Welcome to a new Sitcom Tuesday! This week, I’m concluding my study of Arrested Development (2003-2006, FOX; 2013, 2018-2019, Netflix) with its final season, currently available on Netflix!
Arrested Development stars JASON BATEMAN as Michael, PORTIA DE ROSSI as Lindsay, WILL ARNETT as Gob, TONY HALE as Buster, DAVID CROSS as Tobias, MICHAEL CERA as George Michael, ALIA SHAWKAT as Maeby, JESSICA WALTER as Lucille, and JEFFREY TAMBOR as George and Oscar. With RON HOWARD as the Narrator.
The fifth and final season of Arrested Development is sort of a revival to the revival, with the first half dropping FIVE YEARS after Season Four (and the second half coming ten months later), and it’s frankly, a disappointment, proving what we’ve always known: the more distance a show gets from its peak, the harder it is to satisfy the reputation it once enjoyed via the standards it once maintained. Original Four was already a struggle. It decided to navigate around the actors’ busy personal schedules by embracing some newfound Netflix freedom, imposing a gaudy storytelling structure that seemed to reflect the series’ understanding of its identity (lots of plot, inventively told, and layers of winking jokes), which helped accentuate its trademark self-referentiality in both story and comedy. Unfortunately, the trade-off for Four was that it really suffered with its situation, limiting the characters by keeping them too separate, and utilizing very little of the premise, both the dysfunctional family concept and the legal trouble inciting incident that had served as an engine for plot during the FOX years, pushing all that aside in favor of the pomp and circumstance implied by those other stylistic markers. So, it wasn’t great. Season Five, taking feedback from Four into consideration, tries to be an improvement. It loses the non-linear design of the original Four and also sets up the characters for more success, as they’re now able to interact often (minus Lindsay, as Portia de Rossi scaled back her time), and in doing so, it smartly reengages the premise — for their shared proximity reinforces their dysfunction, with Buster’s arrest for Lucille 2’s murder also providing a story arc that’s thematically in line with the show’s history. Sadly, this doesn’t actually yield greatness though, for without the gimmicky narrative construct of Four, Five nevertheless continues to push hard — heck, harder — with story, still delivering an ever-unfolding, convoluted mess of plot, sans the intentionality that the prior season could claim, along with its corresponding call-backs and call-forwards that suggested the clever comedic ethos many fans adore. To that point, this year’s attempts to display its self-referentiality are less successful, with most allusions to past gags sounding more like formula, rather than situation-building and identity-affirming brilliance.
Simply put, the idea-driven Arrested Development is facing a natural idea-driven crisis: its ideas have lost their novelty — the things that made it special are no longer exciting by themselves, and now it’s tougher for the series to generate freshness with its comedy, its stories, and its once-inventive storytelling. This season also feels timid in the wake of Four’s experimentation, for its application of the mockumentary form is notably less creative than before — it never goes out on a limb or presents anything truly risky or imaginative, and this makes it seem now like any ol’ streaming single-cam from the 2010s. Oh, it still leans on its mockumentary framing, of course — relying on a copious amount of narration from Ron Howard to help the chronic flow of complicated plot that this series also considers a seminal part of its reputation, meaning Five does toil to reflect certain DNA strands the show has always prized. And it still stumps for laughs with more regularity than most of its late ’10s contemporaries. But after shedding Four’s Rashomon distraction, Five proves to not quite have the goods — it’s now an idea-driven sitcom whose ideas are not as funny, and the stylistic particulars it endeavors to centralize are either no longer unique after these many years, or they’re no longer reliably upheld by other elements within the situation who could maybe enhance them. That is, the characters aren’t used well anymore, and they don’t benefit from the year’s efforts to push hard with plot and comedy, for although the premise is more present via the arc (and the impending end naturally forces thematic closure), there aren’t many individual story beats that showcase the regulars terrifically, and most similarly lack inspiration and support. Accordingly, Five reiterates that larger trend we’ve seen of this show not prioritizing its foundational necessities over its efforts to maintain other flashier elements of its reputation… and we’ve now reached the point where those elements, like a perpetual and sometimes convoluted use of story, are no longer well-applied either… Now, I’d say the first half of Five is better than the second in terms of feeling like the glory days, but overall, this collection is a mediocre farewell to a series whose legacy as one of this century’s finest and funniest sitcoms is almost exclusively the result of its FOX run, when it was genuinely clever and fresh… and consistently well-founded as a situation comedy.
