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Arrested Development |OT| Season 4 - May 26 - Netflix Unmakes A Huge Mistake

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M

Miguel

Member
I'm going to watch Clue over the next few days and then rewatch this season to see if they have any more Clue "references" besides Mustard/Parmesan and Monopoly/Twister (not really a reference, except to board games in general), and the body disappearing after being dark for a few seconds. Maybe someone has flames tattooed on the side of their face? I don't know.

Lucille Austero does go to the Plumb Clinic too... not exact but close enough.
 
G

Goldrush

Member
Did the show confirm that the blood IS blood and that it was Lucille 2? Right now, I'm just thinking she's completely ok and just walked away and into another chain of events that placed her away from her campaign.
 
B

BertramCooper

Banned
I really do hope that Lucille Austero is dead.

I absolutely love the idea of an AD murder mystery. And I'm sure Liza Minelli is game for all sorts of crazy flashbacks.
 
I

icespide

Banned
The Real Abed said:
I'm on my second run. On the Lindsay episode right now. It's much better on repeat viewings.

Also, I just read the last 6 pages of this thread and I just wanted to mention something again because it doesn't seem a lot of people caught this...

For all the people who FINISHED THE SEASON and are complaining about the ending. Did you MAKE SURE TO WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE CREDITS FOR THE FINAL "On the Next..." SEGMENT? Because it seems a lot of people STILL didn't know that was there. Even a guy I work with who shut his laptop halfway through the credits.

They did this on purpose just for this reason. REAL fans wouldn't end the episode before the credits are completely over. Especially when an episode is currently lacking an epilogue. I personally think it was a silly idea and just confused a lot of people. But then again, this is the same fanbase that couldn't handle a silly piracy software flashback joke.

So if you're one of the many confused people who saw George Michael punch his father and cried out in anger at the "ending", do yourself a favor and load up the episode again. Watch the post-credits portion. THEN you can get back to complaining.

This has been a public service announcement. I hope it was informative. I bid you hello.

*Disclaimer: All CAPITAL wording is purely for emphasis. Not to imply yelling. I felt it necessary to post this again because there are a lot of people just now finishing up and will be for a few days. So pass on the word.*
Click to expand...

wow thanks for this. I had no idea!
 
J

Jinaar

Member
I am so lost at people not finding the episodes as funny as previous seasons. The show continues where it left off, all the actors and actresses haven't missed a beat here and their roles are perfectly orchestrated. The subtle and not so subtle jokes are classic. Each scene is densely packed with information that as a viewer of the AD experience, I'm really looking forward to my second viewing. Even listening to each opening credits for 14 episodes one can notice the unique sounds coming from the song which all culminate with episodes 15 opening credits having everyone's musical part playing at the same time, just fascinating!

And SO much can happen going forward, especially the wall going up.
Marky could turn out to be really rich due to where his property is located compared to George/Oscar's land on the Mexico side of the border.

To all the people that just don't get the happy from this show:

*puts index finger vertically to lips and silently says shhhhhhhh*
 
J

Jinaar

Member
This needs to be seperate:

Who had their mind blown when George Michael drops the bomb on Maeby that he's never seen
Lucille Austero
before. I have to rewatch seasons 1-3 again!
 
N

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
Jinaar said:
This needs to be seperate:

Who had their mind blown when George Michael drops the bomb on Maeby that he's never seen
Lucille Austero
before. I have to rewatch seasons 1-3 again!
Click to expand...

Oh my god yeah that really did blow my mind, I had never even considered that George Michael would never have seen her in person.

I think one of my favorite gags for rewatching was in episode 2 when George Michael is talking to his dad in George Michaels dorm you can clearly see a map with 3 pins on it, 2 in California and 1 in Spain.


Overtly Sexual
 
B

BertramCooper

Banned
Jinaar said:
I am so lost at people not finding the episodes as funny as previous seasons. The show continues where it left off, all the actors and actresses haven't missed a beat here and their roles are perfectly orchestrated. The subtle and not so subtle jokes are classic. Each scene is densely packed with information that as a viewer of the AD experience, I'm really looking forward to my second viewing. Even listening to each opening credits for 14 episodes one can notice the unique sounds coming from the song which all culminate with episodes 15 opening credits having everyone's musical part playing at the same time, just fascinating!

And SO much can happen going forward, especially the wall going up.
Marky could turn out to be really rich due to where his property is located compared to George/Oscar's land on the Mexico side of the border.

To all the people that just don't get the happy from this show:

*puts index finger vertically to lips and silently says shhhhhhhh*
Click to expand...

I thought the season was fantastic (mostly), but I totally see where the negativity is coming from and I don't necessarily disagree with many of the complaints.

It's a fundamentally different show - a show based on extended serial narrative and focused on individual characters, and far less of the mini-arc-based ensemble piece that it was in Seasons 1-3.

While much of this change was necessitated by the logistical and budgetary challenges of bringing the cast back together, it was still an audacious experiment that was bound to ruffle a few feathers.

I always admire shows willing to take risks. Season 4 could have easily been little more than lazy fanservice, but Mitch went for broke and mostly succeeded at it.
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
Even before the credits, the ending was hugely satisfying and significant.

