Arrested Development: Season 4 Critique

Since 2006, I feverishly awaited the return of Arrested Development.  When the creators of the show announced that they would be turning the television show with a huge cult following into a movie, but not before releasing another full season of episodes to catch us all up on the Bluths, I was more than thrilled, I was (insert one word synonym for "more than thrilled" here).

It's release date has come and gone, and a two day binge of 15 brand new episodes later, and I almost feel like I was "catfished" (insert Manti Teo joke here).  Don't get me wrong, most of the humor was there, but this wasn't the same show that displayed to me what real television writing was all about.  It was unrecognizable at points, and I'm not just Portia di Rossi's appearance.

For me, the new season was just "meh."  Metaphorically speaking, it was like meeting up with a good friend you haven't seen in 7 years, and realizing in that time away you grew far apart.  Of course, there are certain moments that take you back to the fun you had in the past, but there are even more instances that tell you that the chemistry is gone and you probably can't be friends anymore.

Now, for those reading this and calling me a hater at the same time, please believe that Arrested Development will always have a place in my heart as one of my favorite television shows, but its return was lack luster, and here's the main reasons why.

Long Scenes Took Away From The Flow Of The Episodes:

One of the reasons I fell in love with Arrested Development was how quickly the scenes jumped from one plot point to the next.  Saying a lot in a short time.  Certain scenes seemed to drag and maybe been over explained.  Maybe this comes from the show's previous criticism that it was "too smart" for the average American viewer, and they wanted to over-explain everything to the casual viewer so that no element was to go over their heads.  I can't speculate to what they were trying to accomplish, but a quite a few scenes did succeed in making me doze off.  Strike one.

Too Much Narration:

We were bombarded with way too much of Ron Howard's voice.  Maybe this stems back to my earlier point of the creative team wanting to dumb things down for the casual fan, but Opie Cunningham explained way too much rather than just letting us "get it."  To quote the great Chicago poet, Chief Keef, "that's the shit I don't like!"



The Absence Of Key Recurring Characters & Jokes:

Wait a minute!  No absurd imitations of a chicken?  No Gob performing to Europe's The Final Countdown? No life lessons from J. Walter Weatherman?  NO BANANA STAND? C'mon, man! In order to fully re-ignite my love affair with the show, I really needed to see all of these things take center stage at some point, and from the looks of many of the so-so reviews I've read, so did many other hardcore fans. What were the writers thinking with these exclusions?  Don't they know that there's always (comedic) money in the banana stand?

Lack Of Character Interaction:

I know the goal of each episode was to get the audience up to speed with the Bluths since that fateful party on the Queen Mary back in '06, but would it be too much to ask to have more than 2 core characters in the same scene at a time? Outside of the penthouse, scenes involving more than 2 Bluths were basically non-existent.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I only remember George Sr. and Gob only interacting via telephone.  Part of the humor in that relationship is seeing the actual disappointment in George Sr's face, and Gob responding to it. No bueno.

The Bluths Portrayal Was Almost Tragic:


Not that the Bluths weren't already tragically dysfunctional characters, but in seasons 1 through 3, they weren't apologetic, so as an audience member, you had no sympathy for them.  In season 4, it seems like the characters were written in a way that we were supposed to feel sorry for them.   We've known the Bluths way too long to want their characters to all of a sudden have emotional depth.  Ain't nobody got time for that.

Many of the situations they were put in were a little too awkwardly uncomfortable, like Michael Scott from The Office had a baby with Dean Pelton from Community awkward. In many cases, the scenario's were just a little too dark from what most of us were used to.  For example, Maeby literally pimping out her mother to a shady politician, Gob "accidentally" having sex with his male magician rival, or Michael and his son, George Michael, having sex with the same woman.  Some areas in the overall plot just seemed like the creative team was trying too hard to give the Bluths a little more edge.

Like I said before, I still love Arrested Development, and truly enjoyed catching up with the Bluths, but I guess after waiting 7 years I expected a little more.  When you know of some thing's true capabilities, you just get a little disappointed when it doesn't exactly live up to what you, as a fan, have been imaging for all this time.  Maybe this was a set up, and the creative team is saving the really good stuff for the movie and hits all the marks and proves my critique worthless.  I hope for that, and would greatly appreciate that as a fan.  Until that movie comes out and proves me wrong, my opinion of season 4 of Arrested Development stands at "meh." You're welcome.