01) Episode 71: “Everyone Gets Atrophy” (Released: 05/29/18)
The Bluth family reunites as Lindsay launches a congressional campaign.
Written by Mitchell Hurwitz | Directed by Troy Miller
Season Five has a good excuse to get most of the family back together when Lucille decides to run Lindsay for a congressional seat — a continuation of the political through-line from Four that thematically works well given the series’ premised background with financial crimes (and its interest in acknowledging how the show was eerily predictive of 2018’s then current sociopolitical conversation). And with the ensemble mostly congregated, plus the “arrested” part of Arrested Development engaged via Buster being sent to jail for Lucille 2’s murder, this is the one point in Five where it looks like maybe it could be a decent season after all.
02) Episode 72: “An Old Start” (Released: 05/29/18)
Michael is surprised to learn that his parents are still using the family cottage.
Written by Jim Vallely | Directed by Troy Miller
Although the show’s proficiency with its comic ideas is not great like in previous years, there’s some stuff in Five that works. One of the subplots I love is Maeby disguising herself in old lady drag and pretending to be Lucille 2’s sister so she can squat in her place at a senior community (where she bonds with Ed Begley Jr.’s Stan Sitwell) — it’s very funny and fits the show’s comedic spirit, without being redundant. Also, I appreciate this entry’s reminder of Michael’s history as a widower — his centricity is vital to the premise, and this year (especially the back half) suffers by not keeping him as prominent as before. (Dermot Mulroney begins his arc here.)
03) Episode 73: “Sinking Feelings” (Released: 05/29/18)
The Bluths’ award ceremony is ruined when Lucille learns that Buster is in jail.
Written by Mitchell Hurwitz & Jim Vallely | Directed by Troy Miller
This installment has a big family gathering in public that definitely looks like the show is trying to both get the ensemble all together (this is the last we’ll see of Lindsay until the finale) and deliver the kind of big centerpiece that once helped enliven so many of its best half hours in the FOX run. It doesn’t fully succeed comedically, but it’s got the right idea — the Bluths throwing an award ceremony for themselves so Lindsay can get a popularity boost is a lot of fun — and the continuation of the main arc of Buster being in prison certainly makes this excursion feel more like classic Arrested Development than most of this year does.
04) Episode 74: “Emotional Baggage” (Released: 05/29/18)
Michael tries to get Buster’s life rights back from Ron Howard.
Written by Evan Mann & Gareth Reynolds | Directed by Troy Miller
Last season’s love triangle with Michael, George Michael, and Rebel Alley (Isla Fisher) continues in Five, and despite its efforts to I think be a conduit to explore the father/son tension that is one of this series’ core ensemble dynamics, it mostly feels like a drawn-out dead end, for we can assume neither guy is going to wind up with her, and after the climax of Four (which was five years ago), it just seems unnecessary. However, I appreciate the narrative continuity of the family trying to retrieve the rights they signed away to Ron Howard, and the Howard family’s barbecue is a fun set piece for this offering, with more of the metatheatricality that is part of the show’s DNA and a sign of its intended smarts. What’s more, with the return of Kitty (Judy Greer) and more scenes with Buster in prison, plus Maeby with Stan Sitwell, this does look like something only this series could do — with genuine flashes of its old magic.
05) Episode 75: “Rom-Traum” (Released: 05/29/18)
George Michael doesn’t trust his father, who also doesn’t trust his father.
