It's not a trick, it's an interactive visualization
May 14, 2013 3:38 PM Subscribe
Recurring Developments: An interactive visualization of running jokes in Arrested Development
Gorgeous but nothing about Tobias actually being a black albino?
posted by John Shaft at 3:54 PM on May 14, 2013
posted by John Shaft at 3:54 PM on May 14, 2013
Is there a way to view the details of each gag in each applicable episode? Or does it just show you which episode it shows up in?
posted by eugenen at 3:56 PM on May 14, 2013
posted by eugenen at 3:56 PM on May 14, 2013
Here, this will take care of the lack of FPP for the season 4 trailer.
posted by mysticreferee at 3:57 PM on May 14, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by mysticreferee at 3:57 PM on May 14, 2013 [8 favorites]
Best Ever.
posted by Saxon Kane at 4:00 PM on May 14, 2013
posted by Saxon Kane at 4:00 PM on May 14, 2013
Is there a way to view the details of each gag in each applicable episode? Or does it just show you which episode it shows up in?
Mouseover the orange circles on the ends of the lines. Took me a while, too.
posted by sapere aude at 4:02 PM on May 14, 2013
Mouseover the orange circles on the ends of the lines. Took me a while, too.
posted by sapere aude at 4:02 PM on May 14, 2013
Twelve days to new Arrested Development, fourteen to new Skinny Puppy.
Man but I can't wait for May to be over. :D
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:12 PM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]
Man but I can't wait for May to be over. :D
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:12 PM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]
Mouseover the orange circles on the ends of the lines. Took me a while, too.
It says so right at the top of the page but of course I didn't notice that until after giving up and reading the comments in here.
posted by shakespeherian at 4:17 PM on May 14, 2013
It says so right at the top of the page but of course I didn't notice that until after giving up and reading the comments in here.
posted by shakespeherian at 4:17 PM on May 14, 2013
This is really well done. There are a couple of omissions* that I noticed, which makes me wonder (in a good, happy way) what others I can come up with.
* Re: zipping up, Lucille at one point refers to Buster mangles her back/dresses after he gets his claw hand.
* I'm pretty sure (but 'maybe' wrong) that Maebe or one of her alter egos says "I've made a huge mistake" at some point?
* I'm disappointed that there's no mention of the other Lucille.
posted by mudpuppie at 4:31 PM on May 14, 2013
* Re: zipping up, Lucille at one point refers to Buster mangles her back/dresses after he gets his claw hand.
* I'm pretty sure (but 'maybe' wrong) that Maebe or one of her alter egos says "I've made a huge mistake" at some point?
* I'm disappointed that there's no mention of the other Lucille.
posted by mudpuppie at 4:31 PM on May 14, 2013
cking awesome!
posted by ShutterBun at 5:06 PM on May 14, 2013 [10 favorites]
posted by ShutterBun at 5:06 PM on May 14, 2013 [10 favorites]
This is fu
posted by ShutterBun at 5:06 PM on May 14, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by ShutterBun at 5:06 PM on May 14, 2013 [9 favorites]
For "Buster's hand gets eaten by a seal", they are missing this visual gag.
posted by andoatnp at 5:14 PM on May 14, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by andoatnp at 5:14 PM on May 14, 2013 [9 favorites]
We need "We need ice."
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:16 PM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:16 PM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]
There are a couple of omissions* that I noticed
One of my favorites is foreshadowing Buster's hand incident, when he sits on a bench with a poster on it saying "Army Officer", but since he's covering the right side it now reads "Arm Off". I think it was a season before the actual seal episode, which makes it even more awesome.
posted by xqwzts at 5:16 PM on May 14, 2013
One of my favorites is foreshadowing Buster's hand incident, when he sits on a bench with a poster on it saying "Army Officer", but since he's covering the right side it now reads "Arm Off". I think it was a season before the actual seal episode, which makes it even more awesome.
posted by xqwzts at 5:16 PM on May 14, 2013
I think it was a season before the actual seal episode, which makes it even more awesome.
The "arm off" gag occurs during the same episode as the seal hand biting incident. The seal attack is part of the "On the next..." segment. Wikipedia.
posted by andoatnp at 5:40 PM on May 14, 2013
The "arm off" gag occurs during the same episode as the seal hand biting incident. The seal attack is part of the "On the next..." segment. Wikipedia.
posted by andoatnp at 5:40 PM on May 14, 2013
Also missing is Kitty flashing people. SPRING BREAK! WOO!!!
posted by Cash4Lead at 6:08 PM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Cash4Lead at 6:08 PM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]
This is perfect timing because I've been wondering around the house yelling "Steve Holt!" to warm up.
Does Bob Loblaw not count as a recurring joke?
posted by Dr. Zira at 6:09 PM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]
Does Bob Loblaw not count as a recurring joke?
posted by Dr. Zira at 6:09 PM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]
Or Gene Parmesan.
