| Follow the Money | |
|---|---|
| Season 15, Episode 12 | |
| |
| Air date | November 20, 2016 |
| Episode Guide | |
| Previous I'll Be the Judge of That |
Next Peter Gets Fired |
Follow the Money is the 12th episode of the fifteenth season of Family Guy. It is the 356th episode, overall.
Synopsis[]
After Chris gets a special one-dollar bill for his birthday and quickly loses it, the dollar gets passed from character to character throughout Quahog.
Plot[]
Carter sends Chris a one dollar bill for his birthday, but when he believes that is all there is to it, he throws it on the floor in anger where it is scooped up by Stewie, and is later taken away by Peter. It passes though several hands eventually to Seamus who gives Meg his phone number on it in hopes of getting a date with her.
At The Drunken Clam, Peter gets into a game with the guys of trying to toss pennies into a shot glass. When he is the only one who cannot complete it and refuses to let them leave until he does, they convince him to try it with his eyes closed and surreptitiously drop in a penny, allowing him to run off to have sex with Lois to celebrate.
Meanwhile, Carter visits Chris and informs him that it is a rare misprint that features both George Washington and Benjamin Franklin on it and they set off in search of it. Meg spends the dollar where it passes though more hands in town, and completes her date with Seamus to his surprise after it came back to his hands without being aware that she saved his number before spending it. The dollar eventually ending up in a strip club where Carter and Chris observe it just before it is lost in a pile of stripper tip money. Carter gets the club DJ to turn off all of the club lights except for the blacklights and the bill stands out as the only one not covered in semen. But when Chris inquires how much it would be worth, Carter notes that Seamus had written his phone number on it for Meg and declares it worthless.
Stewie feels that Brian abuses alcohol too much so they place a bet over his being able to stop. But when Stewie catches him buying more booze at the Quahog Mini-Mart, they go to a drug den to buy pills to cut off his addiction with the aid of a "friend" of Stewie's. There, they find Dr. Harman is running the place. Stewie's "friend" tries to rob Dr. Hartman and is wounded by Cleveland Brown, Jr. They exchange gunfire and Hartman flees, only to return with his own gun and wounds Brian. Over dinner at the Quahog Supper Club, Brian admits he can't complete a day without drinking, which allows Stewie to needle him about his pathetically short attempt.
Chris and Carter enter a backroom at the club where everyone that appeared in the episode is participating in a private party, and pose for a group photo for Ellen DeGeneres. As night falls, Chris sleeps with his special dollar by his pillow as Lois exchanges messages with Ernie. Peter rouses from sleep long enough to tell her that he doesn't want her talking to him anymore but she gives him a final goodnight.
Characters[]
Major Roles[]
- Chris Griffin
- Carter Pewterschmidt
- Stewie Griffin
- Peter Griffin
- Seamus Levine
- Meg Griffin
- Carl
- Elmer Hartman
- Cleveland Brown
- Mayor Adam West
- Jerome Cool J
- Neil Goldman
- Ernie the Giant Chicken
- Cleveland Brown Jr.
Minor Roles[]
- Lois Griffin
- Brian Griffin
- Glenn Quagmire
- Kimi Quagmire
- Joe Swanson
- Bonnie Swanson
- Donna Tubbs-Brown
- Roberta Tubbs (Non-Speaking Cameo)
- Patty Patterson
- Esther Esthederm
- Ruth Rutherford
- Tom Tucker
- Tricia Takanawa
- Joyce Kinney
- Ollie Williams
- RJ
- Mort Goldman
- Muriel Goldman (Mentioned)
- Ida Davis
- Fouad
- Tomik and Bellgarde
- Angela Everwood (Non-Speaking Cameo)
- Jillian Russel-Wilcox
- Mr. Washee Washee
- Denise
- Connie D'amico
- DJ Butcher
- Tracy Flannigan
- Johnny Wind Chimes
- Nicole the Giant Chicken
- Live Studio Ostrich
- Holden Caulfield (Voice Only)
- Screaming Black Dolphins
- Al Harrington
- Greased Up Deaf Guy
- Janine
- Todd
- Jesus Christ
- Stella (Non-Speaking Cameo)
- Father Bob
- Whammy
- Ryan Reynolds
- Mr. Washee Washee
- Ellen DeGeneres
- George Washington
- Benjamin Franklin
- Change for a Buck (Non-Speaking Cameo)
Quotes[]
- Carter: You there, mailman!
- Cleveland: Me?
- Carter: No, the other black guy in shorts. Yes you!
- Cleveland: I also have a fat, weird son. Would you like a hug?
- Peter: Yes, birthdays are the hardest.
- Chris: Grandpa only gave me a dollar?
