Original air date: 9/19/2001
Production code: 3ACX-05
After two weeks of being laid off from his job at Happy-Go-Lucky Toys, Peter has grown fatter and lazier than usual, so he takes a job as a fisherman to remedy this. Meanwhile, Lois takes Meg to the beach for spring break — and ends up having all the fun Meg should be having.
This episode contains examples of:
- Actor Allusion: Salty (Brian Doyle-Murray) tells Peter that he's in talks with Nickelodeon for a Daggermouth cartoon, a reference to Doyle-Murray's role as the Flying Dutchman on a certain nautical-themed Nicktoon.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Meg upon seeing Lois partying for spring break. Lois actually fits in better than Meg, which makes the situation even more embarrassing.
- Bestiality Is Depraved: In a cutaway gag, we're shown that Shamu once gave Lois a kiss at SeaWorld, resulting in him getting clobbered by Peter, who assumed Lois was having an affair with the whale.Peter: And how long has this been going on?!
- Brick Joke: "Hairlip" Steve is mentioned in an early scene; at the end of act one, we get to meet Steve when Stewie and Steve pry a Jewish clown off a boat.Stewie: Hey Steve, you ever think about growing a mustache?
- Cannot Tell a Joke: Stewie.Stewie: Two men are standing at the Pearly Gates. Oh, God, wait. How did that one go? Anyway, it turns out they're Siegfried and Roy. I'm no good at telling jokes.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Lois goes above and beyond to help Meg have fun during spring break, far cry from their more well-known relationship, where Meg literally exists just to be bullied by her family.
- Everyone Has Standards: Peter's offended when he's called a lazy fatass by the man who's prematurely moving into his house, but then adds "I may not agree with what you have to say but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."
- Exact Words: At an auction, one item up for bid is a "photo of a beautiful 40-foot fishing boat." Peter gets into a bidding war with a man but loses; the man pays $25,000, but it turns out he just bought the photo of the boat, not the boat itself.
- Funny Animal: "Daggermouth and Boom Boom".
- Godwin's Law of Facial Hair: Stewie takes a side job during Peter's unemployment. He suggests to his coworker "Hairlip" Steve — who's mustache is unusually thin— when the two of them need to rescue a Jewish clown from a boat.Stewie: Hey Steve, you ever think about growing a mustache?
- Half-Human Hybrid: Quagmire asks Seamus if an accident is why his arms and legs are pieces of wood. Seamus says it's because his father was a tree.
- Hollywood Board Games: Stewie is intently doodling a non-descript drawing for a Pictionary game he's playing with the family that is moving to his house (the bank prematurely sold it). The father obnoxiously insists it's a jackal even before Stewie can finish — Stewie Rage Quits as a result.
- Honest John's Dealership: Peter gets a loan from Jim Kaplan to pay for the boat he bought at auction. Jim openly declares that other banks are banks, and may not be kidding about taking Peter's kids as collateral. He also runs a tattoo shop next door.
- Hypocritical Humor: Hennessey tells Peter that Salty was "half the weight" that he is, despite Hennessey being as obese as Peter and Salty being somewhat overweight himself.
- Instant Turn-Off: When Peter and the guys are asking each other if none of them were married and if they could have any woman, who would they want, Quagmire said Taylor Hanson. Joe tells Quagmire Taylor Hanson is a guy, but Quagmire thinks they're joking until Peter backs up Joe's statement. Quagmire was not happy to learn this.
- Lampshade Hanging: Salty bribes Peter to keep quiet about the truth about Daggermouth—saying the longer they linger on this, the faster people will realize a fisherman with zero engineering experience somehow managed to build a sophisticated, talking robot.
- Literal-Minded: When Carson Daly asks the crowd who wants to party, the crowd cheers, and Carson counts the number of people cheering.Carson: Okay, we're gonna need cake and juice for 14 people.
- Major Injury Underreaction: When Peter bursts into flames, he dryly says, "Oh dear, I've spontaneously combusted." Then he adds, "Quite all right, I've grown tired of living."
- Ms. Fanservice: Played for laughs. Meg has so much fun that her shirt flies off and she accidentally flashes the spring break crowd her breasts. Later, she does it again to appease Connie D'Amico and her friends.
- New Job Episode: After losing his job in the previous episode, this episode establishes Peter finding a new job as a fisherman, which ends up sticking as part of the status quo until the season 4 episode "Perfect Castaway".
- Not So Above It All:
- Even CNN of all outlets is shown to be getting in on the Spring Break action, as Bernard Shaw suddenly strips down to his underwear and falls flat on his face as he runs towards the water.
- While at the Spring Break Blowout, Lois revealed that when she's not confined to the role of a traditional sitcom housewife, she can get just as drunk and wild as Peter.
- Orphaned Setup: "So the French guy says: "Deodorant? What's that?"
- Overly Long Name: Peter's boat is named the "S.S. More Powerful than Superman, Batman, Spiderman and the Incredible Hulk Put Together."
- Race Against the Clock: Peter has to get enough money to keep the house before Lois and Meg return from spring break.
- Read the Fine Print: When Peter and Brian return home to find that their house is being repossessed, Brian asks Peter if he read the fine print on the loan contract.Peter: If, by read, you mean imagined a naked lady, then yes.
- The Rival: Hennessey actively antagonizes and tries to sabotage Peter, due to not wanting another fisherman around to compete with.
- Shout-Out
- At sea, Peter, Quagmire, Joe, and Cleveland ask each other who they'd have if they weren't married. Peter's answer is the "chick with the three knockers" from Total Recall (1990).
- While on search for Daggermouth, Peter and the guys pass by the man with long arms from the "find the fish" segment of Monty Python's The Meaning of Life.
- Spontaneous Human Combustion: In one cutaway, Peter spontaneously bursts into flames.
- Temporary Bulk Change: At the start of the episode, Peter is grossly obese from being out of work for two weeks. By the middle of act one, Peter is back to his usual weight.
- Twist Ending: Despite getting $50,000 to pay off the bank, the Stevensons still live with the Griffins by episode's end.
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: At sea, Peter, Quagmire, Joe, and Cleveland ask each other who they'd have if they weren't married. Quagmire chooses Taylor Hanson. After being informed that Taylor Hanson is a guy, Quagmire breaks down.
