Tonight's episode of Arrested Development - the last of the second season, and so, possibly, the last ever - began with a blanket disclamer: Viewer Discretion is Advised. Since there was no specification as to what exact element of the episode viewers were advised to use their discretion against, I've made three guesses:- Several uses of the word "bastard", at least one of which directed at Desperate Housewives creator Mark Cherry, who cameos as himself;
- Three sets of (artfully blurred) exposed breasts: Kitty's, Lucille's, and ... Tobias'.
- Potential incest in the form of a kiss between George Michael and Maeby ... who may or may not be biological cousins.
Hmmm. Maybe a little bit of all-of-the-above?
I'll
be extremely disappointed if this is the final episode of the series -
for reasons beyond the obvious, "it's-the-best-show-on-TV" thing. For
every great cliffhanger plot point thrown out in this episode (Buster
learning Oscar's "pop secret", Tobias giving up the chance to reconcile
with Lindsay to run off with Kitty to Vegas), in some ways it felt like
a rehash of last season's finale, but without the urgency of that whole
we-sold-houses-to-Sadaam thing. How many times can George Sr. set up
Oscar and get away with it?That said, the Franklin Comes Alive CD bit was pure genius. From Michael's declaration that when GOB asked for "$5000 so that you could invest in a Franklin CD, I thought you meant a mutual fund and not a compact disc of you talking to your hand"; to the actual lyrics ("It ain't easy being white/it ain't easy being brown/ all this pressure to be bright/ I've got children all over tooooowwwn"); to GOB's emotional breakdown opon Michael's fake admission that it was his "favorite CD" - the whole subplot was a fantastic example of the way Arrested Development builds jokes on top of jokes on top of jokes.
On a final note, this episode should remove all doubt that Michael Cera is the most underrated young actor ... in the entire world. He never slips into self-caricature - even when gobsmacked with sexual hysteria over his cousin.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-16-2005 @ 4:17PM
Rowrbazzle said...
Word on the Michael Cera praise. He's truly incredible. His mimicking of Michael tonight when Maeby asked if he remembered the Dangerous Cousins movie was spot-on perfect. Someone get this kid an Emmy.
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6-16-2005 @ 4:17PM
ooda said...
I'm now filled with anticipation after hearing "next season on Arrested Development". I just hope Fox gets the message and renews.
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6-16-2005 @ 4:17PM
B said...
I was just dissapointed that Kitty's 'Celebrity' AA sponsor was John Laroquette and not Ted McGinley.
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6-16-2005 @ 4:17PM
Bit torrent? said...
another great episode... I thought it would end with a cliff hanger of Tobias coming out of the closet (which I think he did once or twice this season... that is, walk out a closet). Although the kissing cousins, layered on the French film was great.
Frankly CD was so obvious but so funny...
I think they should do "Arrested Development" live and have the next season off-broadway, tape it, and run it on Comedy Central. Or at least two or three episodes
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6-16-2005 @ 4:17PM
David Thomas said...
ooda
but wouldn't that be perfecT? they never show what happens on the "next time on..." clips so next season on AD could be very ironic indeed.
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6-16-2005 @ 4:17PM
ADdicted said...
In last night's episode in the scene where Tobias shows up to the "blue" men's help group, he drops off a bag on his way out. Anyone know what this bag was?
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6-16-2005 @ 4:17PM
ooda said...
David...
I realise that the footage of "next time" is never actually in the show. Though now I'm pumped, as it has been renewed for a third season, at least judging by the text "returns this summer" on getarrested.com and fox.com/arresteddev
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6-16-2005 @ 4:17PM
Candace said...
The Franklin puppet is genius! The show has only 5.9mil viewers - if Fox can't turn a hysterical, brilliantly written show into a money maker 5.9mil on cable would be a total get (I'm talking to you HBO).
ADicted, maybe Tobias' bag had Mrs. Featherbottom's gear in it?
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7-25-2005 @ 11:51AM
Steve Holt said...
Has anyone heard when the 2nd season will be released on DVD?
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7-25-2005 @ 12:52PM
Steve Holt said...
Has anyone heard when the 2nd season will be released on DVD?
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8-15-2005 @ 5:13PM
bananagrabber said...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000A9QKRI/qid=1124139661/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-2142797-8341401?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846
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