*delighted scream*
posted by dephlogisticated at 6:28 PM on May 14, 2013 [10 favorites]
*delighted scream*
posted by dephlogisticated at 6:28 PM on May 14, 2013 [10 favorites]
No Mary Poppins? This is great.
posted by arcticseal at 6:39 PM on May 14, 2013
posted by arcticseal at 6:39 PM on May 14, 2013
That also missed the $X,000 suit. Come on!
Isn't that only the one episode though?
posted by shakespeherian at 6:55 PM on May 14, 2013
Isn't that only the one episode though?
posted by shakespeherian at 6:55 PM on May 14, 2013
I think Tobias is actually not gay, even latently; he just fits the stereotypes and is really, really oblivious in a Ned Flanders sort of way.
Pretty sure, if you pay close attention, the significantly more likely candidate for closeted gay guy is GOB.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:02 PM on May 14, 2013
Pretty sure, if you pay close attention, the significantly more likely candidate for closeted gay guy is GOB.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:02 PM on May 14, 2013
Pretty sure, if you pay close attention, the significantly more likely candidate for closeted gay guy is GOB.
Oh come on!
And the suit may have well been one episode. I've seen the series so many times now that it feels like an evergreen.
posted by mudpuppie at 7:06 PM on May 14, 2013
Oh come on!
And the suit may have well been one episode. I've seen the series so many times now that it feels like an evergreen.
posted by mudpuppie at 7:06 PM on May 14, 2013
Yeah, all the suit gags are in "Afternoon Delight," I think.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:24 PM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Sys Rq at 8:24 PM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]
A Reddit user by the name of BLUMN just posted this interesting link in the Arrested Development subreddit.
posted by cazoo at 8:47 PM on May 14, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by cazoo at 8:47 PM on May 14, 2013 [9 favorites]
Holy shit when did David Cross get old
posted by shakespeherian at 8:52 PM on May 14, 2013
posted by shakespeherian at 8:52 PM on May 14, 2013
Reddit user by the name of BLUMN
Isn't BLUMN the name of the doctor Michael makes up when he calls Lucille's house to see if they noticed that he and George Michael were gone?
posted by Room 641-A at 9:17 PM on May 14, 2013
Isn't BLUMN the name of the doctor Michael makes up when he calls Lucille's house to see if they noticed that he and George Michael were gone?
posted by Room 641-A at 9:17 PM on May 14, 2013
"Personally, I was a physician for many years before I found my true calling as a thespian. Prompted by a little misunderstanding at a pool, I launched into my new career in ripened middle age with abandon; auditioning for commercials, directing school plays, doing whatever it took to get a gig. I wholeheartedly recommend following your heart...wherever, and to whomever, it may lead. "
Somebody managed convince someone that posting on reddit all day in character was a great idea.
This person is a genius.
posted by The Whelk at 9:30 PM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]
Somebody managed convince someone that posting on reddit all day in character was a great idea.
This person is a genius.
posted by The Whelk at 9:30 PM on May 14, 2013 [2 favorites]
This seems like it would be a lot of work, but that work would be super fun. Awesome; I love it.
posted by k8lin at 10:33 PM on May 14, 2013
posted by k8lin at 10:33 PM on May 14, 2013
Mango.
Man. Go.
As long as we're talking clever wordplay, how about Gob's boat: The Seaward
posted by ShutterBun at 11:32 PM on May 14, 2013
Man. Go.
As long as we're talking clever wordplay, how about Gob's boat: The Seaward
posted by ShutterBun at 11:32 PM on May 14, 2013
ShutterBun: "As long as we're talking clever wordplay, how about Gob's boat: The Seaward"
"I'll leave when I'm good and ready."
posted by namewithoutwords at 5:13 AM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
"I'll leave when I'm good and ready."
posted by namewithoutwords at 5:13 AM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
Arrested Development Season 4 release date announced. What that means for your weekend, up next.
(speaking for myself, I've literally been saving season 3 up until now. Seems like a good time to savor it)
posted by ShutterBun at 6:35 AM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
(speaking for myself, I've literally been saving season 3 up until now. Seems like a good time to savor it)
posted by ShutterBun at 6:35 AM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
This visualization is good but you should be careful who you show it to...you're gonna get hop-ons.
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:55 AM on May 15, 2013
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:55 AM on May 15, 2013
Isn't that only the one episode though?
If you mean the best episode, yes.
As long as we're talking clever wordplay, how about Gob's boat: The Seaward
Her?
posted by ersatz at 8:20 AM on May 15, 2013 [3 favorites]
If you mean the best episode, yes.
