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Description
So, I don't really have anything crazy to say about this season. Every issue I had with last season, it only continues to become more prominent. Less good episodes, more big duds, plots are getting more stupid and badly written by the episode, and I'll be honest, the characterization has taken a real big hit too. This is the first season where the characterization of Stan being "stupid" becomes super prominent, and I've said this already, but him being stupid isn't why I enjoy watching him. Roger's episodes are becoming more predictable, Francine's becoming MUCH more annoying, even Steve is showing signs of decline.

Another thing I'll mention is the pacing. I don't know what happened, because American Dad was once a fast-paced show with tight structure, but a lot of these newer episodes either feel extremely sluggish or have way too much going on. A lot of the things the show did well in the past, like third act twists or setups, just feel so poorly done now because the pacing is completely off. I can even attribute this to my favorite episode of the season, "Persona Assistant." I love the premise of the episode, but it takes half the episode for the whole Stan assisting in Roger's personas to start. The first half is entirely setup, which is fine in this episode's case, but in a FOX era episode the pacing here would be much better.

I think the show's hit a period of stagnation here. The show can still pull off good episodes, but most of the output is just going to be really poor. Let's see if season 14 will change these circumstances.

Description
So, I don't really have anything crazy to say about this season. Every issue I had with last season, it only continues to become more prominent. Less good episodes, more big duds, plots are getting more stupid and badly written by the episode, and I'll be honest, the characterization has taken a real big hit too. This is the first season where the characterization of Stan being "stupid" becomes super prominent, and I've said this already, but him being stupid isn't why I enjoy watching him. Roger's episodes are becoming more predictable, Francine's becoming MUCH more annoying, even Steve is showing signs of decline.

Another thing I'll mention is the pacing. I don't know what happened, because American Dad was once a fast-paced show with tight structure, but a lot of these newer episodes either feel extremely sluggish or have way too much going on. A lot of the things the show did well in the past, like third act twists or setups, just feel so poorly done now because the pacing is completely off. I can even attribute this to my favorite episode of the season, "Persona Assistant." I love the premise of the episode, but it takes half the episode for the whole Stan assisting in Roger's personas to start. The first half is entirely setup, which is fine in this episode's case, but in a FOX era episode the pacing here would be much better.

I think the show's hit a period of stagnation here. The show can still pull off good episodes, but most of the output is just going to be really poor. Let's see if season 14 will change these circumstances.