American Dad, "Spelling Bee My Baby"

This was a fairly good episode all in all. Coulda been better, coulda been worse. (It forms an interesting and somewhat jarring contrast to the episode where Francine and Stan each get their own Steve, and Francine insists on raising him with a completely relaxed, indulgent, hands-off parenting style.) But let's talk about Jeff Fischer for a moment, because that's becoming a big thing this season.

In this episode, Hayley is in mourning for the loss of Jeff. You can't help but feel sorry for Hayley, even if (like me) you were never a big fan of Jeff. She is obviously feeling his loss very keenly, which makes it all the more grating and superficial when Roger and her father decide to push her through the five stages of grief as quickly as possible. Not so that she will recover more quickly, but so that she will stop crying and agree to serve as the judge for their badminton game.

Once Hayley gets through the five stages of grief and comes out the other side, she turns on Roger and beats the crap out of him. This was, I must say, a very satisfying moment in the series.

Jeff was abducted by Roger's alien compatriots two episodes ago, in "Naked to the Limit, One More Time." He was abducted for two reasons: A) because he can't keep a secret, and B) because Roger is a selfish jerk who wanted to stay on Earth. When Roger shoved Steve into the tractor beam meant for himself, I - along with most people - assumed that this was one of the silly "everything will be back to normal next week" things that sometimes happen on sitcoms. But no, Jeff seems to really be gone.

But is Jeff really gone for good? And if he returns, will he be changed by his experience? Frankly, wondering about the answers to these questions is one of the few things that's keeping me engaged with the show this season. Only time will tell!

Image copyright American Dad/20th Century FOX Television