Plot
Stan and his cohorts meet at a park to discuss planning a surprise 25th anniversary for Bullock. Bullock, of course, is spying on them and Stan takes all of the credit for the party idea. Bullock is pleased. At home, Stan tells Francine the good news: She’s in charge of planning Bullock’s party for Saturday. Except that’s the same night Francine is appearing in a play.
Meanwhile, Hayley and Steve take in the new Michael Moore movie which features him making love to Angelina Jolie. Hayley is outraged by his selling out. It’s Saturday night. Stan is getting ready for the party. Francine is dressed for her play. She’s ignoring Stan’s demands declaring marriage to be an equal partnership.
At the party, Stan accidentally kills Jay Leno when he insinuated to Stan that Francine wears the pants in the relationship, due to Francine’s absence and has to perform the roast by himself. It goes horribly wrong and Stan is thrown out. Then Stan begins singing a song about how he doesn’t want an equal partner. He wants a wife who will listen to his every demand.
The next day, Bullock relocates Stan and his family to Saudi Arabia as a punishment for the roast. The family seems to like a chance to experience new things but Roger freaks out that Saudi Arabia bans alcohol. Meanwhile, Stan receives his new mission: overseeing guards protecting a pipeline that’s being built.
As the family adjusts to the new culture, Francine finds that she likes the neighboring women although she doesn’t like how they cater to their men. Stan, however, learns about the country’s strict moral codes from his new co-workers and finds that he loves it. And Steve is thrilled to find out that, not only is he considered a man, he can shoot guns whenever he wants.
Stan begins throwing orders around but Francine resists. At the same time, Hayley is begging Steve to accompany her to the bazaar so she can leave the house. Roger, hidden in a burka, goes with them. At home that night, Stan introduces Francine to his new second wife. Back at the bazaar, Steve sells Roger to a man who thinks Roger is a woman. With his new money, Steve buys a Mercedes, sunglasses and grenades.
During a dinner party, Stan enjoys his new friends even accepting a robe as a gift. But Francine engages in a brutal fight with Stan’s second wife. Bullock calls and tells Stan he can have his old job in the States back but Stan says he kinda likes Saudi Arabia. As for the family, well, Steve just crashed his Mercedes into an oil derrick in the middle of nowhere, Roger is being taken to a remote location by his new husband and Hayley is running from the morality police. Stan angrily tells Bullock he renounces his American citizenship and burns the family’s passports. He’ll be staying on the Arabian peninsula.
The “Stan of Arabia” two-part episode is notably iconic within the “American Dad” repertoire, showcasing the series’ unique ability to leverage its premise distinctively from “Family Guy” by crafting a narrative beyond the latter’s reach. It skillfully engages nearly the entire family (Klaus being the usual exception) and effectively employs their personalities and dynamics within a compelling and natural storyline. Throughout season 1, we’ve observed Stan confronted with challenges to his core ideologies, culminating in this arc that puts his deepest conviction—his patriotism—to the test.
Reviewing just the initial segment of a two-part story can be challenging, as it primarily serves as setup for the concluding part. Nonetheless, this episode stands out for its strength. My previous critiques, such as Stan’s anachronistic views reminiscent of a 1950s father rather than one from 2005, are highlighted through Stan’s nostalgic song about subservient wives from classic sitcoms. While not directly addressing why Stan’s perspectives on women are so dated, the episode takes these views in a fascinating new direction. Stan’s traditional conservative values, out of place in contemporary, more progressive America, find a fitting backdrop in Saudi Arabia, rendering his shift in national loyalty plausible and well-developed over the narrative.
The story also thoughtfully explores Francine’s (and to some extent, Hayley’s) initial enthusiasm for immersing in a new culture, only to confront the starkly different gender dynamics in Saudi Arabia. “American Dad” excels once more in setting the stage early, such as Steve’s plea to Hayley, which leads to a reversal of roles by the third act. Despite Stan being portrayed as misguided, his urge to exert newfound authority over his family’s female members is understandable within his character’s framework, though not necessarily agreeable.
By the episode’s end, the scenario mirrors the classic “Simpsons” episode ‘You Only Move Twice,’ with the family discontent except for Stan, who relishes their new circumstances. This setup provides a potent cliffhanger, making for a compelling first half of the “Stan of Arabia” storyline.