken Clam instead. Stewie points out that the bar is on the other side of town, meaning that instead of heading there directly from work, Peter went out of his way to get his family's hopes up.
- Brick Joke:
- Cleveland says his family's tradition is to listen to Peabo Bryson's A Very Slow Christmas album and the cutaway shows the singer not even two words into "O Holy Night." Later, when Patrick Swayze is showing Peter various families being together, the Browns are still there listening to the same song. Peter realizes this is why he never sees Cleveland in-between Christmas and New Year's.
- At the bar, the group is faced by an overenthusiastic group of carolers and Quagmire is forced into the group. Later, when the group returns, Joe has also been forced into it.
- Christmas Episode: Which doubles as Yet Another Christmas Carol.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: The flashback to Peter's youth appears to show him as an only child, and his older sister Karen, who was introduced in the Season 14 episode "Peter's Sister", is not seen or mentioned.
- Convenience Store Gift Shopping: After having a change of heart, Peter ends up having to buy gifts for everyone from a random convenience store, since it's Christmas Day, he was short on time, and virtually nothing would be open. Among other things, Brian got a mispelled Rhode Island sweatshirt that's painful to wear.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Peter refuses to go to the homeless shelter, Lois points out that Christmas is supposed to be a time for giving. Peter asks what the "bums" at the homeless shelter could possibly give them.
- Fate Worse than Death: Peter learns losing his Christmas spirit will consign him to an afterlife as one of Brian's farts. Apparently this is from a Deleted Scene in A Christmas Carol Dickens wrote during his "opium and spoiled lamb" phase.
- It's All About Me: Peter is shown to be far more bitter and self-centered this Christmas than he is in the show's other Christmas episodes. His selfishness prompts a frustrated Lois to take the rest of the family to spend Christmas without him.
- Jerkass: Instead of going home to help the family with the decorations, Peter almost hits them with the car speeding by the house heading towards the Drunken Clam, insulting them and covering them with mud. After coming home, he refuses to go with the family to the homeless shelter and wants to stay home watching Christmas specials, which finally prompts Lois to take the family to spend Christmas at her parents' house instead.
- Late to the Realization: In the future, it takes Peter a while to realize he's dead despite the numerous hints being dropped. When he sees his friends mourning at the Clam, he believes they're mourning for someone named Benjamin (despite no one present even mentioning the name Benjamin) and when seeing Lois has remarried, he assumes that he finally left her.
- Undying Loyalty: In the future, Brian sleeps at Peter's grave.
- Vague Age: Due to Comic-Book Time, Peter's childhood either happened in the 70s, 80s, or 90s, when President "Richard Reagan Clinton lied to the American people."
- Writers Cannot Do Math: One of Peter's birth dates on his tombstone is 1990. Since Meg has already turned 18 way back in season ten, this would mean Meg was born when Peter was 9 for this date to be possible. It would also make Peter 27 at the time of this episode's airing when other episodes have placed his age between 40s and 50s.
- Yet Another Christmas Carol: With Patrick Swayze as the only ghost guiding Peter (normally in this trope, there are three ghosts — four, if you count the Jacob Marley expy).Peter: Ghost House.
Patrick Swayze: Road House.
Peter: Ghost Road.
Patrick Swayze: House House.
Peter: Road Road.
