The Hand That Rocks the Wheelchair

"The Hand That Rocks the Wheelchair" is the 12th episode of the ninth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy.

The episode follows Meg as she attempts to look after her handicapped neighbor, Joe, after his wife, Bonnie, has to leave town temporarily to visit her ailing father.

Bonnie is arrested by airport security (inadvertently revealing that she was also smuggling cocaine), giving Meg extra time to be with Joe.

Meg waits for Joe to return home, when she jumps in front of his police car, attempting to paralyze herself in order to have a common interest.

[1] Along with the episode's title, the Meg and Joe plot line heavily borrows from the storyline, as well as several scenes, of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.

Stewie shown with yellow eyes and Vincent Price's laughter is a direct reference to Michael Jackson's Thriller music video.

[2] The evil Stewie acts like "Chucky," the main villain from the Child's Play series by David Kirschner and Don Mancini, including the way he attacked Brian, and killing people with weapons.

"The Hand That Rocks the Wheelchair" was broadcast on March 6, 2011, as a part of an animated television night on Fox, and was preceded by The Simpsons and Bob's Burgers, and followed by Family Guy creator and executive producer Seth MacFarlane's spin-off, The Cleveland Show.

It was watched by 6.23 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings, despite airing simultaneously with Desperate Housewives on ABC, Undercover Boss on CBS and the season premiere of The Celebrity Apprentice on NBC.

[4] Television critics gave mostly mixed reviews toward the episode, calling the storyline "a decent return to wacky adventures of Quahog.

Club's Rowan Kaiser wrote, "It was still weird and a bit experimental: An awkward conversation between Meg and Joe was done almost naturalistically, while an evil Stewie clone engaged in hyper-violence beyond the usual implied cartoon violence.

"[2] Hughes also praised actress Mila Kunis for her portrayal of Meg, noting, "almost expected her to turn into Annie Wilkes from Misery and strap Joe to a bed.