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It's Arrested Development

I'd have to agree that individually episodes do seem weaker at first, after hyping up AD as the greatest of all time for so many years I can see why this season might not have met some people's expectations. However, you have to remember why it was one of the best TV Shows of all time; plotting, planning, and all the rewards for people who pay attention. S4 doesn't start off right where things left off, it's a slow build of its own but it is waaay more labyrinthine and is absolutely meant to be watched all at once, and probably then all at once again (which I am gonna do soon). So maybe it's a little early for me to say but, I might actually say this is the best season yet.

I agree that Seth Rogan was the biggest drain on the show. Absolutely no effort visible on his part. Mary Lynn Rajskub was my favorite new guest and I absolutely hope she returns, along with Mae Whitman (who rightfully I think had more lines this season than all her others combined).

This was a depressing season to be sure, especially for Michael and Maeby. I'm not sure how I feel about that yet, what with them being two of my favorite characters.

Best running joke? Step ladder.

I also can't be thankful enough that this season almost acts as a snapshot to the collapse of the housing market, I'm so grateful that this is the kind of thing AD makes fun of and not current pop culture.
 
I knew the start of the season would be a little rough as they have to lay a lot of ground work for most of the jokes, but it's certainly paying off.
It also doesn't surprise me that the Maeby and Gob episodes coincide with the season really getting going. I think they were what the early episodes lacked.

I've also thought that the Tobias plotlines have been pretty awful (by arrested development standards. Apart from the To Catch a Predator scenes it just seems to be a real dive from where Tobias was in previous seasons. Lindsay's episodes seem to have been more passable even with analogous stories.
 
I've been thinking a lot about how this season has ended and all the plot points that have been set in place. I'm of the opinion however that this series just can't end until

George Michael and Maebe hook up and ditch their self-destructive family. Also while I'm in spoilers whatever the hell happened to Kitty having George's frozen sperm? Guess that whole thing didn't work out. We just have to wait until the movie. Too many people have motives to off Austero. Sally Sitwell also secretly being an alpaca (despite showing a hair scalp) is hilarious too, they do it so well with the eyebrow and never shaving legs.

Michael please don't tell me you hid Austero in the banana stand and changed shirts. If the money is in the banana stand I'll be very disappointed, and a murder would just add to how disappointingly similar you are to the rest of your family.
 
I really don't think that
Michael will have murdered Lucille 2, since that would take this show to entirely too dark a place. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if her disappearance is treated as a murder and that Michael is implicated. Also, given how heavily they placed suspicion on Michael it would be weird if it turned out that he actually did it (remember how they seemed to be setting up GOB as Rebel's other lover?)
I really liked the new season, but I feel like I feel more positive about it the more I think about it. I also rewatched the first episode and it played a lot better this time round, since even though it was still rather exposition-heavy and a bit clunky at times, you could see that they were setting up a whole lot of stuff right from the get-go, like the family gathering scene at Lucille's apartment, which is really cleverly edited in hindsight.
 
It starts off a bit slow. E2 especially starts to drag on a bit; George/Oscar start to get a bit boring. But it picks up quickly and never breaks stride. I found it incredibly funny and smart and kept all of the charm and spirit of Arrested Development. Incredibly satisfied.

I've watched it through once (starting a re-watch since my dad has yet to watch it himself), and I loved how everything started to really mesh together. I miss more of a family dynamic, but they did what they could and this new direction works really well anyway.

I thought it was funny how they pretty much dragged everyone through the mud, but I hope once we get the continuation of this saga that thinks turn up for everyone. I feel bad for Michael. I hope they don't spin it as Michael killing her... I'm betting on it being Sally Sitwell, honestly. There are a few showcases this season of Sally being a bit of a bitch.

Obviously there needs to be a continuation. George-Michael's and Michael's relationship needs to be fixed :( they really ended on a sour note there, though I don't think GM deserved to be angry enough to punch his dad.
There are plenty of other loose threads as well, so it does seem they made this as a part 1 to a bigger thing.
 
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