Netflix has released Season 4 of Arrested Development in its entirety, which means we'll be binge-watching the series' revival and sharing our reactions with you over the next couple of days. The recap below contains spoilers from Episode 8 - "Red Hairing." Read no further if you haven't seen the episode yet!
"I'm the straightest guy I know!" "Why does every man feel like he has to say that to me."
Well this ep answered a lot of questions, like who Gob sabotaged at the Opie Awards? It was Marky Bark as he attempted "a random act of senseless nonviolence." This is the same misguided political activist who "cursed" George and Oscar the Ostrich Man as the Ostrich Man, and convinced Lindsay that his ostrich Cindy had to move with them into the Bluth penthouse, where the big bird was set up to attack Michael, ambush Lucille 2, and cause other various mayhem. Like maybe get loose and assault a certain duplicitous politician?
"Your cheekbones are even higher than my approval rating."
But its primary focus was Lindsay. Last we left her, the soul-searching adopted daughter of the Bluth clan was on an ostrich farm with her beau Marky Bark, who suffers from face blindness, yet claims he can really see here. But the shine's come off the apple of their romance thanks to his hostile mother (Lindsay already has one of those, thanks very much!) and his devotion to living in filth. Soon her new man is blue figuratively and literally (she has a type) and she's moved on to a new love, Herbert Love, the "right wing dangerous crackpot" whose dreams of building a wall between the US and Mexico could make or break the Bluth's business—depending on what part of the arc we're in.
"You've been like a mother to me. Except kind, loving, and willing to let me eat."
Her flirtation with Love brings Lindsay's mother-daughter relationship with Maeby to an all-time low, urging the latter to turn the former into a willing but unknowing whore. (Thanks to Gob we know a whore does tricks for money…or candy…or jewelry.) Her own mother at least thinks her new hairdo makes her look like a high-class whore, which is probably the kindest thing Lucille has ever said to Lindsay. So, it's no wonder why the fallen socialite seeks support from Lucille 2, who is like a mother to her but better! Until she too decides to profit from Lindsay's sexual exploits, using them as fodder to bring down her political opponent Love with a sex scandal. Surprisingly, it seems Lindsay will rise from the ashes!
"The glitter was shrapnel grade."
Burned by Lucille 2, Lindsay finds inspiration in Lucille 1, who tells her, biology aside, she is a true Bluth. By episode's end the former Mrs. Funke has transformed from the liberal Lindsay with fickle political passions into a power-suited right-wing candidate running against the family's long-time frenemies (Lucille Austero and Sally Sitwell). In the hospital room, posing for ridiculously staged shots alongside her former lover/current ursurpee, Lindsay Bluth looks like another Portia de Rossi character, the hysterical ballbuster Veronica Palmer from another painfully short-lived and wickedly sharp sitcom Better Off Ted. Could there be some future crossover? Let's hope so!
"I'll be out on parole by the time you work up a tear."
This episode clocked in at 37-minutes! It's another way the fourth/Netflix season is departing from the original/expected television structure and it allows the writers more time to unfold the stories as they see fit. (This makes it even funnier when a coarse cut purposely truncates a scene where George is about to demand another favor from Michael. Stay tuned!) The series' revival has been breaking molds on several fronts, and before long we'll begin to debate the for better and for worse of it all. But for now it's predominantly exciting and still surprising. Netflix has given Mitchell Hurwitz and company the creative freedom to really do something original and out of the box. And so far it seems to be a bold move that's working out brilliantly in its execution.
The Rest Of The Developments
Cheers to Lindsay for reusing the Buster banner ("You're Killing Me Buster") for her Lucille for Congres banner.
Cindy Featherbottom: Lindsay creates a nom de plumage by combining the first name of her boyfriend's ostrich with the last name of the housekeeper created by her ex-husband in an attempt to reconnect to his family and prove himself as an actor a la Mrs. Doubtfire.
Gene Parmesan reference! Is he lurking nearby?
"One-eared elephant" was the first sexual scandal that threatened to derail Love's campaign, forcing me to Google it. Did you spot the visual gag about this at the Cinco de Quatro festivities? There Lucille and Lindsay argue near an elephant-shaped piñata that has only one ear. The other's been torn off.
"Jail is like Swappigans, except there's only one thing to swap!?" (Is it sifilus?)
Tobias (Anus Tart nee Dorothy) winds up back behind bars.
But what happened to Herbert Love that sidelined him from the campaign?
How did Lucille get out of jail?
And what was the deal with Annyong's brief resurfacing? Why is he now headed to jail?
Read more Arrested Development recaps here.
