On the next Arrested Development…

Mrinmoyee Chatterjee and Helena Moretti take a look at Netflix’s renewal of the cult show.

Mrinmoyee

And now for the story of a fandom, whose dreams were cruelly cancelled by a giant money-making corporation, and the one show who had no choice but to keep their hopes alive. This is Arrested Development. **cue the little tingalingy theme tune**. I wonder if the Fox execs sat back in 2007 for their Annual Stuffed Shirts Meeting and decided they’d made a huge mistake. Or I wonder if they just decided that they weren’t going to acknowledge to the insulting fan mail or respond to it. They might be crying at a lost opportunity, or maybe not – they did also cancel Firefly. Or maybe they just can’t spare the moisture.  Okay, I think I’m finally done with all the gags I could fit in.

I’m kidding, I’m not. But I could literally write 500 words of Arrested Development jokes to fill this article, but that’s just my back-up plan for this piece.

Prior to May 26^th, I had been eagerly scouring the internet for every little morsel of information that Netflix would let drop about Season 4, just like every other crazed fan. That’s one of the heart-warming things about Arrested Development; there are literally no other find of Arrested Development fan. So we all fed each other’s habit, looking at interviews of the cast promoting their other commitments, waiting for a one minute quote about how they weren’t able to actually say anything about the new season and share that across all social media. When Will Arnett and Jason Bateman gave out frozen bananas at the Bluth Banana Stand in time square, lots of people just blue themselves. Ah, sorry, last one (or is it).

With all this hype building up, it was always going to be a hard one to live up to. They completely changed the show, making each episode about a family member, with lots of interactions, and spanning 5 years, but basically just covering a few days in 2007 and the present day. And lots of people are disappointed. Dissappointed in its new format or its content; I think I literally saw a Buzzfeed article criticizing Portia DeRossi for looking…older? I mean, C’MON!

As you can tell, I think they’ve done a great job, no spoilers but the guest appearances are incredible. I have loved every single one, especially an SNL alumnus who might be in one of the best flashback scenes ever. The characters have really matured, while still remaining true to their essence. I love all the recession jokes they keep throwing in there, and I won’t lie, I loved the India visit, which was my second favourite thing on the show, after Gob becoming a member of a teen entourage. Hats off (or hands off) to Mitch Hurwitz.

And that is why you don’t cancel arrested Development.

Helena

Arrested Development season 4 was about as different from the other seasons as it’s possible to be, whilst still having the same characters. Yes, things are still falling apart around everyone’s ears (as is the Bluth way). Yes, the same old characters are still scheming their way to the top, and failing miserably. And yes, George Michael still has feelings for his sort-of cousin Maeby that are somehow creepy and hilarious all at the same time.  However, as Hurwitz has said in several interviews, getting the whole of the cast together was a mammoth task, and it shows in the performances. Names like Jason Bateman and Michael Cera have become huge in the ten years since AD was cancelled, and understandably, they all have other projects to work on. Characters were often green-screened in with one saying their lines in July and another in November. The disjointed filming doesn’t visually affect the show, but you do get the feeling that the performances could have been a lot better if the actors were talking to an actual person.

The idea of having an episode dedicated to each character is a clever one, and obviously a great choice given the restrictions in filming people together. Though the first few episodes are a bit slow, you eventually start to see recurring themes that leave you asking questions (why are there so many ostriches everywhere?) and waiting for answers.

Despite it’s downfalls, AD season 4 is still a great show in it’s own right. It’s a bit silly, a bit convoluted, and very funny. However, if you do as I did, and marathon the first three seasons before watching it, you can expect to be a little bit disappointed. Would I like to see more? Most definitely. I would, however, like to see a season made where the actors had more than two days as a fully assembled cast.