(courtesy IMDb (c) Hulu/Disney+)
Who of us hasn’t at some time declared that their life is hell?
Yep, I see your raised hands – all of us in fact have uttered those words at some point; it’s a common lament, one that thankfully with no fire, little brimstone and no devilish persons appearing before us, pitchfork in hand.
But in the latest annual Family Guy Halloween special, “Happy Hello-o-ween”, Stewie and Brian (both voiced by Seth MacFarlane), both of whom are deeply morally challenged and ethically compromised (hardly a newsflash), a state of hell-destined state of being which results in them being sent to hell when they are killed, and this is hilarious, no really, by a car full of vapid socialites.
This life-challenging event means that instead of going to a glittering gala where they will meet even more vapid influencers and socialites, Stewie and Peter end up in hell, which you’ll be interested to know absolutely reflects Dante’s classic take on the accursed place long used to keep religious souls on the straight and narrow.
Needless to say that neither one of these characters are pleased about where they end up with each plunged into a hell curated especially by them – Brian gets firecrackers and mariachi bands on the 4th of July while Stewie ends up in a Starbucks behind someone placing an eternally long coffee order for their workplace – by Satan himself, voiced with devilish glee and not a little world weariness by Keiran Culkin.
While hell is as much fun as you’d expect it to be (read: not much), there are a ton of very funny moments, mostly to do with the types of hell people are spending eternity in, and the lack of beds, toilet facilities (you’ll never look at a KFC box the same way again!) and private rooms, the laughs come thick and fast, less to do with Stewie and Peter who play it reasonably straight and more to do with Satan himself who undergoes a fairly major existential crisis mixed in with some massive Daddy Issues (Biblically his dad is God?) which results in him handing over the running of hell to Stewie and Peter.
That goes as well as you think it might with the two blithely thinking they can do what the Devil cannot, and while they do some good things (in hell? Perish the thought!), which come complete with some deliciously funny sight gags and inspired dialogue, they realise pretty quickly that they are not cut out to run a place of eternal damnation.
One of the funniest parts of “Happy Hello-o-ween” comes at the end when ———- SPOILER ALERT !!!!! ———- Stewie and Peter are send back to the mortal realm after delivering the pep talk to end all pep talks to Satan, and are confronted with the same more dilemma that preceded their earlier deaths.
Hilariously they have learnt nothing, and you know they are destined to end up back in hell again; but first they party and that seems to be all that matters to the comically rich but morally poor pair.
Family Guy‘s “Happy Hello-o-ween” is a ton of fun, full of snappy dialogue, fast jokes and a mass of sight gags, and while it doesn’t do much for hell’s rep, it does offer up an hilarious take on the afterlife and honestly how often does that happen?
“Happy Hello-o-ween” streams via Hulu on Disney+