TV Review: Arrested Development Season 4
I’ve never had such a unique television watching experience in my life. This isn’t necessarily critiquing the quality of Arrested Development’s long-awaited fourth season as much as it’s describing it’s format. The quality is there, in giant freight carriers marked “Sensory Overload’, and I’ll get to that soon enough. First, I need to talk about getting such immediate access to such a highly anticipated moment in my pop-culture addicted lifestyle. Sure, the overall wait was a tortuous one. Seven long years have passed since season three of the series. I’ve had three kids, four cars, and two podcasts in that time. The rumors didn’t help either. Every year seemed to bring another snippet of news from one of the main players. Jason Bateman says he’s in! Michael Cera says it’s off. Ron Howard says he wants to do it! David Cross needs it to stop doing Chipmunk movies but acts like he doesn’t care. As a fan, you try not to get caught up in the excitement and the disappointment, all at the same time.
So, when it was finally official and the steady flow of promotional pictures and cameo appearances started appearing online, it was time to give thanks. Thanks, Netflix, for committing to the love of a generation. Thanks for not raising your monthly fee. Thanks for dropping the entire boatload of those carriers right in my living room all at the same time. Kinda. This is where I’m at with getting all the episodes at once. I kinda liked it. I kinda didn’t. And, as I said earlier, I’ve never dealt with anything like this before. Sure, Netflix had released entire seasons of television at one time before (House of Cards, Hemlock Grove), but nothing that even approached this type of anticipation level for me. It was like we weren’t waiting for a new season of Arrested Development, it was like we were simply waiting for “Arrested Development Day”. It was over pretty quickly after waiting for seven goddamn years! Still, it exists, so be happy.
The show itself was the issue. More specifically, the format in which this season was delivered, all jumpy and intertwined. I ended up watching five episodes a day for three days straight and, even then, it seemed hard to follow along with the timeline. What started one episode was mixed into the middle of three others. What seemed important in one scene was revealed to be a punchline (for a completely separate joke) in another scene, eight episodes removed. For the most part this seemed to work as it made you feel a part of the many inside jokes, but every once in a while it left my brain rattled with confusion and by the time I caught up with what was going on I felt like I missed something else. It is not recommended to blink during this show. Unless you’re sitting next to Ron Howard. Ron knows everything.
So on with the show we go. After trying to come up with a comprehensible way to review this show (opposite of that last paragraph) I decide to treat it the way it treated us – character by character. Below is my thoughts on each Bluth family’s story arch, from best to worst.
Tobias Fünke (David Cross) – This is the Arrested Development I remember. Cringe-worthy awkward hilarity. Even letting Tobias in on the long-running joke about him being gay doesn’t seem to slow down the beating of the dead horse. My single favorite moment of the series takes place here – when Tobias, paying an innocent visit to his daughter, Maeby (Alia Shawkat), gets arrested on one of those “To Catch a Predator” news programs. The entire arc centers on a musical of The Fantastic Four, for which nobody involved owns the rights or has any talent. Grade: A+
George Michael Bluth (Michael Cera) – After it’s all queued and done, I feel the most important (obvious) journey of the season belongs to George Michael. In attempts to separate himself from the family and, more importantly, his birth name, George Michael spins himself into a web of lies that lead to success, sex, a better name, and a mustache. All are glorious to watch fall apart. The relationship with his father, overbearing and annoying, comes to a explosive conclusion that surprised me and actually took me to a weird emotional place during the last scene of the season. What is this, a drama? Grade: A+
Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) – Michael, the supposed level-headed leader of the Bluth empire, has fallen on hard times (who hasn’t on this show?) and tries to wash his hands of a tormented bloodline. This doesn’t work so well. Michael’s segments include my second favorite story-line of the season as he gets to work with Ron Howard (hard at work this season as narrator and actor) on getting a film made about his family. As mentioned above, the father-son relationship is the heart of the season and, for once, brings a real sense of tragedy to the story. Grade: A
Gob Bluth (Will Arnett) – Gob ‘s episodes deliver some of the season’s best jokes – the ‘Entourage inspired nightclub called “and Jeremy Piven”, and the “forget-me-now” pills had me rolling. His spiritual journey through douchbaggery is special to watch. There’s a failed re-connection with his son, a failed marriage attempt, which leads to a failed magical performance, which leads to a failed friendship with magical rival, Tony Wonder (Ben Stiller) that almost leads to failed gay sex. He also screws up bee keeping, limo driving, building a wall to keep the Mexicans out, and offends Jesus Christ a lot. Grade: B+
Maeby Fünke (Alia Shawkat) – Maeby only gets one episode dedicated to her story and uses the opportunity to pack as much sarcasm and neurosis as possible. I always felt Maeby was the most “normal” member of the family. There’s a couple situations here that shed the label. First is her determination to stay in high school as long as possible. The second is how stupid they make her. Both lend themselves well to the season, but portray Maeby in a slightly different light. She might just be her mother’s daughter after all. Grade: B
Lindsay Fünke (Portia de Rossi) – Speaking of her mother, Lindsay is an absolute mess. Her character, made to resonate with nobody, gets involved with a man that suffers from “face blindness”, becomes a hooker for a politician (unbeknownst to her), begins her own political agenda (unbeknownst to her), and continues to search for a heart. Only, not really. Like I said, it’s hard to relate to Lindsay when I find myself wanting to choke the life out of her almost every second she’s on screen. It works though. Grade: B
Buster Bluth (Tony Hale) – Buster is a great character…… in increments. Dedicating an entire episode to him proved risky and I’m not sure totally worked. It seemed Buster barely showed up in any of the other episodes which led to an onslaught of his quirks all at the same time. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some great moments here but his lack of importance to the rest of the family almost feels like a break from the action. Spread him out more. Grade: C+
George Bluth, Sr (Jeffrey Tambor) – Easily carrying the most confusing storyline, George, Sr. splits time with his twin brother Oscar in every aspect of his life and makes the viewer rely more on Ron Howard to tell us what’s going on than actually understanding it for ourselves. That’s okay though, Ron Howard had a cool voice. Grade C
Lucille Bluth (Jessica Walter) – Much like her daughter, Lucille infuriates me. I understand that this is the point, and that women like this don’t really exist (they don’t, right?) but it gets frustrating to watch issue after issue go unresolved because of her ridiculous ego. Maybe I should lighten up and enjoy the comedy. Maybe they should kill her off. Whatever. Grade: C
As a whole, I loved it. Not every second of it, but I loved it. Not mentioned above but needed to be highlighted is the work of Henry Winkler. The guy is a comedic genius. Who knew? Let’s also make note of the many great cameos and dedicated nods to seasons past. Nobody loves this show more than the people making it and they’re pretty blatant about it. I pray for it to be a huge success and hope Netflix hangs on for a few more years. To cut this show off again would be criminal.
Overall Rating: A
Floyd
May 31, 2013 @ 1:50 pm
I think this show was ready for a nu start