As long as we're talking clever wordplay, how about Gob's boat: The Seaward
Her?
posted by ersatz at 8:20 AM on May 15, 2013 [3 favorites]
cazoo: "A Reddit user by the name of BLUMN just posted this interesting link in the Arrested Development subreddit."
Oh, there are some wonderful tidbits in that site's source code.
posted by schmod at 8:25 AM on May 15, 2013
Oh, there are some wonderful tidbits in that site's source code.
posted by schmod at 8:25 AM on May 15, 2013
A friend of mine pointed out that the site's javascript and CSS files are not only named amusingly, they also have clever ascii art within them:
HarmoniousExplosions.js
MyInsides.js
posted by Rory Marinich at 9:37 AM on May 15, 2013
HarmoniousExplosions.js
MyInsides.js
posted by Rory Marinich at 9:37 AM on May 15, 2013
Ooh! Anyone ever notice that when Stan Sitwell ("who did look a little like Edgar Winter") is on the romantic getaway with Lucille 2, she's briefly seen wearing a striped black and white turban that makes her look like the Bride of Frankenstein? (I just did!)
posted by Sys Rq at 10:17 AM on May 15, 2013
posted by Sys Rq at 10:17 AM on May 15, 2013
For "Buster's hand gets eaten by a seal", they are missing this visual gag.
They also missed the analogous visual gag for Rita.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 11:50 AM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
They also missed the analogous visual gag for Rita.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 11:50 AM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
They missed the shoulder rub in "Hand to God" (s02e12), which is the best one.
posted by Sys Rq at 12:21 PM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Sys Rq at 12:21 PM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
andoatnp: "For "Buster's hand gets eaten by a seal", they are missing this visual gag."
Also missing: they repeat the "arm off" gag in Motherboy XXX* when Buster looks at his alarm clock.
*Two episodes after the first gag.
posted by Room 641-A at 12:40 PM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
Also missing: they repeat the "arm off" gag in Motherboy XXX* when Buster looks at his alarm clock.
*Two episodes after the first gag.
posted by Room 641-A at 12:40 PM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
Dear god, Henry Winkler just jumped over a shark on his way to Burger King. This show's writers had balls of steel.
posted by ShutterBun at 5:32 PM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by ShutterBun at 5:32 PM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
NPR did a similar thing, it seems a little more comprehensive. Both great!
posted by Jon Mitchell at 5:40 PM on May 17, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by Jon Mitchell at 5:40 PM on May 17, 2013 [6 favorites]
Wow! That's not just a little more comprehensive.
(Though I'm a little disappointed that they didn't connect Lindsay's chicken dance with Bob Loblaw: "Cha-chi! Cha-chi! Cha-chi!")
posted by Sys Rq at 8:01 AM on May 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
(Though I'm a little disappointed that they didn't connect Lindsay's chicken dance with Bob Loblaw: "Cha-chi! Cha-chi! Cha-chi!")
posted by Sys Rq at 8:01 AM on May 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
So, is this our Arrested Development discussion thread, or is the plan to make a new one tomorrow?
posted by Rory Marinich at 7:54 PM on May 25, 2013
posted by Rory Marinich at 7:54 PM on May 25, 2013
Let's make it this one. A longboat to escape the SEC on!
posted by arcticseal at 10:06 PM on May 25, 2013
posted by arcticseal at 10:06 PM on May 25, 2013
10 minutes in. I really want to look away. Not. Good. Strongly hoping it improves very soon, because so far it's confused, interrupting itself, hard to follow.
posted by argybarg at 12:53 AM on May 26, 2013
posted by argybarg at 12:53 AM on May 26, 2013
so far it's confused, interrupting itself, hard to follow
Yep. Just like the original.
I'm digging it.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:52 AM on May 26, 2013
Yep. Just like the original.
I'm digging it.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:52 AM on May 26, 2013
The pacing is different, because the episodes are much more interconnected than the old ones. I was feeling a little bit nervous two episodes in, but Girlfriend and I just finished episode 4 and things are getting really damn good.
The thing that most unnerved me at first was how much more time the show devotes to individual gag sequences. The older show never had the luxury of that much time. So at first things felt padded and overlong, but once we got in far enough to see how much story got passed between episodes, that feeling went away.
The writing is definitely more laid-back to match. I'm noticing fewer one-line gems, though that may change on rewatch. Or on finishing the series and noticing how quintuple-layered every piece of dialogue is, which seems to be where things might be going.
posted by Rory Marinich at 7:03 AM on May 26, 2013
The thing that most unnerved me at first was how much more time the show devotes to individual gag sequences. The older show never had the luxury of that much time. So at first things felt padded and overlong, but once we got in far enough to see how much story got passed between episodes, that feeling went away.
