[7.3/10] This one’s still pretty good, but it’s definitely a little weaker as Arrested Development episodes go. There’s a lot of cheesy physical comedy with Tobias falling downstairs and being knocked around, and cartoony bits with the jetpack that don’t really work. It feels a little out of character for the show, and the clockwork storytelling isn’t as seamless as usual.
Still, I really like the running gags about Michael being almost pathologically unable to understand how someone would be romantically attracted to his mom. His inability to even comprehend sentences communicating it is a big laugh, and the return of GOB’s discomfort with the very concept is a welcome one.
But there’s a solid emotional throughline of Michael actually needing help from his mom and wanting to keep the family together, with an insecurity that nobody needs him after his break-up with Rita. The reveal that Lucille is working to free George Sr. but the price is her shacking up with Warden Gentiles, only for George Sr. to use his breakout to win her back, is even a little sweet in that demented Arrested Development way.
Some of the individual gags were good. While the grossness of Tobias in his “graft vs. host” phase didn’t do much for me, I did appreciate the humor of George Michael’s abject discomfort with it. The warden’s screenplay was an amusing way to loop Maeby in, and I like the absurdity of it being staged with elementary school students. I didn’t enjoy the bit with Buster’s turtle named “mother” as much, even when it consumed some marijuana and compelled Ron Howard to use some pothead slang. But I did get a kick out of George Sr. trying to find something that looked like him to fool the Warden’s cameras, only to find his twin brother once more.
On the whole, this is still a lesser light by Arrested Development standards, but it would still be a quality episode for any comedy show.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-05-12T04:41:24Z
[7.3/10] This one’s still pretty good, but it’s definitely a little weaker as Arrested Development episodes go. There’s a lot of cheesy physical comedy with Tobias falling downstairs and being knocked around, and cartoony bits with the jetpack that don’t really work. It feels a little out of character for the show, and the clockwork storytelling isn’t as seamless as usual.
Still, I really like the running gags about Michael being almost pathologically unable to understand how someone would be romantically attracted to his mom. His inability to even comprehend sentences communicating it is a big laugh, and the return of GOB’s discomfort with the very concept is a welcome one.
But there’s a solid emotional throughline of Michael actually needing help from his mom and wanting to keep the family together, with an insecurity that nobody needs him after his break-up with Rita. The reveal that Lucille is working to free George Sr. but the price is her shacking up with Warden Gentiles, only for George Sr. to use his breakout to win her back, is even a little sweet in that demented Arrested Development way.
Some of the individual gags were good. While the grossness of Tobias in his “graft vs. host” phase didn’t do much for me, I did appreciate the humor of George Michael’s abject discomfort with it. The warden’s screenplay was an amusing way to loop Maeby in, and I like the absurdity of it being staged with elementary school students. I didn’t enjoy the bit with Buster’s turtle named “mother” as much, even when it consumed some marijuana and compelled Ron Howard to use some pothead slang. But I did get a kick out of George Sr. trying to find something that looked like him to fool the Warden’s cameras, only to find his twin brother once more.
On the whole, this is still a lesser light by Arrested Development standards, but it would still be a quality episode for any comedy show.