Welcome Back, Carter

After deciding to visit her parents, Carter and Barbara Pewterschmidt, Lois, along with her husband, Peter, discover an old photo album showcasing Barbara and Carter's love for each other, as well as Barbara's short-lived affair during the "Great War with Alaska", during which, after returning home from combat, Carter reclaims his wife, and the two's love is shown to have lasted ever since. Becoming bored, Peter is tasked to call his father-in-law to dinner, and soon discovers Carter on his yacht, so he rows over to get him. He then sees Carter having sex with a dark-haired Asian woman. Carter demands he doesn't tell. Questioning his father-in-law's judgment, he eventually promises to keep the affair a secret from Barbara. The next day, at the Drunken Clam, Peter begins discussing the affair with Brian Griffin, Quagmire and Joe, who suggest Peter blackmail Carter as revenge for his constant mistreatment of Peter. Visiting his wife's parents during the middle of the night, Peter informs Carter that he is now his personal slave, and must perform any task he wishes, including having a limousine joust, which ends with them experiencing massive blood loss, and writing witty catchphrases. Noticing Peter and Carter spending time together, Barbara and Lois soon witness the two taking a high-definition television out of the house. But while they are doing this, Peter accidentally spills the beans to Barbara about the affair, and Barbara is instantly devastated by this and runs of the room sobbing. Enraged by this, Carter announces that he and Barbara are getting a divorce, causing Brian to suggest he meet other people. Taking him to the local club, Peter introduces Carter to the dating scene, where he soon meets Paula, an attractive blonde. Going on to demand an African American patron fetch him a drink, Carter is accused of being a racist by Paula, who leaves him. Continuing to desire Barbara, Carter decides to take a bouquet of roses to his former wife. While there, he discovers that Barbara has begun dating Roginald, the man she had an affair with during the war (who sings to her in the tune of 'The Miners Mother'). Announcing he has something important to say to Barbara, Carter confesses his love for her, and apologizes. Barbara then allows Carter to earn her trust by letting him move back in, and the two ultimately embrace in a passionate kiss. ==Production and development==

The episode was written by series regular Wellesley Wild and directed by series regular Cyndi Tang-Loveland shortly after the conclusion of the eighth production season. Series veterans Peter Shin and James Purdum, both of whom having previously served as animation directors, served as supervising directors for the episode, In addition to the regular cast, child actor Max Burkholder, actress Christine Lakin, and voice actress Rachael MacFarlane guest starred in the episode. Recurring guest voice actress Alexandra Breckenridge, actor Ralph Garman, and writers Patrick Meighan, Danny Smith, Alec Sulkin and John Viener also made minor appearances. Actor Patrick Warburton appeared in the episode as well. ==Cultural references==

In the opening scene of the episode, Peter notices a painting of a ship in his mother-in-law's living room, and questions whether or not he can change the channel. Lois goes on to instruct Peter that it is not a television, with Barbara interrupting and telling him it is actually the television channel PBS. Peter then interjects his hatred of PBS, after viewing a nine-part series on traffic signs by director and producer Ken Burns, the fourth of which on the yield sign. Later, after returning to dinner, Peter becomes an embarrassment to Lois, who recalls having dinner with Paul McCartney's ex-wife, Heather Mills, during which Peter began playing footsie with Mills, whose prosthetic leg ultimately falls off. In an attempt to make Barbara love Carter again, Peter instructs him that he must befriend a cute child in order to win her over. Peter then invites child actor Jonathan Lipnicki to the Griffin family home, but he is immediately shocked by his change in appearance. ==Reception==

"Welcome Back, Carter" was broadcast on October 10, 2010, as a part of an animated television night on Fox, and was preceded by The Simpsons, and Family Guy creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane's spin-off, The Cleveland Show, and followed by an episode of American Dad!. It was watched by 7.02 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings, despite airing simultaneously with Desperate Housewives on ABC, The Amazing Race on CBS and Sunday Night Football on NBC, and falling only 15% from the previous week's broadcast. The episode also acquired a 3.4 rating in the 18–49 demographic, beating The Simpsons, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show in addition to significantly edging out all three shows in total viewership. Television critics reacted mostly mixed to "Welcome Back, Carter", calling the storyline "hit-or-miss." In a simultaneous review of the episodes of The Simpsons and The Cleveland Show that preceded the show, and the broadcast of American Dad! that followed it, The A.V. Club's Rowan Kaiser noted the apparent lack of guest stars in the episode, adding, "I can't help but feel is a good thing in for Family Guy." In the conclusion of her review Kaiser praised the "shock humor" in the limousine jousting scene, but compared Carter's catchphrases to "the kind of groan-inducing meta-humor that The Cleveland Show aims for." She ultimately gave the episode a C rating, the second best rating of the night, beating The Cleveland Show episode "How Cleveland Got His Groove Back" and tying with the American Dad! episode "Son of Stan". Actor Jonathan Lipnicki, who was parodied in the episode, responded to his portrayal by stating, "I don't feel bad about what they said on Family Guy. It was all in good fun, I've worked on that show ." ==References==