Once again, I was surprised to see just how many amazing storylines this show could fit into one episode without it feeling overwhelming. Of course, with this episode, I felt there were a couple of random plots that didn't mesh as well with everything else, but no matter! The episode was still filled with plenty of great moments.
Michael learns that his entire family has been getting paychecks for doing absolutely no work. Frustrated, he forces everybody to do work: Buster starts off in the copy room and moves outside to start building houses (to prove to his mom he can work as well as Annyong can), Lindsey starts off as the secretary and quickly tries to to take over as boss, even though she has no clue what she's doing. Gob helps build houses too, although he eventually fights with Buster. Lucille changes nothing in her lifestyle, even refusing to let her maid, Lupe, go on vacation (Michael intervenes and sets it up so their family reunion will begin in the Bluth parking lot by being picked up by a bus). Meanwhile, Tobias is researching his prison role and gets permission to enter prison as George Bluth's cell-mate to do research.
Everything mostly blends together without effort. Michael, who spends most of the episode freaking out over work, realizes he's not paying enough attention to his son, and by leaving Lindsey in charge, the employees get on Lupe's family's bus, thinking it's a company picnic thing. Meanwhile, Lupe's family gets on Lindsey's staircar, thinking they're going to their family reunion when really, Lindsey just needs a group of immigrant workers to do work for her, since the construction people for the Bluth's did a work stoppage thanks to gob. All of the Bluth family members have their plots dovetail nicely.
If there was one thing I didn't care for, it's the Tobias/George plot. Don't get me wrong: a lot of the jokes leading up to Tobias fake incarceration were hilarious (Tobias: "Say something that will scare me." Lindsey: "F**k me."), and we get a guest appearance from James Lipton, who pays a warden who wants Carl Weathers to read his script: "New Warden." But one they get in jail, we get more White Power Bill, more weird George Bluth as a Jewish man scenes, they just didn't mesh as well with the rest of the episode.
But the things that did work worked remarkably well. We also see Gob's first (I think it's his first) chicken impression, as well as a Lucille who is at her absolute worst. Also, there's just some great subtle details here, whether it's the constant appearance or mention of sheep or the image of that one guy in the Bluth group who's always lagging behind. It's nice when TV shows can pay attention to the little things.moreless
EDIT
Episode Summary
When Michael discovers his family has been receiving paychecks without working, he forces them all to get jobs within the company. Lindsay questions his management skills, and Tobias checks himself in at George Sr.'s prison to research a film role.
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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
ADD TRIVIA- The new prison warden's screenplay is titled New Warden. Edit
- The folder on Michael's desk is labeled "Permit Office". However, in "Charity Drive", The Bluth Company was said to have some trouble filing its permits. Edit
- The surveillance team's van is labeled "Blendin Electric Company". Edit
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Notes
ADD NOTES- Michael Blieden ("Agent Cummings") wrote the screenplay and appeared in the Bob Odenkirk directed indie film Melvin Goes to Dinner, which starred Blieden and Matt Price, who also appears in the episode. Odenkirk, of course, was a previous guest star on the show and David Cross has a cameo in the film. Blieden also wrote for Mitchell Hurwitz-Created, Jeffrey Tambor-starring ABC comedy Everything's Relative." Edit
- Rating: 4.9/7 Edit
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Quotes
ADD QUOTES- Lindsay: Okay, so you guys don't want to work? Fine. I've got a stair car full of Mexican laborers that would love a day's work. Lupe's Uncle: Laborers? I'm a professor of American studies at the University of Mexico City. Edit
- Gob: I hope you're up to this, Buster! This is a game of courage! A game for men! Buster: Yeah, well, it's a game I'm ready for! Uh-oh. My seat doesn't have a cushion. Edit
- Foreman: This is not how we settle things on a site. We got our own way of finding out who's a chicken. By a little game we like to call ... "Chicken." Edit
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Allusions
ADD ALLUSIONS- The "creative" new warden and what he says when Tobias meet him, is a joke on the fact that he's played by James Lipton, known for his job as the host of Inside the Actor's Studio. Each episode of the show features Lipton interviewing an actor (occasionally several). Edit
- The game of bulldozer chicken is a send-up of the 1984 movie Footloose, which Lindsay referenced earlier in the episode. Edit
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