Arrested Development: season 4

“Arrested Development,” the crown jewel of the mid-2000s television comedy circuit, has only improved with age. It’s gone from simply being a well-scripted and staged series to achieving almost mythical cult status. But it’s important to remember that the show’s strength has always been its ability to both dissect and critique the era it resides in. For the show’s initial run from 2003-2006, that meant providing commentary on Bush-era war politics and the materialistic nature of America’s upper-crust and caucasian class. But it never let the characterizations stray so far that the audiences didn’t ultimately adore their bizarre antics.  

For the new season commissioned by our best friend, Netflix, the Bluth family is back and, thankfully, not much has changed. Family matriarch Lucille is boozy as ever, George Michael retains his awkward disposition and GOB is still GOB. And never has the show been so supremely meta, designed perfectly for an age where consumers down whole seasons in one sitting. This “Arrested Development” was made to go down in one large gulp, and should be treated as such.

The 15 new episodes are each centered on a certain member of the Bluth clan, with other various family members popping in and out for support. Michael Bluth, the sanest of the bunch, appears in all the episodes to provide a center of continuity. But the brilliance of season four doesn’t really settle in until around episode 5. The new season is so filled to the brim with simultaneously occurring storylines and seemingly unexplained jokes of which even a seasoned “Arrested Development” viewer may be skeptical.

Picking up right where season three left off and jumping back to the present day, we’re shown what the Bluths have been up to since Lucille attempted to commandeer the Queen Mary while Michael and George Michael sailed away from the rest of the clan. As can be expected, neither mission was very successful. The plot then deviates in about 99 different directions, but keep calm and binge watch the season. I promise it delivers.  

The strongest episodes tend to focus on the most lovable and ridiculous characters, which include the flawless Jessica Walter as Lucille Bluth, Portia de Rossi as Lindsay Bluth-Funke, and Will Arnett as GOB. But a few episodes in, when you’ve begun to piece together the narrative like Private Eye Gene Parmesan, you’ll feel right at home with America’s first family of absurdity.