V is for Mystery | |
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Season 14, Episode 10 | |
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Air date | November 22, 2015 |
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V is for Mystery is the 10th episode of the fourteenth season of Family Guy. It's the 332nd episode, overall.
Synopsis[]
In a special Dickensian-themed episode, Stewie and Brian are detectives who embark on solving a string of mysterious murders set in Victorian-era London.
Plot[]
After Sherlock Holmes solves a case in which the crown jewels are taken by Professor Moriarty, Holmes faces retirement and Dr. Watson announces his impending marriage. But when a prostitute is murdered in the style of the notorious Scottish blackguard "Brute," who killed prostitutes with the name that started with "V" and replaced their intestines with bagpipes. But when they visit him in prison where they find he couldn't have done any of the murders of which he was accused of as he has two right hands and the killer used his left. Setting up a decoy, they find the killer is none other than Dr. Watson's fiancee, Constance.
Pursuing her to Paris, they corner her at the top of the Eiffel Tower where she slips over the side after catching her shoe of a steel plate. Before falling to her death, she teases them by hinting that it is a case that even Sherlock Holmes couldn't solve and 'he'd be victorious.' Realizing that they've been misled, they return to London to prevent the murder of Queen Victoria by Professor Moriarty, who created the Brute and whose henchman Sherlock had caught with the crown jewels earlier, thinking it was the professor himself. The reasoning behind killing Queen Victoria and framing Sherlock for freeing the Brute is that she "prostituted" herself by sharing control of Guyana with the Dutch royals.
Characters[]
Major Roles[]
- Stewie Griffin as Sherlock Holmes
- Brian Griffin as Dr. Watson
- Lois Griffin as Constance
- Peter Griffin as himself, Professor Moriarty and the Brute
- Carter Pewterschmidt as Professor Moriarty's Henchman
- Babs Pewterschmidt as Queen Victoria
- Meg Griffin as Veronica
Minor Roles[]
- Bruce Straightman as Chimney Sweep
- Glenn Quagmire as Prisoner
- Kimi Quagmire as Prisoner
- Cleveland Brown as John
- Tom Tucker as News Boy
- Opie Richardson as Train Passenger
- Bonnie Swanson
- Rupert (Cameo)
- Valerie
- Kenny McCormick
- Benny Hill
- Neil Diamond
- George Zimmer
- Elaine Joyce
- Ron Palillo
- Bill Cosby
- Oscar Wilde
- Georges Seurat
- Liam & Noel Gallagher
- Herbert the Pervert (Extended Cut)
Quotes[]
- Watson: Holmes, there's something I have to tell you. I'm getting marr...
- Holmes: [cutting him off] I deduce, Watson, that you're getting married!
- Watson: I just said that.
- Holmes: Yes, but I had deduced it first.
- Watson: He's got a gun! Look out, Stew... Holmes! God, this is gonna be so annoying.
- [Sherlock deflects the henchman's bullet, getting him to shoot himself]
- Henchman: Aaagh! Lucky shot!
- Holmes: There was no luck involved. From the angle you were aiming the gun, I extrapolated the path of the bullet, and triangulated the deflection point...
- Watson: Uh, is this... is this speech for me? Because he's dead.
- [All the women at The Queen's ball have been roofied]
- Bill Cosby: I get away with this for another 122 years, you see.
- Peter: Enjoying all the old-timey jokes? Don't worry, next week, back to a normal episode.
- [Sherlock and Watson come across a prisoner, portrayed by Quagmire]
- Holmes: What are you in for?
- Prisoner: Ah, I Rathboned somebody's Cumberbatch.
- [The Scottish Brute pushes the cell door and it opens]
- Brute: Oh, this...this thing was open. That shouldn't be open, right?
- Holmes: No, no I wouldn't think so.
- [The Brute gets out of prison]
- Brute: Ah, the world's changed since I've been in there. That puddle wasn't here. That cloud wasn't there. That window was open. That lady was four feet that way.