The writing is definitely more laid-back to match. I'm noticing fewer one-line gems, though that may change on rewatch. Or on finishing the series and noticing how quintuple-layered every piece of dialogue is, which seems to be where things might be going.
posted by Rory Marinich at 7:03 AM on May 26, 2013
Yeah, the show gets better and better as it goes because the interconnections start to pay off more and more.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:09 AM on May 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:09 AM on May 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
The lead up to the voting scene and the actual voting scene itself in episode 1 made any worries I might have had go away.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 6:27 PM on May 26, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 6:27 PM on May 26, 2013 [2 favorites]
SHOW STEALER PRO TRIAL VERSION
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:11 PM on May 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:11 PM on May 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
(More than one person on the Internet thinks this was a Netflix error.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:13 PM on May 26, 2013
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:13 PM on May 26, 2013
Just watched up to episode 5 and so far it's living up to expectations. We've stopped for today to try and make the most of it.
posted by arcticseal at 8:15 PM on May 26, 2013
posted by arcticseal at 8:15 PM on May 26, 2013
Yeah, our plan was to watch two episodes at most a day, but then I found out episode 3 was Lindsay's and I blue it.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:36 PM on May 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:36 PM on May 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
We just stopped after episode 7. So far it's been building, each episode positioned nicely on all the ones preceding it, so ep 7 feels like 7x the amount of stuff going on in the first ep.
posted by shakespeherian at 8:49 PM on May 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by shakespeherian at 8:49 PM on May 26, 2013 [1 favorite]
It was ok. Definitely some pacing problems and totally flat jokes. Also Seth Rogan was a TERRIBLE choice. Still had a lot of funny stuff, and an impressively constructed plot. The overall tone was much darker than I expected. I'm looking forward to watching it again.
posted by codacorolla at 9:11 PM on May 26, 2013
posted by codacorolla at 9:11 PM on May 26, 2013
Kristen Wiig as young Lucille, however? Holy crap. I had kind of discounted her due to her work on SNL, but in retrospect that's probably because her SNL roles were pretty much "mug for the camera and play the idiot you play in every sketch". She is amazing as young Lucille and now I'm madder than ever at how bad SNL is for using her so poorly.
(Bill Hader get off SNL, you are way too good for that shitshow)
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:04 PM on May 26, 2013
(Bill Hader get off SNL, you are way too good for that shitshow)
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:04 PM on May 26, 2013
Hm. Still digging it, but I found it terribly unsettling that they shoved in a couple of "blue myself" gags in there: 1) at all; and 2) incorrectly.
(The original "I just blue myself" works as a pun. "He blue himself" makes absolutely no grammatical sense whatsoever.)
posted by Sys Rq at 10:30 PM on May 26, 2013
(The original "I just blue myself" works as a pun. "He blue himself" makes absolutely no grammatical sense whatsoever.)
posted by Sys Rq at 10:30 PM on May 26, 2013
The writing is definitely more laid-back to match. I'm noticing fewer one-line gems, though that may change on rewatch. Or on finishing the series and noticing how quintuple-layered every piece of dialogue is, which seems to be where things might be going.
Around the third episode when I realized the structure was going to be 'series-of-events-retold-various-times-through different-viewpoints' that we've seen often in single episodes of a sitcom (Burning Beekeeper from HIMYM springs to mind) but I don't know if I've ever seen it extended through a whole season of TV.*
This means single lines get repeated a lot for different effect, and by episode 13 you start to realize how layered things were in the first episodes. Also it means if an important joke fell flat for you, you're going to have to groan through it several more times in the recaps.
*btw, is there a name for that type of structure? I feel like I've seen it in a lot of TV episodes but I'm having trouble... something-searching it...
posted by midmarch snowman at 11:35 AM on May 27, 2013
Around the third episode when I realized the structure was going to be 'series-of-events-retold-various-times-through different-viewpoints' that we've seen often in single episodes of a sitcom (Burning Beekeeper from HIMYM springs to mind) but I don't know if I've ever seen it extended through a whole season of TV.*
This means single lines get repeated a lot for different effect, and by episode 13 you start to realize how layered things were in the first episodes. Also it means if an important joke fell flat for you, you're going to have to groan through it several more times in the recaps.
*btw, is there a name for that type of structure? I feel like I've seen it in a lot of TV episodes but I'm having trouble... something-searching it...
posted by midmarch snowman at 11:35 AM on May 27, 2013
Pope G: You might also love Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids, which I thought she was great in. She was also pretty interesting to watch in Friends with Kids... but that movie was not so great.
posted by midmarch snowman at 11:39 AM on May 27, 2013
posted by midmarch snowman at 11:39 AM on May 27, 2013
is there a name for that type of structure?