Michael and George Michael are on opposite sides of a wall (one even has a bush) and pretty much the most important bond of the series has been broken. Everything led to that moment.
 
J

Jinaar

Member
BenjaminBirdie said:
Even before the credits, the ending was hugely satisfying and significant.

Michael and George Michael are on opposite sides of a wall (one even has a bush) and pretty much the most important bond of the series has been broken. Everything led to that moment.
Click to expand...

Beautifully worded.
 
F

Fantastical

Death Prophet
BenjaminBirdie said:
Even before the credits, the ending was hugely satisfying and significant.

Michael and George Michael are on opposite sides of a wall (one even has a bush) and pretty much the most important bond of the series has been broken. Everything led to that moment.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but I didn't really care that much about the GM and Michael relationship. The ending felt like there was another episode. I guess the ending is clever with the wall, but it's certainly not satisfying.
 
J

Jinaar

Member
The ending could also be interrupted as Michael Bluth finally breaking the family apart, the family of himself and George Michael. The line "breaking the family apart" was used constantly throughout Seasons 1-3, with everyone being a scapegoat, yet Michael trying to keep it all together. "What do we say is most important..... Family."

Always a Bluth.

Take away what you can from this show. I'm really impressed at the format and love the risks taken by the creators.
 
G

genericsuperhero

Member
BenjaminBirdie said:
Even before the credits, the ending was hugely satisfying and significant.

Michael and George Michael are on opposite sides of a wall (one even has a bush) and pretty much the most important bond of the series has been broken. Everything led to that moment.
Click to expand...

This. I saw the complaints about the ending, but even Ron Howard says it - the most important dynamic is between Michael and GM. The season starts with that relationship on the rocks and ends with it being broken completely. As for everyone else, it seems that without each other, no member of the family can keep themselves together.

I started rewatching, to notice the little things, and I noticed that the wall mural when Michael gets to the Phoenix airport is a timeline of the series. Also the Craigslist listing for the mud hut is from the HER church.
 
S

Soulscribe

Member
I finished the Lucille episode last night. The episode had a lot in common with the first two episodes (as being more related to the general plot and the business/political side of the story than quick gags) so it definitely felt like the momentum slowed a bit after the golden streak left by episodes 5-9. It was still really good but I hope Lucille gets more memorable screen time than she has so far.


I'm really bummed out so far that Buster has barely been seen. He's probably my favorite individual character on the show and I know he has an episode coming up so I hope I get my fill for him this season.


Without using spoilers, how would you guys grade the episodes so far? Here's mine as of now:

Episode 1 - Michael: B-
Episode 2 - George Sr: C+
Episode 3 - Lindsay: B+
Episode 4 - Michael: C+
Episode 5 - Tobias: A
Episode 6 - George Sr: A
Episode 7 - Gob: A+
Episode 8 - Lindsay: A+
Episode 9 - Tobias: A+
Episode 10 - Lucille: B+


As with any AD episode, I'm sure my opinions will shift after I know the general season plot and start watching these through again.
 
B

bigwinnerx

Member
Frankly, I wanted GM to do what he did to Michael. He knew about GM and still was going to do what he did. And good for GM for sticking up for himself.

Michael is just a complete disaster this season. He retained likability in S1-3, now he's just pathetic. Good on Jason Bateman for taking that and running with it, it's definitely a huge heel turn for the character.

As for the future, we like comeback stories, now that Michael is mostly at rock bottom, Season 5/movie will probably revolve around his redemption.
 
N

Not Spaceghost

Spaceghost
Soulscribe said:
I'm really bummed out so far that Buster has barely been seen. He's probably my favorite individual character on the show and I know he has an episode coming up so I hope I get my fill for him this season.
Click to expand...

Don't worry Buster gets episode 14 all to himself and it is easily one of the best episodes of the season next to Maeby's episode which I think is 12? Basically for me episodes 11 through 14 were the best of the whole bunch.

Also this season is very interesting the way it is filmed, I think to get the maximum effect you have to marathon it in huge chunks other wise some of the jokes can get lost since it is very quick with its wit and relies on your memory of events and details being relatively fresh.

The season jumps up a huge amount in awesomeness and enjoyment once you finish it though since it wraps itself up very neatly, the way the season is constructed is almost like that movie vantage point except good, but you've probably already figured that out by now.
 
S

Soulscribe

Member
Spaceghost said:
Don't worry Buster gets episode 14 all to himself and it is easily one of the best episodes of the season next to Maeby's episode which I think is 12? Basically for me episodes 11 through 14 were the best of the whole bunch.
Click to expand...

This makes me happy :) I'm purposely taking it a bit slow with this final stretch because I wanna savor the new-ness but I'm glad to hear that it goes off on a high note. Can't wait for Buster's episode. His cameos so far have been hilarious.
 
V

VistraNorrez

Member
BertramCooper said:
I always admire shows willing to take risks. Season 4 could have easily been little more than lazy fanservice, but Mitch went for broke and mostly succeeded at it.
Click to expand...

