[7.2/10] Hey! This one was pretty good! Did the episode remake comedy in its own image? Certainly not. But it had some solid laughs, a good premise, and some of that clockwork plotting that Arrested Development is known for. If the whole season were at this level, I would definitely take it.
This one, unsurprisingly, links up most closely with Lindsay’s episode, and to be frank, those connections are the weakest part. It’s a fun gag that Tobias means to have his own spiritual revelation journey and ends up going on the same one that Lindsay planned, but the actual crossed paths with Lindsay aren’t much to write home about. (And the fact that Tobias can’t recognize his own wife’s voice strains credulity even for an outsized show.)
I particularly like the throughline of Tobias ignoring all of these signs and omens that he should give up on his pie in the sky acting career and instead be more realistic about his prospects. His foolish commitment to his thespian dreams despite all common sense and talent is a real comic gift here.
So is Maria Bamford as DeBrie! She has the right weirdo vibe for this show and makes for a good scene partner with David Cross. I love the implicit humor of her having played the Invisible Woman and feeling like nobody sees here. She’s also a fun distaff reflection of Tobias, as another professional (this time a lawyer) who’s fallen on hard times and turned to acting.
The pair’s misadventures in trying to recognize their dreams makes for a lot of humorous bits. I particularly like the running gag of various bystanders turning out to be undercover officers there to get Tobias for copyright infringement and the like. In the same vein, all of the gags about the Fantastic Four (right down to an homage to the old Roger Corman rights-preserver) were up my alley. And the escalating ways in which Tobias was desperate for success and yet ending up in more and more desperate places (with DeBrie providing legal commentary) was a laugh.
That said, we’re back to Tobias gay jokes, which are hit or miss, and still a little ucnomfortable. At least the show puts them out in the open this time, with Lindsay and Lucille being more direct. But that’s thin gruel. Still, I’ll admit to chuckling at Tobias recognizing DeBrie from various “straight bait” films (featuring a young Beck Bennet!), an amusing concept to begin with, and the various double entendres from “anustart” to “Daddy needs to get his rocks off” got some cheap laughs out of me. Plus while the spoof is a little dated, parodying To Catch a Predator is an amusing way to get John Beard back in the mix, and Tobias’s continuing oblivious is an evergreen source of humor.
On the whole, this one isn’t quite up to the standards of the Arrested Development of old, but it more than passes muster and is easily the best and funniest episode of season 4 so far.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-05-24T02:31:02Z
[7.2/10] Hey! This one was pretty good! Did the episode remake comedy in its own image? Certainly not. But it had some solid laughs, a good premise, and some of that clockwork plotting that Arrested Development is known for. If the whole season were at this level, I would definitely take it.
This one, unsurprisingly, links up most closely with Lindsay’s episode, and to be frank, those connections are the weakest part. It’s a fun gag that Tobias means to have his own spiritual revelation journey and ends up going on the same one that Lindsay planned, but the actual crossed paths with Lindsay aren’t much to write home about. (And the fact that Tobias can’t recognize his own wife’s voice strains credulity even for an outsized show.)
I particularly like the throughline of Tobias ignoring all of these signs and omens that he should give up on his pie in the sky acting career and instead be more realistic about his prospects. His foolish commitment to his thespian dreams despite all common sense and talent is a real comic gift here.
So is Maria Bamford as DeBrie! She has the right weirdo vibe for this show and makes for a good scene partner with David Cross. I love the implicit humor of her having played the Invisible Woman and feeling like nobody sees here. She’s also a fun distaff reflection of Tobias, as another professional (this time a lawyer) who’s fallen on hard times and turned to acting.
The pair’s misadventures in trying to recognize their dreams makes for a lot of humorous bits. I particularly like the running gag of various bystanders turning out to be undercover officers there to get Tobias for copyright infringement and the like. In the same vein, all of the gags about the Fantastic Four (right down to an homage to the old Roger Corman rights-preserver) were up my alley. And the escalating ways in which Tobias was desperate for success and yet ending up in more and more desperate places (with DeBrie providing legal commentary) was a laugh.
That said, we’re back to Tobias gay jokes, which are hit or miss, and still a little ucnomfortable. At least the show puts them out in the open this time, with Lindsay and Lucille being more direct. But that’s thin gruel. Still, I’ll admit to chuckling at Tobias recognizing DeBrie from various “straight bait” films (featuring a young Beck Bennet!), an amusing concept to begin with, and the various double entendres from “anustart” to “Daddy needs to get his rocks off” got some cheap laughs out of me. Plus while the spoof is a little dated, parodying To Catch a Predator is an amusing way to get John Beard back in the mix, and Tobias’s continuing oblivious is an evergreen source of humor.
On the whole, this one isn’t quite up to the standards of the Arrested Development of old, but it more than passes muster and is easily the best and funniest episode of season 4 so far.