Re-watching this show, I think what most surprised me about Season 1 was how absolutely funny this two part episode was. We get a superb guest-star appearance from Julia-Louis Dreyfuss, and boy, she really did mesh well with this cast. What surprised me even more was how insane everything was; everybody in the episode seemed to have some sort of plot that was not only endlessly entertaining but also completely ridiculous. For instance, it's funny and strange enough for Michael's plot to be the fact that he has a one-night stand with the lawyer that is prosecuting his father who is also blind, using a fake name and career to pick her up (Chareth Cutestory, the pirate lawyer) throw in the fact that Gob gets married to a woman because she dared him to and that she makes him wear horrible sweaters (the wife is played by a pre-Parks and Rec. Amy Poehler, who is also his wife in real life), George Sr.'s admirer (Jane Lynch's Cindi Lightballoon) falls in love with him, Maeby pretends to be a sick girl to get money you have one weird and fantastic episode on your hands.
The crux of the story is everything involving Michael and Maggie Lizer (Dreyfuss' character). They meet at a bar, with Michael trying to trudge through his father's plea bargain. Instead of actually reading it, he meets Maggie and sleeps with her, learning that she's blind the next morning. Turns out Michael was so drunk that he didn't even realize she was blind, even when she went right out and said she was. The rest of the episode finds him spending time with her because he feels too bad to break it off with a blind woman. It turns out that they have a fiery connection though.
As I mentioned above, there's a lot of other stuff going on. Gob gets married to a woman who apparently sells seals or something insane like that, while George Michael learns that his cousin is masquerading as a girl named Surely Funke (a horrible cover-up, but still funny) and George Sr. gets closer to learning about what evidence the prosecution has on him. These come nowhere close to the greatness that comes from Jason Bateman and Julia Louis Dreyfuss together. Maggie being a blind woman leads to some amazing jokes, including Michael looking right at her and shaking his head in frustration or mouthing the words "Oh my god!" There's also Justice, the seeing eye dog, who probably steals the scenes right out from under the actors. Justice is the worst seeing eye dog in television history, and watching him run away and attack a woman and her child and eventually run in front of a roller-blader, making him fall down in the background of the scene is hilarious. I had to keep rewinding it because it was making me laugh so much.
Besides those scenes, there's two big revelations: one is that Maggie is the prosecuting lawyer that's trying to get George Bluth in jail and that Maggie is not blind. The "Maggie not being blind" part comes at the end of the episode, and we get a glimpse at what will happen as a result (it involves Tobias sneaking into the house through the dog door and trying to be silent as he sneaks around).
Overall, this was a great first part to a superb two part episode.moreless
Episode Summary
EDIT
Michael attempts to have a one-night stand with an attorney whom he doesn't know is not only blind, but the prosecutor who is trying to put his father in jail. Also, Gob gets married on a dare, Maeby pretends to be a girl with a made up disease, and George Sr.'s admirer turns out to be an undercover SEC agent who has truly fallen for him.moreless
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GUEST STAR
James LiptonWarden Stefan Gentles
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GUEST STAR
Steve WittingPrincipal Conrad
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GUEST STAR
Jane LynchCindi Lightballoon
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Jeffrey Tambor
George Bluth Sr. / Oscar Bluth
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Portia de Rossi
Lindsay Bluth Fünke
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David Cross
Tobias Fünke
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Ron Howard
Narrator
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Jason Bateman
Michael Bluth
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Jessica Walter
Lucille Bluth
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions
See All-
TRIVIA (4)
ADD TRIVIA-
It's revealed that the "New warden"'s name is Stefan Gentles.
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Cindi Lightballoon rides the "Blendin Mobile Pet Grooming" van to the prison.
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We first see a "Surely Funke" poster in "Shock and Aww".
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Cindi Lightballoon was wearing a "Caged Wisdom" T-Shirt.
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QUOTES (12)
ADD QUOTES-
Gob: Sorry, did you say seals? Gob's Wife: Yes! I trade trained seals for a living! Do you ever listen? Gob: Do you ever stop talking?
