Arrested Development

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.

Count me in as one of the people who started watching the show after it was off the air, but this was still just another strong episode of a show that has achieved a cult following since 2006. You have to appreciate how everything came together in the end and how truly smart the comedy here was. Sure, there were some cheap gags like the incorrect chicken noises, and Jessica Walter's character pretty much being a generic and cliched mother, but you would be lying if you said you did not find this episode funny, nor did you appreciate the intelligence of the half hour.

The whole family start working at the Bluth Company after Michael finds out they’ve been getting pay checks from the company and not working at all.



Lindsay as receptionist was hilarious sending the office out to lunch, the employees ending up in Catalina, and making George Michael temp receptionist when Gob and Buster cause construction to cease work and Michael builds a sandcastle.



The feds taking the file of all the things George Michael made for his father, thinking they were information about George Sr was a hilarious ending to the pretty good episode, all plots getting many laughs, especially from Lindsay and Tobias.