Recap: American Dad – ‘Kloger’

Last week’s American Dad gave us a Roger-centered episode, with the Smith’s lovable alien trying online dating because he feels lonely and unloved. Who else would he be matched up with than Klaus? The two begin a secret affair, but Roger eventually wants things to become serious. The episode’s side story sees Steve trying to avoid the Presidential Fitness Test.

This season of American Dad has been walking a fine line between tasteless and hilarious, and this episode flip flops back and forth across the line constantly. Typically, Roger-focused episodes are outrageous and daring, and the risk usually pays off. This episode benefits from its premise, but, predictably, Klaus manages to ruin it.

‘Kloger’ has a handful of gratuitous ‘sex’ scenes between Roger and Klaus that are just outright painful to watch. American Dad has never been high brow comedy, but has it ever really gone this low? The initial laugh is there, but as the sex montage persists, it takes a turn to ‘am I seriously watching an alien and a fish have sex?’ rather than sustaining the chuckles.

Trust Roger to want Klaus to define the relationship, and the affair comes to a quick close. Klaus is more interested in the adrenaline rush that came with sneaking around with Roger behind the family’s back. In an effort to give Klaus the rush he craves, Roger forges some documents (like only he can) making one of his personas Klaus’ adopted daughter. A passing police officer hears the two talking and arrests Klaus for having sex with his own daughter. American Dad‘s believability factor continues to go out the window, which is saying something when you consider the show usually does a good enough job suspending disbelief to make it plausible that there’s an alien and talking fish in this reality.

In jail, Klaus has his way with other inmates before Roger gets himself incarcerated to be near his true love. The two have to be separated, and by the time they’re released, everything’s back to normal.

The side story in ‘Kloger’ is equally forgettable, with Steve going to outlandish lengths, like trying to catch Hayley’s mortifying pink eye, so that he doesn’t have to do the Presidential Fitness Test. This lines up perfectly with Steve’s established character, but the execution is subpar. Steve has never been athletically inclined, but it feels like American Dad has trodden this path too many times before. Even worse is the story’s resolution, where Steve resorts to defecating himself to avoid the test. American Dad‘s humor was once more refined and subtle, and moments like this mark the series’ continued decline.

‘Kloger’ had such potential to be a season high, but the episode ultimately falls flat. The love interest Roger finds in Klaus isn’t funny — nothing that Klaus does in this show has been funny for some time, and the fact that he can’t even get some laughs with Roger, the show’s traditional source of comic relief, cements this fact. As the season begins to wrap up, it’s looking more and more likely that American Dad is well out of its prime.