Often considered one of the greatest TV shows of all time,
Arrested Development is this guy’s favorite show ever. With its razor sharp
writing, excellent ensemble cast, wonderful editing and back stories, and
especially the flawless build up of the jokes, the show about the riches to
rags Bluth family rightfully earned its title as one of the best written shows
ever made. Every time you go back and revisit one of the older episodes, you
begin noticing new jokes you missed, probably because you were too busy
laughing at another joke. That’s how hilarious it is.
Ever since the third season’s finale, we’d long been hoping
to see a movie teased to us by Ron Howard at the show’s very end. For years, we buzzed around like impatient
bees, stuffed our faces with mayoneggs, and continually got tired by everyone’s
“illusions”, feeling as if we’d never see that movie. However, with the devoted
fanbase growing, a long awaited fourth season was FINALLY put into production,
thanks to Netflix. When news broke out, you bet that I was hyped for it. So,
were we in store to get that same lightning in a bottle once more, or was our
hype all for naught?
The structure of this show is much different than before.
Instead of the usual family interactions we’re used to, the writers decided to
focus on one of the Bluth’s during specific episodes, all of which turn the
underlying narratives like clockwork. It’s a complicated set up, and if I try
to incoherently explain it, I’ll just keep rambling until you can take no more,
and drop from TBA.
As for said structure, it’s hard for me to accurately summarize
my thoughts. On the one hand, I really miss the same great interaction and
chemistry that the previous three seasons had in loads, but on the other hand,
I do have to give credit to the show for trying something so outside the box.
If anything, it makes this season unique. It takes the show a while to get its
footing back, but once it gets back into the saddle, it’s as hilarious as ever.
The first episode is kind of a bore, with some funny
moments, but is uneven thanks to loads of exposition to catch up with what the
family has been doing, but a few episodes in, it gets right back into the mode
of Arrested Development that I love most. There are some occasional boring
stretches, but the jokes come just as fast and furious as ever, with episodes
featuring GOB, Buster, Lucille, and Maeby being my absolute favorites, with the
writing reaching the great heights of the show’s golden age, and also throwing
in great callbacks to classic gags. Plus, when the cast members do interact
with each other, sharing the same effortless chemistry like they used to, it
makes me laugh hard.
Granted, not all of the episodes are a success. The finale
is absolute crap, and one episode featuring Tobias putting on a Fantastic Four
musical is a joke that stretches way past its breaking point. This level of
inconsistencies put it at an immediate disadvantage against the first three
seasons, but thankfully, certain faults are easy to overlook. I also could have
done with a little less narration, as characters occasionally have to put up
with the narrator overlapping their dialogue.
The same great cast is back: Jason Bateman as Michael, Will
Arnett as GOB, Portia de Rossi as Lindsay, Jessica Walter as Lucille, Jeffrey
Tambor as George Sr., Tony Hale as Buster, Alia Shawkat as Maeby, David Cross
as Tobias, and Michael Cera as George Michael all share the spotlight once
more. Even the narrator is once again voiced by Ron Howard, who also plays a
comedic version of himself on screen. All of these guys are out there acting
their hearts out, and all of them are great, Arnett, Cross, Hale, and Walter
being standouts. They’re also joined by recurring guests like Ben Stiller, Liza
Minelli, Judy Greer, Mae Whitman, and Henry Winkler, as well as series
newcomers such as Terry Crews, John Slattery, and Isla Fisher. Fisher, in
particular, is unbelievably good. Her brand of comedy is perfect for the world
of the Bluths, and she just nails it.
So, even with uneven tendencies, this should sound like a
pretty great season, right? Well, I felt that way. I felt that the show hit
some bumps along the way, but overall, still made it as great as ever…
That was, until I started looking back on one thing. I find
that this season was really mean spirited, including and especially in the
finale. The first three seasons, though they took on some taboo and dark
elements, still retained this sense of lightness so that the heavier stuff was
never too overwhelming. This season, I feel like the roads it went down were
pretty dark. I suppose you could argue that this season is where the family
officially hits rock bottom, and that darkness is necessary to show what the consequences
of their actions have reduced them to, but I think it actually renders this
season inconsistent with its predecessors. I wish they’d have retained that
original lightness, and not been so harsh.
So, all in all, I’m mixed, and that may as well be
considered a pan. What’s good is excellent, but what’s bad is boring, or even
horrible. It doesn’t lower my opinion of the show, I still think it’s the greatest
TV show I’ve ever seen, but at the end of the day, something irreplaceable was
lost. Honestly, it absolutely kills me to think this, but when all is said and
done, it’s hard not to look at season 4 as a disappointment, almost like they
made it out of obligation rather than passion.
I hate to say it, but… they blue themselves!
***1/2 / *****
No comments:
Post a Comment