Not All Dogs Go to Heaven

Plot

Meg's troubles begin at Quahog's yearly Star Trek convention, where Peter makes her pose for a photo next to an attendee he mistakes for an alien in costume. That person actually has the mumps, and Meg catches the illness. While stuck in bed recovering, she watches Kirk Cameron on television and becomes a born-again Christian, much to everyone's annoyance. When she learns Brian is an atheist, she tries to get him to repent and convert, but he refuses every time.

So Meg tells everyone in Quahog about his atheism, and since the town generally despises atheists, Brian becomes an outcast. He gets banned from every bar and convenience store, leaving him unable to drink. Desperate for alcohol, Brian pretends to repent, getting Meg to stop her campaign. But then she takes him to burn books she considers harmful to God, including Darwin's On the Origin of Species, Hawking's A Brief History of Time, and a book called Logic for First Graders.

Disgusted, Brian admits he was bluffing and tries to convince Meg she is wrong. When she won't listen, he argues that a truly loving God would not have made Meg resemble Peter physically while giving her an attractive mother like Lois, nor would He place her in a world where everyone holds her in contempt. Ashamed, Meg apologizes and confesses she does not know how to feel loved. Brian tells her the answers lie within herself and that the real meaning of their existence is out there somewhere.

Finally, it is revealed that the entire Family Guy universe exists inside the molecules of a lampshade in the shared bedroom of Adam West and Rob Lowe.

Production

Greg Colton, a regular director on the show, helmed "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven," marking his second episode of the season after "Road to Germany." Danny Smith, a writer who also occasionally voices characters, wrote the episode, his first of the season. Peter Shin and James Purdum, both series regulars, acted as supervising directors. Seth MacFarlane, the creator and executive producer of Family Guy, has a well-known fondness for Star Trek and once appeared twice on Star Trek: Enterprise as engineer Ensign Rivers, in the episodes "The Forgotten" and "Affliction."

Several former cast members of Star Trek: The Next Generation had already popped up in Family Guy before this episode. For instance, Patrick Stewart briefly voiced Peter Griffin in "No Meals on Wheels," his American Dad! character Avery Bullock in "Lois Kills Stewie," and his own Star Trek character Captain Jean-Luc Picard in "Peter's Got Woods." Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, and Marina Sirtis also appeared in "Peter's Got Woods" as their respective Star Trek roles: William Riker, Worf, and Deanna Troi.

This new episode brought together the entire original cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Stewart returned as Picard, Frakes as Riker, Gates McFadden as Doctor Beverly Crusher, Brent Spiner as Data, Dorn as Worf, Sirtis as Troi, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher, and Denise Crosby as Tasha Yar, a character who died during the show's first season. Excluding Crosby, this was the first time the cast had worked together since the 2002 film Star Trek Nemesis, though the actors recorded their lines separately and never met.

When including Crosby, the last time the entire group had worked together was on the 1990 episode "Yesterday's Enterprise." Wil Wheaton recorded his lines for the episode on September 20, 2007. MacFarlane himself directed the recording sessions with all the guest stars.

Did You Know?

• The episode received a 4.8/7 Nielsen rating.
• Ahsan Haque of IGN called the episode 'surprisingly refreshing'.