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Lindsay: We would like you to tutor our daughter. Tobias: Now, of course, we are having a bit of a cash flow problem. But I assure you; if you bring our little girl's grades up, I will pack your sweet pink mouth with so much ice cream, you'll be the envy of every Jerry and Jane on the block! George Michael: But we're the only house on the block. (Camera shows a shot of the Bluth house in the middle of nowhere) Tobias: Perhaps we should get somebody else.
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Maeby: Enjoy the $200. George Michael: This is six $20s. Maeby: That's right.
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George Sr.: Hi ... This is not what it looks like ... Lucille: It looks like you're tweaking her nipples through a chain-link fence. George Sr.: Yep ... Yeah, that's it.
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Barry: Do you want to read it? Michael: No, it is thick. Why don't we just take it? Barry: I could kiss you on the nuts. Michael: Yeah, well ... What?
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Michael: (regarding Maggie) I certainly can't take advantage of her now, knowing what I know. Gob: What? No, Michael, you can. Don't you...? You just won the gold medal at the sexual Special Olympics. She can't ever find you again. Don't you see that you're so lucky? God, how do you not...?
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Gob: Michael, you can save this family. Please, do the right thing here. String this blind girl along so that Dad doesn't have to pay his debt to society. Barry: The solution to all our problems is staring you right in the face, and it can't even see you.
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Lucille: Your father with his disgusting tweaking. I couldn't breast feed any of you kids because of that man. (Everyone groans except for Barry) Barry: They still look fabulous.
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Michael: Boy, the lengths you'll go to sleep with a woman. Gob: Believe me, we didn't do any sleeping. I had sex last night. Narrator: But he really didn't. Gob: Yes, I did.
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Gob: I told you to walk away. I told you to give a fake name. Michael: I did. Thanks very much. I'm Chareth Cutestory, a pirate lawyer. It was airtight.
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Michael: I actually had a pretty interesting night myself. Gob: Really? What'd you do, read the plea?
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Narrator: That morning, however, she had some startling news for him. Cindi: I'm a mole. George Sr.: Well, you know, God - God doesn't care how big your teeth are. Yes, you could go to a dentist and you could, whoo - you could grind off about - I don't know - 30%. Maybe more. Yeah, I wouldn't miss it.
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NOTES (6)
ADD NOTES-
The music in the courthouse bar is the Arrested Development music.
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Rating: 6.7/10
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Although credited, Tony Hale ("Buster") didn't appear in this episode.
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This was the 17th episode produced, but the 16th to air.
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In real life, Will Arnett ("Gob") and Amy Poehler (""Gob"'s wife") are married.
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Aired in a special Wednesday timeslot after a one hour American Idol.
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ALLUSIONS (3)
ADD ALLUSIONS-
In the mens' room scene, Henry Winkler goes to comb his hair but instead leans back a little and spreads his hands out just as he did in Happy Days as The Fonz.
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Maggie's guide dog is called "Justice" - an ironic reference to the phrase "Justice is Blind", which is also the title of the following episode.
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This is the first appearance of Amy Poehler as The Wife of Gob. Despite numerous appearances in the series, she is never actually given any name but the Wife of Gob. This is the same as the biblical Wife of Job who is never actually given a name either and is only referred to as the Wife of Job or Job's Wife.
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Overview Status Updates That Need Confirmation
05/20/121
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Gob insults grandmother
03/14/121
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How would you rank Arrested Development amongst the top shows of the decade?
01/23/1225
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Best one liners from Arrested Development
01/22/1287
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New season AND movie???
01/15/129
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Development Arrested
S 3 : Ep 13
Aired 2/10/06 (22:23)
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Exit Strategy
S 3 : Ep 12
Aired 2/10/06 (22:01)
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Family Ties
S 3 : Ep 11
Aired 2/10/06 (21:47)
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Fakin' It
S 3 : Ep 10
Aired 2/10/06 (21:57)
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