Arrested Development: Season 4

It's gone before you know it. *Sigh*

Within 48 hours of Netflix's release of Arrested Development for streaming I've finished off the 15 new episodes of the long-awaited fourth season. Out of all the major blockbusters coming out this summer (Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, Star Trek 2, and even The World's End - the reunion of director Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost that I cannot wait for) my desire to catch the return of Arrested trumps all of these cinematic events. I mean, this is years and years in the making. And within two days, it's all over. But, was it worth it?

Absolutely. 

The show holds up just as well, if not better, then during its original run. I'm sure most people here are in the midst of watching it - or will be watching it soon - so I'll leave information on the premise bare. Basically season recaps what the whole cast has been up to during the past several years since the show was cancelled - they refer to this as "The Great Dark Period". With one event (Cinco de Cuatro) acting as somewhat of a hub, we trace each character's timelines as they work their way back up to the present which is roughly this particular event. 

Now, I have a ton of praise for the show. For those that are huge fans of the previous seasons they'll likely adore all of the running gags and jokes that are consistently reintroduced throughout the entire series... and these jokes are maintained in the new season (Mr. F, the Cornballer, Staircase car with references to hop-ons, blue paint, and many, many more). Not to mention that writer/creator Mitchell Hurwitz does a terrific job weaving all of the characters' stories together beautifully, which was a fairly hard task considering he only builds one character's story per episode.

This little trick, while an interesting direction to take the show, was not the easiest thing to grapple when starting into the season. The first episode focuses on Michael, and with the frequent changes in the time period while recapping his story, it all gets me a little confused about what's going on and when things are happening. In fact the show became even more frustrating as the season goes on and other character's story lines were explained. However, in the last five or so episodes, you begin to revisit some major events so frequently (as every character usually inhabits the same scene of the rest of the cast, just doing their own thing in the background) that the show completely comes around. Beginning to watch the season again for a second time around it makes far more sense to me, and, most importantly, there are many more hidden jokes buried in the subtext. I can tell this isn't going to get old. 

That's my only real complaint. It was slightly difficult to understand at the beginning, but that really doesn't matter because it comes all together at the end... Well, I do have a slight beef with the season finale, but I wont go into that here. 

The best thing about this season, and a major reason why I think this might be my favorite work of the show to date, is that it seems like Hurwitz had a ton of creative liberty to just go nuts with the show. Do it how he wanted it. The episodes don't end in a perfect "aww, the family loves each other" cooker-cutter mold that was more typical back when it was being aired on Fox. Instead, things are a bit dark. Everyone is consistently drifting apart from one another. No one has anyone else's back. It legitimately seems that they're all on the cusp of going absolutely broke (in fact I'm wondering why they haven't already). It's not depressing or upsetting to witness. It's just... different. Unexpected from what standard sit-coms deliver on. Plus, when only focusing on one character an episode, you don't have that standard two or three plot lines simultaneously running to help break up the monotony of the show. I feel like most networks would never let this shit fly on TV, but that's why they're on the internet now. Oh... there's also a baffling amount of great cameos. Seems like all of Hollywood wanted in on this revival.  

There are also rumors that this season really serves as somewhat of a first act for an Arrested Movie. So the fact that they kind of kick the Bluths down a notch and have the family entirely disband is a great place to start a movie that will eventually pull them all together again - maybe? But... hey, when will that movie be released? Here I am once again, patiently waiting for another return of the Bluths. *Sigh*