I believe it's traditional to refer to Rashomon when talking about this narrative structure.
posted by Grangousier at 11:40 AM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
I believe it's traditional to refer to Rashomon when talking about this narrative structure.
posted by Grangousier at 11:40 AM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh my god [spoilers for episode 12], that speech Maeby delivers is the Delta Gamma sorority "cunt punt" email. Didn't that just happen a month ago? That's a startlingly recent bit of pop culture allusioning.
posted by Rory Marinich at 12:49 PM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Rory Marinich at 12:49 PM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
I like Wiig as young Lucille but I miss the thing from the original run where Jessica Walters just puts on a wig to play young Lucille.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:41 PM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by shakespeherian at 1:41 PM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
"Arrested Development" Was the Best TV Satire of the Bush Era
posted by the man of twists and turns at 5:10 PM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 5:10 PM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Rory, I read that they changed that script at the very last minute because they wanted to make a reference to it.
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:39 PM on May 27, 2013
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:39 PM on May 27, 2013
It's worth noting that fakeblock.com is a real website and is registered to Fox. It currently requires a username and password to access.
posted by codacorolla at 7:33 PM on May 27, 2013
posted by codacorolla at 7:33 PM on May 27, 2013
Just finished (such a slowpoke!), and wow that was good. More convoluted than the original, able to get away with more (some of the things they tried initially pinged me as a NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING but I suspect they'll all feel much better on rewatch; the format change was a real shock), and it smartly builds not just to a dovetailing to end all dovetailing, but to a plot that is actually sweet and sincere and emotional and, yeah, not the note I was expecting it to end on.
It managed to make me feel like I'd just witnessed seven years worth of plot, so good job with that, Arrested Development. I'm curious how they'll handle the movie/fifth season that this was effectively building up to.
posted by Rory Marinich at 8:39 PM on May 27, 2013
It managed to make me feel like I'd just witnessed seven years worth of plot, so good job with that, Arrested Development. I'm curious how they'll handle the movie/fifth season that this was effectively building up to.
posted by Rory Marinich at 8:39 PM on May 27, 2013
I will say that on first watch, the only character who didn't end up clicking at all for me was Mark Cherry. On the other hand, Terry Crews, George Michael's roommate, Roger Sterling, and a bunch of the other new characters were pretty great.
posted by Rory Marinich at 8:41 PM on May 27, 2013
posted by Rory Marinich at 8:41 PM on May 27, 2013
Can I just say that in retrospect I'm a little angry Maria Bamford wasn't a regular in the show's initial run.
posted by shakespeherian at 8:44 PM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by shakespeherian at 8:44 PM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
I am enjoying the hell out of this so far after a bit of a shaky start.
I lost it at the "Herbert Love Rally" sign, and just after when we find out the characters name is Herbert Love. It's a clear callback to "Family Love Michael" banner, and makes both of those scenes subtly goofy wordplay if you've seen the earlier series, and relatively banal deadpanning if you haven't.
I can't think of any other show that combines goofiness and deadpan as often as AD, and I love it for it.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 9:21 PM on May 27, 2013
I lost it at the "Herbert Love Rally" sign, and just after when we find out the characters name is Herbert Love. It's a clear callback to "Family Love Michael" banner, and makes both of those scenes subtly goofy wordplay if you've seen the earlier series, and relatively banal deadpanning if you haven't.
I can't think of any other show that combines goofiness and deadpan as often as AD, and I love it for it.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 9:21 PM on May 27, 2013
JUST NOW WATCHING
DIRECT, COMPLEX MST3K NESTED REFERENCE
TOTALLY SOLD.
posted by The Whelk at 9:57 PM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
DIRECT, COMPLEX MST3K NESTED REFERENCE
TOTALLY SOLD.
posted by The Whelk at 9:57 PM on May 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
I lost it at the "Herbert Love Rally" sign, and just after when we find out the characters name is Herbert Love. It's a clear callback to "Family Love Michael" banner, and makes both of those scenes subtly goofy wordplay if you've seen the earlier series, and relatively banal deadpanning if you haven't.
See also.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:58 AM on May 28, 2013
See also.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:58 AM on May 28, 2013
We got up to Episode 8 last night and are already doign the "Did you see that?", "What?"...rewind..."That!", "Cool!". Looking forward to the second half.
posted by arcticseal at 8:28 AM on May 28, 2013
posted by arcticseal at 8:28 AM on May 28, 2013
cazoo, this link is pretty priceless, thanks. It highlights for me how subtly brilliant David Cross is as Tobias, and it's just full of those deft AD touches driving home how clueless Tobias can be (the audio is only in the left channel, there are clicks and other noise in the audio, the ad at the bottom of the page: "Mango Juice! It's like having a Mango in your mouth!").
I loved, loved, loved this new season and can't wait to rewatch it a couple of times, and soon. The new narrative format was jarring and unsettling at first, and the difference in pacing with the longer episode lengths is mixed for me, but on the whole I thought it was terrific, and that the creative team was especially adept at covering the intervening seven years, and surprisingly uncompromising in having the characters experience actual consequences for their awfulness.
