[9.0/10] Like I said in my write-up for the last episode, there’s still something uncomfortable about the Rita storyline. I’m all for transgressive comedy, but centering a comedy plot on a mentally disabled person is a tightrope, and Arrested Development stumbles more than a few times. (The most obvious of these is the rampant use of the r-word.)
But the joke is rarely on Rita, which helps. The more persistent throughline is that the Bluths are so self-involved, mercenary, or flummoxed by American perceptions of British accents that they project what they want to see onto Rita and take her unrestrained id as profundity. Whether it’s Michael falling for her, Lindsay seeing her inside out clothing choices as a major fashion statement, or Maeby believing her Ocean Walker ending idea is deep, the Bluths all see the things that serve their needs in Rita, whether they align with hers or not.
I’m not qualified to say whether the depiction of Rita here is offensive. I’ll say that I like that she’s depicted as almost preternaturally sweet, and admit that I laughed at her childlike imaginings of what sleepovers are like and the running gag of the term “pop pop.” I’d like to think that at the end of the day, the show’s sympathetic to her, having Michael do the right thing once the scales fall, protecting her from his parents, and trying to make sure she finds someone who’s as sweet and caring as her, rather than as narcissistic as him. But at the end of the day, I’m not close enough to the community of people with deelopmental disabilities to judge.
What I can speak to is the comedy, and the clockwork humor is on full display here. The absurdity of bits like the “bum paddle” magazine, the “seven houses of parliament”, the quickhit reference to Monster, Tobias’s hair transplant physical comedy, the “Michael Love Marry” banner, and even George Michael’s extensive knowledge of California cousin-marrying laws all got big laughs.
Lucille, George Sr., and Buster are all in top form, plotting to nab Rita’s millions (and/or get a trip to Legoland), while poking fun at the distance between Lucille’s sense of propriety about how to describe Rita’s “condition” and her inclination to take full advantage of the situation. GOB’s commitment to doing a magic trick at the wedding, and creating another fire disaster like the one during Michael’s last wedding is fantastically funny. George Sr.’s surrogate, Larry, accidentally spilling the beans about the plan with Rita as payoff to his inability to get sarcasm is great. And I love the fake out with the Ocean Walker finale to the episode.
There’s also an unsuspecting sweetness here, from George Michael trying to be upfront with his dad, to Michael trying to be kind to Rita after he finds out what’s really going on. There was always a little wisp of heart to such a blackly comic show, and it’s nice to see it here and there.
Overall, I’ll confess to not knowing how to resolve the uttery hilarity and cleverness that Arrested Development brought to this six-episode arc, with the trickiness (to say the least) of building comedy around (if not about) how people treatment someone with a developmental disability.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-05-11T04:12:08Z
[9.0/10] Like I said in my write-up for the last episode, there’s still something uncomfortable about the Rita storyline. I’m all for transgressive comedy, but centering a comedy plot on a mentally disabled person is a tightrope, and Arrested Development stumbles more than a few times. (The most obvious of these is the rampant use of the r-word.)
But the joke is rarely on Rita, which helps. The more persistent throughline is that the Bluths are so self-involved, mercenary, or flummoxed by American perceptions of British accents that they project what they want to see onto Rita and take her unrestrained id as profundity. Whether it’s Michael falling for her, Lindsay seeing her inside out clothing choices as a major fashion statement, or Maeby believing her Ocean Walker ending idea is deep, the Bluths all see the things that serve their needs in Rita, whether they align with hers or not.
I’m not qualified to say whether the depiction of Rita here is offensive. I’ll say that I like that she’s depicted as almost preternaturally sweet, and admit that I laughed at her childlike imaginings of what sleepovers are like and the running gag of the term “pop pop.” I’d like to think that at the end of the day, the show’s sympathetic to her, having Michael do the right thing once the scales fall, protecting her from his parents, and trying to make sure she finds someone who’s as sweet and caring as her, rather than as narcissistic as him. But at the end of the day, I’m not close enough to the community of people with deelopmental disabilities to judge.
What I can speak to is the comedy, and the clockwork humor is on full display here. The absurdity of bits like the “bum paddle” magazine, the “seven houses of parliament”, the quickhit reference to Monster, Tobias’s hair transplant physical comedy, the “Michael Love Marry” banner, and even George Michael’s extensive knowledge of California cousin-marrying laws all got big laughs.
Lucille, George Sr., and Buster are all in top form, plotting to nab Rita’s millions (and/or get a trip to Legoland), while poking fun at the distance between Lucille’s sense of propriety about how to describe Rita’s “condition” and her inclination to take full advantage of the situation. GOB’s commitment to doing a magic trick at the wedding, and creating another fire disaster like the one during Michael’s last wedding is fantastically funny. George Sr.’s surrogate, Larry, accidentally spilling the beans about the plan with Rita as payoff to his inability to get sarcasm is great. And I love the fake out with the Ocean Walker finale to the episode.
There’s also an unsuspecting sweetness here, from George Michael trying to be upfront with his dad, to Michael trying to be kind to Rita after he finds out what’s really going on. There was always a little wisp of heart to such a blackly comic show, and it’s nice to see it here and there.
Overall, I’ll confess to not knowing how to resolve the uttery hilarity and cleverness that Arrested Development brought to this six-episode arc, with the trickiness (to say the least) of building comedy around (if not about) how people treatment someone with a developmental disability.