I decided to let Season 4 of Arrested Development fully sink in before I reviewed it, but its been available on 'Netflix' (eg. the best thing ever invented) for a while now, so lets review! For those of you who see this post somewhere and fleetingly wonder, 'what is this Arrested Development?', boy are you missing out. I was a late arrival to the show; I only started watching this year. It is hilarious. The pilot is the best pilot I have ever seen. I love the intricacy of the jokes, the characters, the plot. Sure, Season 3 was kind of rubbish, but still. Its so brilliant it has maintained, and built, such a dedicated fan base since it ended in 2006 that a fourth season has been made! Yeys all around! I'm not quite sure what to make of this season, it confused the hell out out of me. I decided to do lists of the good and bad points. I did think about recapping every single episode minute by minute in one go, but decided not to. (JK I never thought that I don't have the attention span, my fingers would start hurting from all the typing and it would be bad for my eyes; take a break from the screen every 10 minutes kids!). Anyway, here is my review!
The GOOD
1) The Build Up- This was some GOOD marketing. As well as the hilarious twitter account, my favorite two things were 'Insert me Anywhere' (http://insertmeanywhere.biz/#/home) and THIS:
2) Format- Everything about the format of the fourth season blew me away in its innovation, intricacy and ambition. First of all, releasing all the episodes on 'Netflix' at once to see if people binge watch TV now (I could only manage two episodes at a time; they are longer than the previous ones). Secondly, the fact the plot must physically resemble a giant, incredibly complicated and subtle spider web. Characters paths crossed at the strangest, most random points, sometimes only for a second, such as when G.O.B. drove past Michael standing on the sidewalk. Plot points (such as G.O.B. in a limousine) weren't explained till 4 episodes later. It created an entire Arrested Development universe, and added an unexpected level of depth to the programme.
3) G.O.B.- G.O.B. deserves his own section. I love Will Arnett, not just because of his incredibly cool, gravelly voice, or the fact he has hamster cheeks. I also love G.O.B. As well as his catch phrases ('It's an illusion', 'I've made a huge mistake'), there is a touching naivety and sadness to his character, which adds a depth necessary when being the focal point of two episodes. He is a hilarious actor, and G.O.B.'s episodes were my favorite, especially the one with the 'Get Away' song in it. Every time the Simon & Garfunkel from The Graduate came on made me laugh. A lot. Also, the bit with Steve Holt.
4) Other Characters- Lucille, Buster and George Senior were all on top form. Buster's episode killed me. Lucille remains the most insane, diabolical character on television. And also the best.
THE BAD
1) People Change- If that subtitle sounds philosophical, it isn't meant to. I just mean...people change. As in PHYSICALLY change. What happened to Lindsay and George Michael?? When did Michael Cera start looking like that?? I'm not saying they look worse, they obviously look older, but they look so DIFFERENT! Seriously! Its like they are different actors! It changed how I viewed their characters as well. Would Lindsay really ever cut all her hair off?
2) Too Much Tobias- This feels like blasphemy. Tobias, I love you, and I am so sorry. But...you were kind of irritating and boring this season? There were funny moments, and he is still a gem of a character, but I got so bored of the Fantastic Four plot, and DeBrie. I wish one of his episodes had been given to Buster instead. Man, that criticism took a lot out of me. I'm feeling blue.
3) Quinceañera- Okay, I'm assuming this is the right word. Considering this was the focal event of the entire series, I thought it was a stupid one. While this may be betraying my ignorance, I honestly had no idea what a Quinceanera was and it confused me. Visually, I thought a more interesting, dynamic setting could have been used than a bay covered in rubbish and lit up with some fairy lights. I also didn't understand why all the characters ended up there. It felt a bit contrived.
4) Some Characters Couldn't Carry Their Episodes- I always thought of Arrested Development as an ensemble show, and I found it disappointing that the characters weren't often in scenes together. I get it is because of the actor's scheduling conflicts; they are all pretty successful now, and its admirable they got together to do the show again at all. However, I just thought that certain characters could NOT carry their episodes. This is in a different way to Tobias; Tobias is still a very engaging, funny character who has presence. His problem is that he is better in smaller doses. What I'm talking about now is a whole different ball game. The characters pictured below just aren't charismatic or engaging enough to be the focal point of an entire 40 minute episode (sometimes two). They are the straight characters, the sensible ones, the ones the crazy characters such as G.O.B., Buster, Lucille and Tobias bounce off. Here's looking at you...
Maebe looks how I felt when I was watching the episodes with these characters in. I don't know what you are smirking at, George Michael, it isn't funny. Also, a guest spot to...
TOO MUCH ISLA FISCHER. I like her, but seriously, how much screen time does one random supporting character need? I wish she had given John Krasinski half of it (don't even get me STARTED on how little John Krasinski was in it).
5) Michael's downward spiral- Of all the character developments I have ever seen, ever (including the entire cast of Gossip Girl) this one made the least sense. 2003 to 2006 Michael was all:
But fast forward to 2013 Michael:
2013 Michael is mean! He is selfish! He is homeless for a while! There was an incredibly depressing scene with him and a vulture in it! Look, I get that Michael was the staple that held the Bluth family together, and they needed to send the characters down their individual paths. But couldn't the writers have found another way to explain it, instead of a completely insane 180 degree personality change? The final scene consisted of George Michael finding out that Michael was sleeping with his girlfriend (Isla Fischer, step on up), and punching him. SADNESS. On the other hand, unresolved conflict and an unresolved MURDER mystery means there will hopefully be another season, or at least a movie.
I know I have been pretty critical, but there were so many great things about this season as well. I just hope that next time the characters are all on screen together more, and that 2006 Michael gets transported to the future by a time machine, and that 2013 Michael gets transported back to the Middle Ages so we never have to see him again, and we can pretend the whole 2013 Michael disaster never happened. In other news, is this format the future of television? I'm not sure. Either way, it shows the brilliance of the Arrested Development team that they keep coming up with ground breaking ideas, time after time. High five!
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