[8.0/10] Another winner. I’ll go on and on and on about it, but the clockwork plotting and comedy on this is just brilliant to the nines.
I think my favorite part is the absurdity of the family trying (and failing) to be nice to Michael, and the whole series of misunderstandings that ensue. There’s something brilliant about Michael proposing a party for Buster so he can ditch his family to go meet up with a woman and preserve the lie that his family is dead, only for them to misunderstand the ploy as him falling on the grenade of shredding some bad documents to protect them. The ensuing game of trying to be nice by turning BUster’s party into a “Welcome Rita” party, only for that to go predictably awry and turn into a massive cover-up, is the kind of blackly comic lunacy Arrested Development does so well.
And my god, the family trying to be nice is so bloody creepy! Just GOB’s line reads of “We’re nice” feel like he’s preparing for another Grindhouse-esque horror movie. Plus Lucille gets in some all time great lines like “Let’s not add that to the charges,” “And [Michael] won’t hear the good stuff; he’ll just hear about the beating,” and “No good deed goes unpunished. Seriously though, only a family as huinged as the Bluths could turn an attempt at a kind gesture into an abduction, clubbing, and roofie-ing.
Don’t get me started on the Forget-Me-Now business. I think with the fast-paced editing and oddly chipper vibe to everything, I missed how seriously dark this show could get at times! GOB telling his mother not to make him use one of these again is bleak as hell! Though the excuse that GOB uses them if someone sees how he does a trick is a solid fig leaf, and him using them on himself in a spoof of the Lifetime movies referenced earlier in the episode is great.
There’s also a lot of really awkward but good comedy with George Michael, Maebey, and Steve Holt. I know folks have soured on Michael Cera a bit, but the way he delivers lines like “I was hoping he was gifted sexually” and “What a fun sexy time for you” are just hilarious. Maebey wanting to avoid having to sleep with Steve is surprisingly wholesome for one of the show’s more con artist-type characters (which is saying something), and her facial expressions are gold. Plus her using the forget-me-now not to go all the way, in a move “even the anti-drug people will be on board with” is an inspired, if deranged, solution.
I also enjoyed the analyst/therapist sessions with Tobias (don’t think of the portmanteau) and Buster. It sets up Buster attacking Rita’s seal backpack well, and the prospect of him getting reenlisted based on an auctioneer-like medal ceremony is a nicely absurd bit. Plus it sets up him accidentally popping George Sr.’s balloon escape attempt neatly as well, at the same time creating an explosion that destroys the bad documents.
I almost forgot that this is the introduction of the surrogates! One of the show’s most ridiculous yet enjoyable running gags. Plus the introduction of Bob Loblaw, and him misinterpreting Lindsay’s come-ons as requests for legal advice is a good gag. And the double meanings of all Rita’s lines are done really well (though the bench thing comes off in poor taste).
Overall, just another fantastic outing where the show’s firing on all cylinders.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-05-05T02:45:07Z
[8.0/10] Another winner. I’ll go on and on and on about it, but the clockwork plotting and comedy on this is just brilliant to the nines.
I think my favorite part is the absurdity of the family trying (and failing) to be nice to Michael, and the whole series of misunderstandings that ensue. There’s something brilliant about Michael proposing a party for Buster so he can ditch his family to go meet up with a woman and preserve the lie that his family is dead, only for them to misunderstand the ploy as him falling on the grenade of shredding some bad documents to protect them. The ensuing game of trying to be nice by turning BUster’s party into a “Welcome Rita” party, only for that to go predictably awry and turn into a massive cover-up, is the kind of blackly comic lunacy Arrested Development does so well.
And my god, the family trying to be nice is so bloody creepy! Just GOB’s line reads of “We’re nice” feel like he’s preparing for another Grindhouse-esque horror movie. Plus Lucille gets in some all time great lines like “Let’s not add that to the charges,” “And [Michael] won’t hear the good stuff; he’ll just hear about the beating,” and “No good deed goes unpunished. Seriously though, only a family as huinged as the Bluths could turn an attempt at a kind gesture into an abduction, clubbing, and roofie-ing.
Don’t get me started on the Forget-Me-Now business. I think with the fast-paced editing and oddly chipper vibe to everything, I missed how seriously dark this show could get at times! GOB telling his mother not to make him use one of these again is bleak as hell! Though the excuse that GOB uses them if someone sees how he does a trick is a solid fig leaf, and him using them on himself in a spoof of the Lifetime movies referenced earlier in the episode is great.
There’s also a lot of really awkward but good comedy with George Michael, Maebey, and Steve Holt. I know folks have soured on Michael Cera a bit, but the way he delivers lines like “I was hoping he was gifted sexually” and “What a fun sexy time for you” are just hilarious. Maebey wanting to avoid having to sleep with Steve is surprisingly wholesome for one of the show’s more con artist-type characters (which is saying something), and her facial expressions are gold. Plus her using the forget-me-now not to go all the way, in a move “even the anti-drug people will be on board with” is an inspired, if deranged, solution.
I also enjoyed the analyst/therapist sessions with Tobias (don’t think of the portmanteau) and Buster. It sets up Buster attacking Rita’s seal backpack well, and the prospect of him getting reenlisted based on an auctioneer-like medal ceremony is a nicely absurd bit. Plus it sets up him accidentally popping George Sr.’s balloon escape attempt neatly as well, at the same time creating an explosion that destroys the bad documents.
I almost forgot that this is the introduction of the surrogates! One of the show’s most ridiculous yet enjoyable running gags. Plus the introduction of Bob Loblaw, and him misinterpreting Lindsay’s come-ons as requests for legal advice is a good gag. And the double meanings of all Rita’s lines are done really well (though the bench thing comes off in poor taste).
Overall, just another fantastic outing where the show’s firing on all cylinders.