Oh, and in case you didn’t know, Principal Lewis also owns an aquarium store. Or rather, aquarium store owner Lewis is also a principal. Times are tough.

I’m a big supporter of Francine episodes. When I heard the plot of this entry deals with a painting of Francine’s genitals being shared through an art museum, I couldn’t help but think of “When a Stan Loves a Woman” with Francine’s sex garden. I had high hopes that this episode might follow in the same tradition, but it’s in fact much more focused on Stan. We see him go through the grief of dealing with this painting of his wife in several different ways, all of which deliver. This innocent trip to the art museum sees Jasperterian’s “Portrait of Francine’s Genitals” slowly taking over Stan’s mind.

I’ve also got to hand it to this show. I was pretty positive that Roger was going to end up being the artist that he was going on so much about, Reynolds Jasperterian. So when Hayley and Roger have a conversation discussing exactly that and are as shocked as I was over the fact that it’s not him, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. That’s exactly how you subvert a gag like this after countless combinations at this point.

Stan’s obsession with Jasperterian’s painting, as well as his accompanying embarrassment on the issue, culminates in him deciding to steal the painting by pulling off an elaborate art heist alongside one of Roger’s alter egos, Potato Monticello. Naturally the two of them need to put together the perfect team to pull off this heist, so filling out their posse as well as Roger making a number of art jokes takes up a hearty chunk of the second act. Each of the members that fill out their team do have humorously specific specialties, not to mention downfalls that Roger makes abundantly clear (“It’s one night. You’ll survive.”).

Meanwhile, Stan isn’t the only one obsessed with this painting of Francine. Steve is also having a difficult time getting the piece of art out of his frail mind, which is what his addition to the episode occupies itself with. Steve decides to take up the hobby of “helping people” because his old hobby, masturbating, is ruined after getting a load of Jasperterian’s take on his mother. There’s not much to this one and it really just feels like an excuse to invite more Oedipal territory between Steve and Francine, but it does get Jeff involved in the mix, which is never a bad thing.