- Lois: Chris, you write him a thank you note. That will is still wide open.
- Drive-Thru Guy: Welcome to McBurgertown, what can I get for you today?
- Peter: Hmm, what's the easiest thing to eat in the car? I'll have the huevos rancheros and an orange soda without the cap.
- [Tom passes by Patty, Ruth, and Esther]
- Tom: What do we have, ... up, too young.
- [Nicole finds Ernie having coffee with Lois]
- Nicole: So, this is stuck at work?
- Ernie: Honey, please. Lois is a friend.
- Lois: Really. Nicole, you've got the wrong idea.
- Nicole: How does this bitch know my name?
- Lois: Bitch? Ok, 'ho.
- [They prepare to fight]
- Nicole: Oh, I'm going to enjoy this.
- Ernie: Come on, now ladies...
- [The two begin to slap fight]
- Jesus: Awesome. A chick-chicken chick fight.
- RJ: Since you are my girlfriend and are hot, will you marry me, so that I can bone you?
- Janine: As long as you can always throws a NERF football over my truck with your strong arm.
- RJ: You mean this arm?
- [RJ shows off his muscular arm, which is quickly broken by Lois and Nichole's passing by chick fight]
- RJ: Aw, cripes!
- Janine: Yeah, now there is no way.
- Ollie Williams: [To Tomik and Bellgarde who are driving recklessly] You gon' crash!
- Meg: How long has that bike been out front?
- Carl: I don't know, a couple hours?
- Meg: I'm gunna swipe that puppy.
- Neil Goldman: [To a park bench dedicated to the memory of his mother, Muriel Goldman] Look who's still standing, bitch. [Tosses money on the bench] Go buy yourself something nice in Hell.
- Bonnie: Joe! I found a dollar!
- Joe: That's great, Bonnie! Let's go to dinner we can talk all about it.
- Bonnie: What's there to talk about? I looked down on the ground and there was a dollar.
- Joe: Bonnie, save it for the dinner table!
- Seamus: I thought the show was really great.
- Ida: Thank you, I couldn't help but notice you talked throughout it.
- [Lois texts Ernie, while Peter is lying in bed, but Peter knows exactly what she's doing]
- Peter: I don't want you talking to him anymore.
Trivia[]
- The serial number of the dollar bill in the opening credits matches the season and episode production number. (EPS 1512 = 15ACX12)
- The instrumental opening theme with a series of sight gags follows the pattern of the Road to Franchise and is the first time it has been used outside of that series.
- This episode has no Cutaway gags.
- Chris celebrates his 15th birthday in this episode.
- Cleveland actually working for the post office is a callback to "Take a Letter".
- Peter plays a mock DJ to "Two Princes" by the Spin Doctors.
- Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" plays at Dr. Hartman's drug den.
- The Screaming Black Dolphins sing part of "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", originally by Otis Redding.
- The cover of "Money (That's What I Want)" in the strip club back room is performed by the Flying Lizards.
- The "funny arms" characters include the non-masturbating tyrannosaurus rex from "12 and a Half Angry Men", a Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tubeman, along with the guy with claw machine arms and hands from "Brokeback Swanson" and elongated arms man from "Stuck Together, Torn Apart", although his shirt color has changed from red to green.
- Seamus ends up on the wrong end of a Whammy from the game show Press Your Luck.
- The stormtroopers that appear during Peter's temper tantrum are drawn in the classic style, rather than the First Order style of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Cultural References[]
- "Follow the money" is a phrase intended to lead to a motivating source. The phrase originated in the film All the President's Men.[1]
- The plot device is similar to films such as the 1974 made-for-TV movie The Gun and perhaps more closely with the 1993 film Twenty Bucks in which an everyday object is passed through multiple owners.
- When Joe sinks a penny in a shot glass and says "Boom Pistorius" and "Through the Bathroom Door" references Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius who shot his girlfriend in the bathroom.
- Peter's temper tantrum parodies that of Kylo Ren from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, including the two stormtroopers who decide not to intervene.
- The drug den scene parodies a similar one in the film Boogie Nights.[2]
- Everyone making an appearance takes a group photograph for Ellen at the end of the episode, referencing her group selfie at the 2014 Oscars.[3]
Continuity[]
- Ernie the Giant Chicken's wife Nicole makes her second appearance. Despite being given the name of "Ernie" in "No Chris Left Behind" and confirmed in the DVD Fact-Ups for "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side", and used as his proper name in news releases including video provided by FOX[4], Ernie is only identified as "Giant Chicken" here, something that had been a contentious issue with some fans.
- Seamus' phone number is (917) 555-0112. The same number is given as Peter's in "Nanny Goats".[5]