Written by Maggie Rowe | Directed by Troy Miller
There wasn’t much competition for Most Valuable Episode (MVE) this week — my only other considerations were “Emotional Baggage” and “Check Mates” — but I’ve selected this entry, because it’s the funniest and most reflective of the series’ Golden Age, when its density of story played with the right speed, propelled by ideas that were both inherently amusing and supported by other elements of the situation. Specifically, I like that it explores ensemble dynamics, as Michael schemes with Buster and Barry (Henry Winkler) to get information out of Lucille that they believe she’s hiding — that notion involves the premise, this year’s arc, and several core relationships. And then I really love that it builds to a climax where Michael suspiciously follows his father down to Mexico, not knowing that he himself is also being followed by his suspicious son. There’s a sense of madcap screwball misunderstanding here that also reminds of, say, “¡Amigos!,” without being totally redundant, and, again, it utilizes dynamics within the ensemble to reinforce their established familial dysfunction. Additionally, the gag of Gob mistaking conversion therapy for closet conversion is one of the season’s funniest ideas. So, this one just works better than most, representing the year in a favorable way.
06) Episode 76: “Premature Independence” (Released: 05/29/18)
Lindsay is still missing on the day of the Second of July Parade.
Written by Mitchell Hurwitz & Jim Vallely | Directed by Troy Miller
The first batch of Season Five, which is much stronger than the second half because it’s got funnier ideas and is plotted with more tangible support from the characters (which helps it focus), culminates here in a Cinco de Cuatro-like set piece that, as with so much of this collection, doesn’t reach past heights but does evidence traces of its former charm, as the series tries (and tries hard) to be as fast and funny — as clever and unique — as it once was, with a silent film slapstick climax serving as one of the only creative devices employed this season. Oh, it’s jarring and gimmicky, but it’s a reminder of this show’s former imagination. (Lots of familiar recurring faces appear in this and several other offerings this year — Henry Winkler, Christine Taylor, Debra Mooney, Maria Bamford, and Ben Stiller among them. Also, Frances Conroy is introduced as Lottie Dottie, and Kyle Mooney continues as Murphy Brown Fünke.)
07) Episode 80: “Check Mates” (Released: 03/15/19)
Michael uses money his parents laundered through the banana stand to buy his son’s company.
Written by Evan Mann & Gareth Reynolds | Directed by Troy Miller
Obviously, this is the only episode I’m choosing to highlight from the 2019 half of Season Five, which further devolves into plot-led formula as Buster is put on trial and there’s not enough great stuff for character, let alone funny ideas that satisfy the series’ brand of humor and its reputation for imaginative excellence. But this one is a winner — and genuinely one of this list’s best — because it again engages ensemble dynamics with support from the show’s situation, including an iconic symbol from its past. I’m referring specifically to the banana stand, through which George and Lucille launder a bunch of money… money that a well-meaning but unknowing Michael uses to buy George Michael’s company, hoping to strengthen their relationship. There’s lots of dysfunction here and the premise thus asserts itself, well-invoked by these financial and legal maneuverings that (finally) make some sense, for they’re upheld by established elements of the situation: the regulars’ definitions and how they exist in relation to each other. This gives the entire half hour a lift — one last flash of magic. An MVE contender.
Other notable episodes that merit mention include: “The Fallout,” the series’ over-long finale that naturally provides some closure and is therefore worthwhile if not exactly excellent in its own right, along with “Taste Makers,” which I only cite because I chuckle at Argyle Austero (Tommy Tune) as the leader of the literal Gay Mafia, and “Courting Disasters,” which helps set up the finale and offers me a chance to say that I appreciate the casting of Jean Smart as an actress playing Lucille’s mother in a show produced about the Bluth family — she’s great, and this meta gag, which nevertheless never rises to the comic heights one would expect, still speaks to a key aspect of the series’ identity, and the last portion of this season, specifically.
*** The MVE Award for the Best Episode from Season Five of Arrested Development goes to…
“Rom-Traum”
Come back next week for more sitcom fun! And stay tuned tomorrow for a new Wildcard!