- Oscar Wilde: I prefer men with a future and women with a past.
- [Sherlock's prostitute gets murdered, and John, who she previously rejected comes up]
- John: All I would have done was be a perfect gentleman.
- Watson: Sorry we didn't catch the murderer, Holmes, and I'm afraid you'll have to catch her without me. My wedding is tomorrow.
- Holmes: Yes, about that, you know, I was thinking. Maybe you should put that off for a while. You know, sow a few more wild oats.
- Watson: Oh, I've done enough of that, my friend. Especially after that raucous bachelor party trip you threw for me in Las Vegas.
- [Cutaway to Watson and Holmes in the middle of the desert]
- Holmes: So, when do the strippers arrive?
- Watson: 1952.
- Watson: I ... I can't believe it. My beloved Constance is the murderer.
- Holmes: It's even worse than you think. If she's a murderer from this time period, that means there will be a terrible, pretentious musical about her one day.
- [Cutaway to the musical]
- Actor: [singing] Behold the tale of Constance, the murderer in the bonnet.
- Backup: [singing] The murderer in the bonnet.
- [Holmes and Watson watch in the audience]
- Holmes: Oh, I was wrong! I love it!
- [Watson and Holmes chase Constance]
- Watson: This way, Holmes! She's headed toward ... Holmes?
- [Holmes as joined Madeline and her friends]
- Holmes: I couldn't come here and not do this. [to Miss Clavel] She has appendicitis, by the way.
- Holmes: We made it just in time and I was able to fool you, as I am a master of disguise.
- Watson: Seems like you're just good at dressing up like a woman.
- Watson: One last mystery to solve. Why do they call you, "Professor"?
- Moriarty: I teach at Hogwarts.
- Holmes: Really?
- Moriarty: No, but we should have done that instead of this.
Songs[]
- September Morn
- Love for Sale
- The Tale of Constance
Trivia[]
- Chris is the only family member to not be represented in the episode.
- For the title card for episode writer David A. Goodman, a caricature of him is indicated by Stewie. Rupert also appears in the same title card.
- One of the titlecards shows Brian wearing pants despite not wearing pants throughout the entire episode.
- South Park's Kenny McCormick's skeletal remains are seen in the title sequence.
- The painting that Brian and Stewie "photobomb" is "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat. It was previously seen in "The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou".
- Boots Randolph's "Yakety Sax" accompanies the Benny Hill gag.
- There is a cutaway gag that uses a The Love Boat opening with Elaine Joyce and Ron Palillo.
- The scene of women applauding is based on stock footage frequently used on Monty Python's Flying Circus.[1]
- The countries that Stewie names at the end of the episode all won or declared their independence from what had been the British Empire during the 20th and 21st centuries.
- The Scottish Brute is presented as a fictional construct of professor Moriarty with two right hands, but when he is freed from Newgate Prison as well as when Moriarty is revealed, the Brute has both a left and right hand.
- The extended cut of the episode has a short scene of Herbert as a professor, leading a pack of schoolboys on the train.
Cultural References[]
- The title is a reference to the graphic novel V for Vendetta.
- During the title card for show composer Walter Murphy, Brian is seen imitating the Nipper the dog trademark of RCA known as "His master's voice."[2]
- Brian and Stewie play "Heart and Soul" on the bagpipes stuffed into Meg's body, similar to a scene in the film Big.[3]
- Stewie can't resist playing with the kids from Madeline while in Paris and notes that she has appendicitis, referring to the original book in the series.
- "The Tale of Constance" imitates other Victorian-era penny dreadful villains such as Sweeney Todd and Mack the knife.
- Quagmire states that he "Rathboned somebody's Cumberbatch"; as well as sounding like a sexual euphemism, this references Basil Rathbone and Benedict Cumberbatch, actors who played Sherlock Holmes.[4]