Highlights from Season 4 of Arrested Development

As many of you know (and for those who don’t, Hi, welcome to the internet), Arrested Development’s long-awaited fourth season premiered on Netflix last Sunday.  Those of us “true fans” have already binge-watched the whole thing, because we’re “dedicated,” and have a lot of “time on our hands,” and truly love the show, unlike those losers who are watching an episode a night because of their “busy schedules” and “real jobs.”

Our official review will be up in the near future, so if you’re looking for a weighty analysis of the Rashomon-esque narrative structure, or a comparison of the new season to the old seasons, or a discussion of the macro-level impact of Netflix’s original content, look elsewhere.  (For what it’s worth, I thought the 4th season was great.  Started off slow, and got incredible) For now, let’s examine some highlights, in the form of GIFs and pictures and witty commentary!

WARNING: Spoilers for the entirety of Season 4 ahead.

Incredible Cameos

Here’s something AD always did really well.  I mean, Ron Howard narrates the show for God’s sake.  Season 4 took this to almost a new level.  The amount of talent they recruited is simply stunning.  Seen above is the main cast of Workaholics in what’s definitely the best part of the first episode.

…and here’s Kristen Wiig and Seth Rogan as younger George/Lucille Bluth.  Wiig in particular just captures Jessica Walter’s character perfectly.  The really nice thing about all the cameos is that they don’t over-use them.  It’s a quick 20 seconds every couple episodes; they don’t shove it down your throat.

…aaaaand Maria Bamford.  She’s a standup comic who killed it on John Oliver’s show. (LINK)  She’s a bit more subdued than she is in her act, but she has moments of sheer genius (like the scene shown above).  The list goes on.  There’s Ron Howard playing himself, Max Winkler playing the young version of Barry Zuckerkorn, John Slattery as a disgraced anesthesiologist and an actual, honest-to-god MST3K cameo.  When the movie-theater silhouettes popped on the screen I may or may not have laughed out of pure nerd joy.

Physical Comedy

Something AD doesn’t get enough credit for, as it gets lost in the praise of the self-referential humor, inside jokes, and clever writing.  But the show has always, always done this well (Hello, chicken impersonations).  Season 4 is no exception.

Just, this.

arrested-ostrich-gif

 

It’s a Thanksgiving Miracle!

Rule of 3’s in full effect here.  Plus, mise-cellaneous.

Rewatch Potential / Inside Jokes

This is the thing that sets AD apart, really.  Always has been.  I consider myself an attentive, detail-oriented viewer, and I still felt like I was missing about 1/3 of the jokes.  That’s the true pleasure of the show; going back and watching it again and seeing how the threads play out.  Seeing the way things are set up that you didn’t even notice the first time.  Little references that are barely in the background.

 

And then there’s the ending.  The show left loose ends aplenty (Lucille 2’s ‘murder,’ GOB and Tony Wonder’s relationship, the George/Oscar personality swap, FakeBlock, Lindsey’s campaign, The Fantastic Four, Maeby going to jail, maybe, to name a few).  But the very end… well, to me it felt right.  I mean, it was symmetrical on so many levels.

Things kind of came full circle, didn’t they?  You have to admit, Michael kind of deserved it.  And the song to tag the episode (and hence the season) was just killer.  It might just get stuck in your head.

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2 Comments

  1. Kirsten Wiig is amazing as young Lucille, she really nails Jessica Walter and her mannerisms, however, Seth Rogen feels a little out of place, especially since they previously just used Jeffery Tambor with varying wigs to great effect. This also made for that awkward cut away during the cornballer reference.

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