Saw it last night. I very much did not see that playing out the way it did...apparently neither did many other people.
Meh. They "killed off" Lois once... only to bring her back in the next episode. Hell, do you really think that Seth MacFarlane is going to kill off the only character that he gets to use his real voice with? You know, I once saw this episode of "South Park" where they killed off Kenny...
I imagine Brian will be there next episode, as if nothing happened as in Lois' death a few years back. Or there will be a continuation of this week's episode, where the issue is resolved, utilizing the time machine of Stewie's rival, Bertram (Wallace Shawn).
yeahb tut he death of Lois was a cheat - didn't actually happen (think it was Stewie using a VR system). Though I was surprised that Brian wasn't back by the end. The promo used in Canada definitely didn't show this one coming though implied it revolved around the time machine.
Huh. That's surprising, and it's pretty ballsy for an episodic show to kill off not only a main character but arguably the show's best character. That'd be like if Cartman died. I can respect the ballsiness of it, but it's probably not a good idea in the long run, and even if they intend right now for him to be gone permanently, I give 60% odds they reverse it eventually. In South Park in season 5 they considered killing off Kyle, they planned to has Ms Chokesondik permanently the teacher, and then planned to have Kenny be permadead in season 6 with other kids rotating in as the 4th kid just as Butters and Tweek did. Then they realized it was a bad idea and just went back on it.
OR...Stewie could just bide his time until his former self shows up to get the Christmas presents he couldn't wait for...
This story from last month: http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/10/29/family-guy-maya-rudolph-glenn-howerton/ references a future episode featuring Brian that hasn't aired yet. And the wiki article for this season mentions two future episodes that include "Brian" in the title: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Guy_(season_12)
I was absolutely shocked that Brian was still dead at the end of the episode, and that when I looked up the next episode it wasn't about bringing him back... but I also saw Brian's name in a number of upcoming episode titles It's clearly just a short arc. They'll do a few episodes with the new dog, then Stewie will make another time machine and bring back Brian.
They killed the best character. But $50 says that Stewie will bring him back to life by the season finale. Probably through cloning or time travel.
If this sticks...what a dumb move, kill off worthless characters like Lois, Chris or Meg if you need to kick the show into gear.
Ummm... there's absolutely nothing in that link to support that statement. Time merely acknowledges the events of last night's episode, but offer nothing whatsoever to imply that future episodes won't simply reset the situation. And, as others have pointed out, we already know that Brian isn't long gone, as there are already synopsis out of several future episodes that feature Brian.
I like his singing, would hate not to see that again. Still, it's a fictional character whose voice actor is still alive. Pure marketing hype, like the death of comic book Superman. Why write funny when you can just take a dump.