I also sense that this body of work (season 4) will be seminal--it really isn't TV-mode storytelling anymore, it's internet-mode storytelling. The complexity of the macro-plot(s) really entices (and, I assume, will reward) repeated viewing, the scope and depth of the narrative arcs would be impossible in 22-minute chunks separated by one week's time each, and so on. Dare I say: groundbreaking.
posted by LooseFilter at 8:38 AM on May 28, 2013
I loved, loved, loved this new season and can't wait to rewatch it a couple of times, and soon. The new narrative format was jarring and unsettling at first, and the difference in pacing with the longer episode lengths is mixed for me, but on the whole I thought it was terrific, and that the creative team was especially adept at covering the intervening seven years, and surprisingly uncompromising in having the characters experience actual consequences for their awfulness.
I also sense that this body of work (season 4) will be seminal--it really isn't TV-mode storytelling anymore, it's internet-mode storytelling. The complexity of the macro-plot(s) really entices (and, I assume, will reward) repeated viewing, the scope and depth of the narrative arcs would be impossible in 22-minute chunks separated by one week's time each, and so on. Dare I say: groundbreaking.
posted by LooseFilter at 8:38 AM on May 28, 2013
I was kind of "eh" on the whole thing until the DUCK and it KEPT COMING UP and it made me TEAR WITH LAUGHTER EVER TIME AND I DON'T KNOW WHY.
posted by The Whelk at 8:48 AM on May 28, 2013
posted by The Whelk at 8:48 AM on May 28, 2013
I don't know if there's going to be another AD thread any time soon, but I thought I would post some thoughts here. Spoilers throughout...
The thing that struck me about the plot of the fourth season is that every character becomes nearly the complete opposite of what they thought of themselves, or what they were.
Michael is the most striking. Without the foil of his family to make him seem like a sweet, well meaning guy, he turns in to a self serving, lying, and scheming person. Michael gets several of his wishes to come true which all turn sour. He finally builds his development project, which turns in to (first) a ghost town and (second) a community of exiles, and in the process goes deep in to debt. He finally gets to Phoenix, and finds it to be a hellish nightmare. He finally separates from his family and finds that it is, in fact, he who needs them, and ends up seeking them out throughout most of his story arc. In various turns he lies, cheats, and debases himself to try and make his way in the world, but fails at almost every step. Michael ends up looking more like GOB (a pretender and failure) than he does what he resembled at the end of season three. He also forsakes the most important (non-breakfast) thing, and by the end of the season he's been abandoned by everyone in his family (not without fault) for the way that he's treated them.
GeorgeMichael Maharris follows a similar path. He's introduced with the subtitle "A Nice Kid", and then proceeds to prove that entirely wrong. He turns in to the typical Bluth man: he bases his entire career around a lie (that's putting it generously: illegal fraud is probably more apt), goes after a woman who reminds him of his mother (whether he realizes that or not), and ends up way out of his depth. George Michael as the innocent of the family is out the door, and instead you have another scheming Bluth boy.
Lindsay becomes the complete opposite of her imagined anti-establishment persona, and instead is running on a far right platform to be an establishment politician. She finally gets her wish and lives the activist lifestyle which would certainly vex her mother (if Lucille cared enough to find out about it), literally destroying her apartment with said lifestyle. However the activist lifestyle is hard, and not fun. Lucille's assertion that they're more alike than different comes to be true, as Lindsay gets up on a podium and starts an anti-immigrant rallying call that matches the sentiment which lead her mother to invent to Cinco de Cuatro in the first place.
Oscar / George is even more straight-forward. Due to the hormones in the runoff which is effecting the Maca root that they're both eating, George is becoming less alpha and Oscar is becoming less beta. The brother that's always used the other is now less and less assertive, and as such as lost control of the family. Ironically Oscar is sweating out the hormones because George has trick him in to acting as his double once again. So George's complaint that Oscar is lazy and has never felt the sting of sweat from an honest day's work is inverted, and eventually leads to Marky Bark's prophecy coming true, as the strong become the weak and the weak become the strong.
GOB, a self-involved horn-dog and lady's man, finally makes his first friend (something that he's been trying to do for pretty much the entire show), and ends up (perhaps, perhaps not) having sex with him, totally inverting his usual persona. GOB, who is unable to deal with the terrible things he does on a regular basis, is also out of roophies, and unable to forget this particular act. In a strange way, GOB's narcissism leads him to one of the better (if not more confused) relationships on the show.
Buster finally gets to be a war hero, but he's doing so as a drone pilot who's killing innocent people from a strip mall in Organge County. He finally gets a hand, but it's a giant monster hand which makes him even more dangerous than the hook. He finally gets a woman, but the woman is only using him to make her husband jealous (much like he used Lucille2 to get back at his mother), and he ends up acting like a monster when he knocks said husband in to a coma.