Yea I respect the hell out of Mitch for doing the show this way. You can tell the massive amount of work that went into. Criticizing the show for trying too hard feels silly. Any faults of this season are there because they didn't try hard enough (which is more of a product of the deadline than anything as I'm sure they would have loved to keep editing it).
 
F

forgeforsaken

Member
bigwinnerx said:
Frankly, I wanted GM to do what he did to Michael. He knew about GM and still was going to do what he did. And good for GM for sticking up for himself.
Click to expand...

A Bluth is a Bluth, and that includes GM, as he certainly also lived up to the name at times. I said this earlier, but I feel like his behavior is getting a bit of a pass around here.
 
Arkos

Arkos

Nose how to spell and rede to
slightconfuse said:
Everyone is seperated by a wall this season.

George Sr and Lucille
Lindsay and tobaias
marby and her parents
Buster and Lucille
Click to expand...

Gonna have to keep an eye out for this

I love how this show addresses current events. This season they had a lot of material from the previous 6 years (the border fence, housing market boom and bust, corrupt politicians), and I feel like its easy to forget how topical the whole Iraq thing was in the original run, esp if you didn't watch it at the time (LTTP fan here). It's under the radar and not the focus but also totally overt and the main focus, in a way. Lol
 
G

genericsuperhero

Member
ctkayedisto said:
Gonna have to keep an eye out for this

I love how this show addresses current events. This season they had a lot of material from the previous 6 years (the border fence, housing market boom and bust, corrupt politicians), and I feel like its easy to forget how topical the whole Iraq thing was in the original run, esp if you didn't watch it at the time (LTTP fan here). It's under the radar and not the focus but also totally overt and the main focus, in a way. Lol
Click to expand...

I was wondering what the political lampoon was going to be for this season, and I think they handled everything topical rather well.

What was up with these guys in the background? They were in a few scenes spread throughout, and the background gag didn't seem to go anywhere and was never mentioned or have a payoff.

RsEpMud.png
 
S

slightconfuse

Banned
genericsuperhero said:
I was wondering what the political lampoon was going to be for this season, and I think they handled everything topical rather well.

What was up with these guys in the background? They were in a few scenes spread throughout, and the background gag didn't seem to go anywhere and was never mentioned or have a payoff.

RsEpMud.png
Click to expand...

Maebys ep will have the answer
 
S

Slacker

Member
ElectricBlanketFire said:
Am I crazy or does Portia go from looking like a totally different person to relatively normal in the later episodes?
Click to expand...

The makeup department made a huge mistake. I assume they were trying to make Lindsay look more like 2006 Portia than 2013 Portia, but ended up making her look like a character in Gangie 4: Facelift. She looked way way WAY better in her second episode (and the second episode was way funnier too).
 
indigo-cyclops

indigo-cyclops

Member
Spaceghost said:
Wigs and her face seems to have slimmed down considerably, not for the better since she ends up looking rather ghastly in a few scenes.
Click to expand...

My wife, during the first few episodes, kept saying "this is not Portia". She looks so different. The eyes, especially. We'll see how it turns out in the end.
 
S

strobogo

Banned
forgeforsaken said:
A Bluth is a Bluth, and that includes GM, as he certainly also lived up to the name at times. I said this earlier, but I feel like his behavior is getting a bit of a pass around here.
Click to expand...

Which is weird since the narrator specifically made the point that GM found himself lying with ease like a true Bluth more than once.

Lindsay was way hotter with the short hair. The wig had too much forehead or something.
 
S

Soulscribe

Member
ElectricBlanketFire said:
I'm saying she looks different early in the season and pretty much the same later on.

I honestly didn't know if it was part of the story or something as I'm only up to episode #10.
Click to expand...

I believe someone said that there was an allusion to her plastic surgery at some point in the show but I haven't caught one yet (I'm also on episode 10). Still though, I think it's mostly weight loss considering she looks exactly the same as season 3 finale Lindsay.


I'm really impressed to see that Lindsay is kind of the MVP of the new season. Both her episodes were hilarious, and her story arc has been the tightest so far.
 
C

CloudWolf

Member
BenjaminBirdie said:
Seconded on wanting to know what the Breaking Bad reference was. I think I missed it too.
Click to expand...

In the background of the Real Estate agent's funeral there's a random guy waving a arrow-sign around in a similar fashion as Badger in the fifth episode of the first season (HELICOPTER BITCH).
 
Arkos

Arkos

Nose how to spell and rede to
strobogo said:
Which is weird since the narrator specifically made the point that GM found himself lying with ease like a true Bluth more than once.

Lindsay was way hotter with the short hair. The wig had too much forehead or something.
Click to expand...

I think it may be (lol) that people aren't quite sure what to make of GM (and Michael for that matter) changing so much, and apparently for the worse. But I'm with y'all, the seeds of this were planted long ago, it all makes sense. But people may not be mentioning it because it's like he literally grew up and changed like an actual child would, and that makes the character seem inconsistent in some way so people just write it off as "new show, older actors, had to change some stuff" when really I guess it's pretty consistent with his character as a Bluth.
 
S

Soulscribe

Member
Anyone notice in that funeral scene how all the mail trucks were driving by in the background? Coz the mailman from episode 1 died. lol
 
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