The word "perfect" gets thrown around a lot in some reviews, and while I'm inclined to use the word in terms of my opinions to friends and family, when it's time for me to get objective and focus on getting rid of my biases, I rarely use the word "perfect." It's tough for a show to have a perfect episode, or a masterpiece, at least in my opinion. The show needs to be able to either come up with a beginning for the characters so spectacular that it sticks in our memories for years to come, or take everything that's been introduced about the particular characters up until that point and up the ante. It's more than just that too; you need some good writing, good acting and a well-structured story. Looking throughout the fifty-three episodes of "Arrested Development," it's fun to say that certain episodes are perfect, but to me, there's some that just stand out above anything else. "Good Grief" is one of them. There's a couple in Season 3. And "Pier Pressure," for me (I'll be saying that a lot in this review, I'm sure), is one of the finest episodes of the show to date. Every character (except maybe Tobias) has an incredibly fun plot to sink their teeth into, and in the end, we don't just get another typical twenty minutes of television: we get a great look at a family trying to put family first in their own weird way.
Even thinking back on the episode, I'm amazed at how writers Jim Valley and Mitch Hurwitz were able to cram so much story into twenty minutes. Michael and Lindsey get into an argument about how to raise their children: Michael, in a rare glimpse of him being a complete jerk, gets on his son's case about getting an A- ("Just an A-Minus?") while Lindsey claims he needs to be more like her when it comes to raising children and not put so much stress on them. As a result, both parents take drastically different paths to helping their children. Lindsey decides to punish her child's bad grades by making Maeby hang out with Lucille. Maeby, at first, believes hanging out with Lucille will be cool, and together, they make fun of Lindsey and bond a bit. However, Maeby quickly realizes that hanging out with Lucille isn't quite as cool, mostly because Lucille is a cruel, horrible mother and just as bad as a grandmother.
However, it's Michael's plot that sticks with me the most and likely everybody else as well. Michael decides to loosen the reigns on his son. After all, he's talking to himself, his eyes are red from exhaustion and guilt is beginning to pile on him. As a result, he tells his son to take a day off. Instead of truly relaxing, Michael goes to the banana stand to get away from the homework. It's here that Buster meets up with George Michael asks him to buy pot from Gob for Lucille Austero. You see, Lucille 2 has nausea from her vertigo and Buster can't handle it. George Michael agrees to do so, but Gob shows Michael the note that George Michael left for him and Michael suddenly realizes what happens when he no longer stresses his son. The red eyes that his son had from exhaustion suddenly become red eyes due to marijuana smoking. Michael remembers the ridiculous lessons that his father used to teach him and his siblings at a young age. They involved a man named J. Walter Weatherman, who had a fake arm. George would hire Weatherman to scare the children into not doing things, whether it's leaving a note or not yelling. Michael decides to come up with his own way of teaching his son a lesson: by hiring Gob's old stripper friends to dress up as cops and drug dealers and scare the crap out of George Michael.
It's here that everything comes to a head and explodes in a hurricane of hilarious moments, sight gags and revelations. It's funny enough watching Gob's stripper friends trying their hardest to not start ripping their clothes off at any given moment, but when you throw in a group of real drug dealers and cops that start shooting at each other that actually turns out to be J. Walter Weatherman and some men that George Michael hired, things hit a level of hilarity that some shows never get to, even after ten seasons of being on the air. Gob yelling "They're just strippers! Can't you see how hot they are?!" and seeing the man's arm hit the ground and saying, "That's why you don't teach lessons to your sons." It turns out George Bluth believed all of this lesson-teaching wasn't right and decided to teach his son, Michael, one last lesson: don't teach lessons. It's an incredibly complex and clever bit of storytelling, and a clear-cut example of why the episode can be given the label "masterpiece."
I apologize for the heavy summary, but boy, the episode is just too good not to soak up all of the great details and comment on them. I didn't even get around to mentioning the hilarious explanation of why the banana stand was once considered a hot drug spot in the seventies (Big Yellow Joint.. 'nuff said) and about Gob's stint as one of the "Hot Cops." I barely got into the way the characters bounced off of each other and how well we see each of the characters and how their personalities mesh with each other. If there's one complaint I have, it's that they couldn't find a way to include Tobias in everything. But it's a minor annoyance, one that I can forget about because Tobias sort of disappeared from episodes here and there but always reappeared twice as funny as before.
What a great episode Mitch Hurwitz and company created here. I don't use the word "masterpiece" often. I've given maybe six or seven episodes a "10," and this one is definitely deserving of it.moreless
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Episode Summary
Buster realizes that medical marijuana will help cure Lucille 2's vertigo, and pays George Michael to get it for him from Gob. Lindsay sends Maeby to spend a day with Lucille to punish her for bad grades. Michael thinks George Michael is on drugs and attempts to teach him a lesson.moreless
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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
Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions
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Trivia
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Help by adding trivia to this episode. Add trivia
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Notes
ADD NOTES- This episode won the 2005 WGA Award (TV) in the "Episodic Comedy" category (tied with the Malcolm In The Middle episode "Ida's Boyfriend"). Edit
- Tobias does not appear in this episode. Edit
- Buster's folder holding his nausea study has a message on the front. "Property of Buster Bluth. If found, please contact Lucille Bluth in California. (She'll pay for the charges)" Edit
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Quotes
ADD QUOTES- George Michael: Well, I think we're okay. Michael: We are. I mean, you know that there's nothing that you can't be totally honest with me about. I mean, you could say anything to me, you know? Anything at all. George Michael: Like, say I had a crush on my own cousin. Michael: Hey! You just taught me a lesson. All right, we're even. Edit
- Drug Dealer: You set us up! Gob: No! These are just strippers! Look how hot they are! Edit
- Buster: It-it's for my girlfriend. She's sick. Gob: Why don't you just wait it out? She's gonna be gone soon. Edit
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Allusions
ADD ALLUSIONS- Michael: Your uncle Gob seems to think that he saw you down at the docks today. Was that you? George Michael: No. Maybe it was the other George Michael. You know, the singer-songwriter. George Michael was a British singer-songwriter. He was half of the pop duo WHAM! and sang hits like Faith as a solo artist. Edit
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