Lucille, who made a lifestyle out of being manipulative and withholding, has finally realized that she needs her family, but has been totally abandoned by them. In this abandonment she realizes that she really does have emotions (one of the most darkly funny scenes in the series is her getting ready to spare the moisture of crying and opening up about her terrible childhood and Tobias silencing her to talk about his stupid musical).
Maeby and Tobias fit a little less cleanly in to this analysis...
Tobias actually does change a little bit, as he seems to legitimately fall in love with DeBreis. His love is still tinged by his insane desire to be an actor, but in doing so he becomes an almost competent therapist - devising a sort of art therapy with his Fantastic 4 musical. In this sense Tobias' inversion is actually sort of a positive (well, in spite of the sex offender charge): he has a decent job at the Austerity clinic, he finally manages to put together a show, and he finds a woman who (after a fashion) he cares for. Still, all of these things are tinged by a desperate narcissism and self-destructive desire to pursue is ridiculous fantasy of being an act-or.
Maeby has always had a conflicting desire to be loved and noticed by her parents, while at the same time wanting independence from their toxic family relationship and be a grown up on her own. In this process she sort of succeeds (in living by herself), but also is in literal arrested development as she stays in High School for 4 additional years (leading her to resemble her father in a very undesirable way). In the end she escapes for a bit, but is drawn right back in to the family's orbit in a very Bluth-like way.
Each Bluth goes through a tragic arc where they get exactly what they want, and then are immediately disappointed by the results of that. It mirrors the financial crisis which is the background for all of the action of the fourth season, where America reached a staggering high-point of prosperity with the housing bubble, which then crashed stupendously (and perhaps presages a similar collapse of the Web 2.0 bubble with George Michael's fake FakeBlock software).
It ends on a pretty macabre note: Buster is probably suspect #1 in whatever happened to Lucille2, George Michael is probably committing light fraud with his FakeBlock scheme, Michael may have killed Lucille2, and even if he didn't he did do something terrible of which he has no memory, Lindsay is now the foremost right-winger in Orange County and her husband and boyfriend may be dead, Maeby is a sex offender and penniless, Tobias is possibly gravely injured (and if not, then he's still Tobias), George is half the man he used to be (and twice the woman), GOB is at a serious crossroads in his life and unable to forget it like he normally would, and Lucille has been abandoned by her family and is still in prison for a few more years.
I really hope they're able to wrap those threads up in some way.
posted by codacorolla at 9:20 AM on May 28, 2013 [5 favorites]
The thing that struck me about the plot of the fourth season is that every character becomes nearly the complete opposite of what they thought of themselves, or what they were.
Michael is the most striking. Without the foil of his family to make him seem like a sweet, well meaning guy, he turns in to a self serving, lying, and scheming person. Michael gets several of his wishes to come true which all turn sour. He finally builds his development project, which turns in to (first) a ghost town and (second) a community of exiles, and in the process goes deep in to debt. He finally gets to Phoenix, and finds it to be a hellish nightmare. He finally separates from his family and finds that it is, in fact, he who needs them, and ends up seeking them out throughout most of his story arc. In various turns he lies, cheats, and debases himself to try and make his way in the world, but fails at almost every step. Michael ends up looking more like GOB (a pretender and failure) than he does what he resembled at the end of season three. He also forsakes the most important (non-breakfast) thing, and by the end of the season he's been abandoned by everyone in his family (not without fault) for the way that he's treated them.
George
Lindsay becomes the complete opposite of her imagined anti-establishment persona, and instead is running on a far right platform to be an establishment politician. She finally gets her wish and lives the activist lifestyle which would certainly vex her mother (if Lucille cared enough to find out about it), literally destroying her apartment with said lifestyle. However the activist lifestyle is hard, and not fun. Lucille's assertion that they're more alike than different comes to be true, as Lindsay gets up on a podium and starts an anti-immigrant rallying call that matches the sentiment which lead her mother to invent to Cinco de Cuatro in the first place.
Oscar / George is even more straight-forward. Due to the hormones in the runoff which is effecting the Maca root that they're both eating, George is becoming less alpha and Oscar is becoming less beta. The brother that's always used the other is now less and less assertive, and as such as lost control of the family. Ironically Oscar is sweating out the hormones because George has trick him in to acting as his double once again. So George's complaint that Oscar is lazy and has never felt the sting of sweat from an honest day's work is inverted, and eventually leads to Marky Bark's prophecy coming true, as the strong become the weak and the weak become the strong.
