GraveHorizon
poop meter feature creep
Finally finished season 4, so now I can come in here and see what's up with other fans, and state my opinions. Overall, season 4 is worse than season 1, which was the weakest of the first three based on lack of existing characters or humor. While season 1 was the foundation for season 2 and 3 and therefore set up a lot of the humor of the series, similar to how the first 8 or 9 episodes of season 4 set up the last 6 or 7, season 1 still managed to be good, with quality jokes and layers of foreshadowing everywhere, unlike the first several episodes of season 4 which were a huge departure from the established characters and format of the series. Michael demanding to sleep with Lucille 2? GOB getting in a "roofie loop"? Lucille becoming a joker? Tobias becoming a real asshole, and somehow even more oblivious? Lindsay sacrificing a life of luxury to be with some (mostly) random guy? All fairly unbelievable ideas, and disappointing to say the least. There was also Michael being ultra oblivious, George Sr. literally switching places with Oscar, and Maeby being a sack of nothing, while most of the acting seemed tired, and it was obvious that certain people weren't even in the same room together. On top of everyone looking pretty old, everything from before looked off, like Lucille's townhouse and the model home.
The humor was also off, having just come from season 3. With scenes being so much longer, the music ran on and on, as did the jokes. Arrested Development is supposed to be fast, zipping back and forth between characters with nice cuts and zingers in every direction. GOB stood there for like 30 seconds just trying to stutter out a word, a joke that had already been done before, but actually good. The characters just didn't feel right being limited to interacting with very few people at a time, and especially non-family members. And Portia de Rossi... ugh.
That being said, the last several episodes were much more enjoyable, and it was nice for them to tie most things back together. The best episode was definitely George-Michael's, where they show that his whole programming thing was a sham. That was typical Arrested Development humor right there, being in a huge misunderstanding, with George-Michael acting somewhat appropriate based on his character, in mostly believable situations (except for that mouth experiment, that was just weird). I went from hating what they did to the show to enjoying it at the end, because they got back to their usual style and humor. It just didn't work for me before when it was all setup and no payoff. And it was nice to see hooks for a season 5 in there; they really can't let this end as it is now.
The humor was also off, having just come from season 3. With scenes being so much longer, the music ran on and on, as did the jokes. Arrested Development is supposed to be fast, zipping back and forth between characters with nice cuts and zingers in every direction. GOB stood there for like 30 seconds just trying to stutter out a word, a joke that had already been done before, but actually good. The characters just didn't feel right being limited to interacting with very few people at a time, and especially non-family members. And Portia de Rossi... ugh.
That being said, the last several episodes were much more enjoyable, and it was nice for them to tie most things back together. The best episode was definitely George-Michael's, where they show that his whole programming thing was a sham. That was typical Arrested Development humor right there, being in a huge misunderstanding, with George-Michael acting somewhat appropriate based on his character, in mostly believable situations (except for that mouth experiment, that was just weird). I went from hating what they did to the show to enjoying it at the end, because they got back to their usual style and humor. It just didn't work for me before when it was all setup and no payoff. And it was nice to see hooks for a season 5 in there; they really can't let this end as it is now.
