Review: American Dad “Fellow Traveler”

Overview:

American Dad ambitiously turns the clock back to 1947 to look at a very different version of Roger who gets his first taste of Earth life, albeit not on his own terms. This displaced and disgruntled alien searches high and low to find his ship’s missing fuel core so that he can return back home, but there might be another–even deadlier–creature that’s followed him to Earth with vicious plans of vengeance. Roger humbly accepts the kind offer of a makeshift family of misfits, but their selfless kindness might become their undoing if they’re not careful.

Our Take:

18 seasons (or 20, depending on your level of “fandom”) is a major milestone for any television series and American Dad’s 18th season begins in a surprisingly grandiose manner that feels like the start of an American Dad movie, to be honest. American Dad has consistently colored in details regarding Roger’s perturbing past and the home that he came from before winding up on Earth. That being said, American Dad has never explicitly shown Roger’s exodus to Earth and “Fellow Traveler” uses this to its advantage with a thrilling introduction that’s set in 1947, Roswell and provides the audience with some answers that they were ready to give up on. A Roger-centric installment is usually something to celebrate in American Dad and “Fellow Traveler” goes above and beyond in this regard with a delightful start to the season that feels like pure fan service for those who have stuck around for nearly 350 episodes. American Dad is past the point of turning to big stunts for their premieres, but this heightened energy to kick off season 18 sets this satisfying, intricate episode up for success.

“Fellow Traveler” adopts a structure that makes Roger its centerpiece and the episode largely rests on his shoulders without the luxury of a B-story with supporting players. Roger does get to bounce off plenty of oddballs from the 1940s, but there’s a level of restraint that works for “Fellow Traveler” rather than clunkily tack on some familiar sidekick just to have a comforting presence that Roger can consistently use as a foil. Roger has more than enough to do here and it makes sense for this to be a solo journey for the character before he’s properly acclimated to the planet. At the same time, an episode that largely just follows Roger without the rest of American Dad’s cast as a buffer can run the risk of being too out of control. “Fellow Traveler” doesn’t overwhelm the audience through this endeavor and there’s even impressively subtle character work that’s done to differentiate this more world-weary version of Roger than the one who’s spent half-a-century mooching off of its resources when American Dad begins.

On this note, “Fellow Traveler” is also a great example of how American Dad really directs its guest stars and supporting players well. Freddie Underwood, Bible salesman and good samaritan, is a superfluous character who Roger meets shortly after landing on Earth. This character would otherwise be quite forgettable, but there’s such a committed performance here where every syllable makes an impact. The same is true for the religious, radiated zealot from the episode’s final act. This level of work that goes into American Dad’s ancillary players isn’t specific to “Fellow Traveler.” However, it’s a secret advantage in these unconventional episodes that discard most of the usual suspects. Figures like Freddie Underwood or Mama Macadou may never show up again in American Dad, but they leave lasting legacies through their profound performances.

American Dad begins its 18th season on the strongest note possible with this grandiose “period piece” that says so much by stripping itself down. This is hardly the weirdest experiment that the series has done in recent years, but it highlights that there’s still quite a lot of radiated alien fuel in this spaceship’s reactor. “Fellow Traveler” proves that 18 seasons and 350 episodes in, American Dad is still working harder than ever and finding new stories to tell.