GOB, a self-involved horn-dog and lady's man, finally makes his first friend (something that he's been trying to do for pretty much the entire show), and ends up (perhaps, perhaps not) having sex with him, totally inverting his usual persona. GOB, who is unable to deal with the terrible things he does on a regular basis, is also out of roophies, and unable to forget this particular act. In a strange way, GOB's narcissism leads him to one of the better (if not more confused) relationships on the show.
Buster finally gets to be a war hero, but he's doing so as a drone pilot who's killing innocent people from a strip mall in Organge County. He finally gets a hand, but it's a giant monster hand which makes him even more dangerous than the hook. He finally gets a woman, but the woman is only using him to make her husband jealous (much like he used Lucille2 to get back at his mother), and he ends up acting like a monster when he knocks said husband in to a coma.
Lucille, who made a lifestyle out of being manipulative and withholding, has finally realized that she needs her family, but has been totally abandoned by them. In this abandonment she realizes that she really does have emotions (one of the most darkly funny scenes in the series is her getting ready to spare the moisture of crying and opening up about her terrible childhood and Tobias silencing her to talk about his stupid musical).
Maeby and Tobias fit a little less cleanly in to this analysis...
Tobias actually does change a little bit, as he seems to legitimately fall in love with DeBreis. His love is still tinged by his insane desire to be an actor, but in doing so he becomes an almost competent therapist - devising a sort of art therapy with his Fantastic 4 musical. In this sense Tobias' inversion is actually sort of a positive (well, in spite of the sex offender charge): he has a decent job at the Austerity clinic, he finally manages to put together a show, and he finds a woman who (after a fashion) he cares for. Still, all of these things are tinged by a desperate narcissism and self-destructive desire to pursue is ridiculous fantasy of being an act-or.
Maeby has always had a conflicting desire to be loved and noticed by her parents, while at the same time wanting independence from their toxic family relationship and be a grown up on her own. In this process she sort of succeeds (in living by herself), but also is in literal arrested development as she stays in High School for 4 additional years (leading her to resemble her father in a very undesirable way). In the end she escapes for a bit, but is drawn right back in to the family's orbit in a very Bluth-like way.
Each Bluth goes through a tragic arc where they get exactly what they want, and then are immediately disappointed by the results of that. It mirrors the financial crisis which is the background for all of the action of the fourth season, where America reached a staggering high-point of prosperity with the housing bubble, which then crashed stupendously (and perhaps presages a similar collapse of the Web 2.0 bubble with George Michael's fake FakeBlock software).
It ends on a pretty macabre note: Buster is probably suspect #1 in whatever happened to Lucille2, George Michael is probably committing light fraud with his FakeBlock scheme, Michael may have killed Lucille2, and even if he didn't he did do something terrible of which he has no memory, Lindsay is now the foremost right-winger in Orange County and her husband and boyfriend may be dead, Maeby is a sex offender and penniless, Tobias is possibly gravely injured (and if not, then he's still Tobias), George is half the man he used to be (and twice the woman), GOB is at a serious crossroads in his life and unable to forget it like he normally would, and Lucille has been abandoned by her family and is still in prison for a few more years.
I really hope they're able to wrap those threads up in some way.
posted by codacorolla at 9:20 AM on May 28, 2013 [5 favorites]
"committing light fraud"
Ha!
Not everything is so macabre. As George Sr. pointed out, light fraud is a whole hell of a lot better than light treason.
posted by midmarch snowman at 9:34 AM on May 28, 2013
Ha!
Not everything is so macabre. As George Sr. pointed out, light fraud is a whole hell of a lot better than light treason.
posted by midmarch snowman at 9:34 AM on May 28, 2013
George Michael Maharris
I am going to avoid this thread until I get through all the episodes so I don't spoil it even more. But if seeing this means the joke I assume was made was made (based on George Michael's foreshadowing in the first episode), I am glad I had warning for it here because if not, I'm pretty sure my head would have exploded.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:59 AM on May 28, 2013
I am going to avoid this thread until I get through all the episodes so I don't spoil it even more. But if seeing this means the joke I assume was made was made (based on George Michael's foreshadowing in the first episode), I am glad I had warning for it here because if not, I'm pretty sure my head would have exploded.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:59 AM on May 28, 2013
I just watched the first five episodes straight through, and now I'm in a state of mild hysteria. I think this is where looking at it as discrete episodes breaks down: it seems to rely on the cumulative madness.
It's not really Rashomon-form as the events aren't radically reinterpreted by the different observers. It is a remarkable way of doing a story, though. Kind of like the way Nic Roeg would have made Airplane!
posted by Grangousier at 3:42 PM on May 28, 2013
It's not really Rashomon-form as the events aren't radically reinterpreted by the different observers. It is a remarkable way of doing a story, though. Kind of like the way Nic Roeg would have made Airplane!
posted by Grangousier at 3:42 PM on May 28, 2013
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posted by Foci for Analysis at 3:49 PM on May 14, 2013