Family Guy has a wide variety of characters, all with their own quirks,
goals, and schemes. And one of the more featured residents of Spooner Street
is Glenn Quagmire. We’re not here to condone any of the very illegal and immoral acts that
Quagmire commits on a regular basis... He has a very bad record to say the least... But today,
we did want to touch on what we considered his more vulnerable and reputable moments.
What deeds has Quagmire done that are worthy of praise… That made the world a little better?
I’m Brad with WickedBinge and this is Glenn Quagmire’s Best Moments.
We’re going to count down the times where Quagmire spoke out against others,
protected those around him and placed other people before himself.
#5 - Telling off Brian
One of Glenn’s most well-known moments on screen is when he is teld
Brian off. At least, the first time we really see him lay into the canine anyway.
It begins with Peter, Glenn and Joe becoming increasingly upset about Cleveland no longer
being around for their escapades... and so they decide to find someone else to join them.
When Brian offers to fill the void, Peter drops the bomb
that Brian hanging around wasn’t an option due to Glenn hating the talking pet.
The episode continues with Brian desperate to gain Glenn’s favour and we see the attempts fail
in ways that further show Glenn in a good light. While we usually see the more devious parts of his
personality, this episode is set apart in that here Glenn is more sensible, no-nonsense and is
far more empathetic. After mistaking Glenn’s sister for a one night stand and leaving a
fake note from an ex, Brian finally manages to take Glenn out to dinner to see if they can meet
some common ground. Instead, Glenn decides to tell Brian exactly what he thinks of him.
He calls out Brian’s pretentious attitude, his arrogant nature,
his poor fathering and his attraction to Lois before stepping out of the restaurant,
thanking Brian for the meal. The whole episode is a nod towards Quagmire’s more intelligent and
insightful side, and gives the viewer something to think about. And we can’t say that we disagree…
Brian’s character had transformed from moral, intelligent and loyal… (something that was pretty
funny in the early seasons… Having the family’s voice of reason being the pet…) to being snobby,
pretentious, preachy and full of B.S. Quagmire wasn’t wrong to call him out.
#4 - Helping Ida
Glenn is known for having a lot of pride in his military background. And the inspiration
for this pursuit in the Navy goes to his father. But after Dan comes to visit Glenn and finally
undergoes the sex change operation he wanted for years, Glenn is conflicted on the whole
thing. It’s a large adjustment for him to see his war hero father become his war hero mother.
Though it is a process, Glenn does eventually come around to the idea,
but is quickly derailed again when he finds out Ida slept with Brian,
the one being on the planet Glenn seems to hate more than anyone else.
Hearing that this pretentious mutt was the focus of his mom’s affection was too much for Glenn to
handle. After he initially finds out, his immediate response is to go next door and
chase Brain around the Griffin home, beating the dog however he can. But the moment we feel earned
a spot as one of Glenn’s top moments on screen is after Ida and Brian hook up for the second time.
When they are intimate again, it leads to the two of them having a longer relationship,
Brian and Ida actually trying to treat one another as a partner and Brian even treating
Glenn as a son of sorts. This of course grates on Glenn’s nerves for a number of reasons.
The first is that he obviously still can’t stand Brian, with it being a struggle to
play nice with the canine. The second is that he is much older than Brian or anyone
else he normally hangs around, making Brian talking down to him all the more annoying.
But the viewers really root for Glenn when he has a heart to heart with Ida, expressing that he saw
her as deserving of far better than Brian. It was a shining moment, giving the audience not only
another Glenn and Brian conflict, but showing the connection Glenn had with Ida, still looking up to
her as a role model and hero and not wanting her to settle out of fear of not finding anyone else.
#3 - Helping his Daughter(s)
Over the show’s run, Glenn is shown to have two daughters in particular we focus on.
One that was dropped off on his doorstep and one that he ran into at a school dance.
With the first, Glenn was clearly out of his depth, not sure how to raise a young child
that would depend so heavily on him. He was eventually pushed to the point where he felt
the best thing for his daughter was to put her up for adoption since the mother already fled
from the picture. Though he does regret this briefly, he sees that his daughter went to a
stable and loving home that was able to provide for her, and so pulled away from taking her back.
The second, Glenn met under more stressful circumstances. While going around with his
friends to find various party buses, they end up at a high school dance.
Glenn does make a point of outright asking the age of the girl he’s interested in,
but things still don’t go in his favour. When the young woman, Courtney, makes a point of saying his
own catchphrase by habit, Glenn insists on a DNA test which shows she’s his daughter.
He takes the information in stride considering what kind of a man he is. He goes from being
this carefree bachelor to trying his hardest to be a good role model and father to Courtney.
He takes her to work with him, has her stay in his home, and takes her to movies and on
camping trips all in hopes of making up for lost time and helping her get her footing.
He does snap when they get lost in the woods and are threatened by a surrounding wildfire,
yelling about how he hated being called dad and how he never wanted this way of
life. It was a harsh moment, but when he does calm down,
he expresses he does want to be there for her and he was willing to take things slower and adjust.
We don’t see his daughter after this, implying she moved out but they were still in touch.
#4 - Helping Land a Plane
When Glenn loses his job as a pilot, he eventually loses his home and has to move
in with the Griffins. After he wears down his welcome, his friends rally to try and help him,
getting the idea that if he was shown to be a hero, he would have to be taken back on staff.
The idea isn’t a great one, and it almost ends in a horrible fiery disaster when Glenn
doesn’t go through with the plan to fly the plane when the pilots are knocked out. Instead he loses
track of time sleeping with a gate agent. Though he almost gives up, Glenn summons
enough strength to force his way into the control room and give instructions on how to land safely.
Though not as planned, the fiasco did make Quagmire a hero
and did get him his job as a pilot again.
#5 - Thwarting Terrorists
This episode started off pretty light-hearted, with Glenn wanting to share his benefit of free
travel with his friends. But as with most episodes in Family Guy,
even the most innocent of beginnings can end up being a horrible mess.
After they return to the plane, Glenn flying them home,
they are attacked by terrorists that try to force their way into the cockpit.
This episode is worth mentioning for 1- How Glenn stayed calm and kept the cockpit locked shut
despite the threat to keep the attackers from gaining control. And 2- When they do manage to
get into the cockpit and hold him at gunpoint, Glenn puts his naval pilot training into use,
knocking the other man out by rolling the plane.
This wound up ending well despite the fact that almost everyone else on the flight ignored the
seatbelt safety sign and so were also either knocked out or injured as a result of the rolling,
but it was fast thinking that did help them keep control of the flight
and keep anyone from being killed. Most of the time when we see Quagmire,
it’s easy to forget that he is a veteran trained to handle stressful situations like
this. We don’t get to see many times such as this where he shines, using his training
to defend others. Hopefully that changes as the show continues but only time will tell.
But what do you think? What were the best moments Glenn Quagmire had on Family Guy?
Let us know in the comment section. Don't forget to hit that notification bell
and binge our Good-to-Evil playlist. Where we break down the morality of
the characters in your favorite cartoons, shows and movies. But most importantly, stay wicked!