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Scene 1: 00:20 - 04:10Scene 2: 04:10 - 05:23Scene 3: 05:23 - 06:48Scene 4: 06:48 - 07:40Scene 5: 07:40 - 08:55Scene 6: 08:55 - 09:18Scene 7: 09:18 - 10:48Scene 8: 10:48 - 12:53Scene 9: 12:53 - 13:11Scene 10: 13:11 - 13:55Scene 11: 13:55 - 14:46Scene 12: 14:46 - 15:30Scene 13: 15:30 - 16:28Scene 14: 16:28 - 16:42Scene 15: 16:42 - 17:07Scene 16: 17:07 - 17:36Scene 17: 17:36 - 17:55Scene 18: 17:55 - 18:09Scene 19: 18:09 - 18:48Scene 20: 18:48 - 20:36On The Next Arrested Development... (20:36 - 21:19)Overall Final Thoughts
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Plot Summaries
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A STORY (CABIN)The cabin in the woods, which Michael never got to visit and GOB never even knew about, is being relocated. The brothers hatch a plan to go visit for the first time. Michael blows off GOB for the cabin trip in favour of taking George Michael. Michael has to cancel the trip with George Michael.GOB and Steve Holt decide to go visit the cabin in the woods in a son and son trip.Michael spots George Michael in the staircar, and mistakenly thinks he's followed him to Reno to spend time with him.Michael is driving George Michael up to the cabin to spend the night with him.The previous scene continues.An incredibly short scene in which Michael and George Michael arrive at the cabin and discover that they've "trucked off" the bedrooms, so they'll be setting up sleeping bags in the living room.Michael and George Michael make wholesome plans to get up in the morning, go to the lake, and discuss GM's girl problems. But they wake up to discover that George Snr is driving the cabin away. This is a 22 minute sitcom that services 10 key characters, plus Steve Holt and Barry in this episode. To do this, it uses six different story threads, and provides four different twist endings to resolve them. And the result is a very busy, very chaotic narrative that is highly reliant on the use of voice-over, and very short scenes as the pace quickens through the second half. It's also hilarious - dense, layered, full of ambitious jokes and absolutely littered with callbacks - and it is happy to try jokes that only a certain percentage of the audience will get, and it'll eschew the opportunity to clarify those jokes. It does, however, make little sense in places, and there's bizarre plotting papered over with cheating in the narration. And since the third act is full of story resolutions, and the stories are wacky as hell, the funniest scenes are in the first two acts, where this insane cast of characters get to talk and interact in longer scenes that breathe. The first sequence (4 minutes long) is the best scene in the episode I think. This is one of the last classic episodes of my favourite sitcom of all time.
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B STORY (OSCAR IN JAIL)Bluth stock is rated as high as Don't Buy by the money guy on TV; Michael is thrilled that the public perception of the company is on the up. He tells his mother he's going to go gloat to his father at the jail.(Michael's on his way to prison to gloat)Michael turns up at prison to gloat, only to discover that it's not George Senior in prison at all, but his twin brother Oscar.(Michael first notices that freeing Oscar would have horrible effects on the business which has just seen positive news for the first time in forever)Michael acknowledges the damage this Oscar revelation would do to the business, to GOB and Lindsay. He discovers that George Snr has set up a meeting with his lawyer in Reno and decides to go there. Michael puts it together that George Snr is in Reno with Kitty. Meanwhile we learn that he's been working with the Bluman Group.Michael turns up in Reno at the Blue Man Group show expecting to find George Snr. He finds Barry, and fires him. Barry immediately contemplates a new career as a male prostitute.Note: there are way more than 21 scenes in the episode, but I basically took flashbacks and cutaways and grouped them into the scenes that they interrupted, because without doing this the spreadsheet would be twice as long.
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C STORY (GEORGE MICHAEL AND MAEBY)George Michael and Maeby are avoiding each other due to sexual tension after they shared a forbidden kiss, so GM tells Michael he's been sleeping in the staircar to intercept him since he's been leaving so early.George Michael is desperate to keep the cabin trip going to avoid Maeby; Michael instead suggests that GM and Maeby pop a tent out front.George Michael and Maeby bump into each other to lead into the next scene. George Michael and Maeby keep getting flung on top of each other as they're sitting cheek and jowel in the staircar, as Lindsay oscillates between repairing her marriage and walking away.The kids get a moment alone, and agree that the reason for the tension is that the kiss was half-finished. They schedule a rendezvous the next morning. George Michael can't get up, and makes an excuse to sit in the staircar.George Michael wakes up absolutely gutted to discover he's been whisked off. The previous scene continues, as George Michael comes to terms with the fact that he won't be finishing the kiss with Maeby after all." " Maeby kisses Steve Holt, another cousin.
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D STORY (LINDSAY WANTS WHAT SHE CAN'T HAVE)Lindsay is jealous because Tobias ran off with Kitty. Michael hypothesises that she only wants him back because she can't have him; the minute he agrees to come back, she'll not want him anymore. Michael, searching for Barry and George Snr, meets Tobias who's working as a waiter. He reveals that Kitty has left him, and that he really wants Lindsay back.Michael tells Lindsay he's coming home with Tobias, and reminds her to look after the kids. Lindsay is on the road to Reno to fight for Tobias when he calls and asks for her back. She turns the car around, put off by his willingness to get back together. But then he says he can't leave Kitty because of all the sex, and she turns around again - then he puts her off again and she turns back again.Tobias tracks down Kitty and the Bluman Group.Tobias, for no reason whatsoever, is dressed as a woman and is snogging Barry who then asks him for $50. This is witnessed by Lindsey who asks for a divorce.
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E STORY (GOB HAS A SECRET SON)GOB is contacted by an organisation that reunites estranged fathers and sons. He assumes this is an appointment that's been set by George Snr. GOB goes to the SAD reunion, and his dad doesn't show up. However, he meets Steve Holt, who we learn is GOB's son (a fact unbeknownst to either of them). GOB and Steve Holt arrive at the hotel to meet Michael and grab keys for the cabin. Michael informs GOB, upon review of the SAD letter, that GOB is Steve Holt's father. GOB runs off.
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F STORY (LUCILLE OFF HER MEDS)Lucille is off her postpartum meds, and trying to get rid of Buster whose snoring has become a problem. Lucille is awakened by Buster's snoring, and beats him with a walking stick, but it turns out to be a tape recording of him snoring. She now heads for the cabin, "not trusting herself to be there when Buster gets home".Lucille discovers that Buster is asleep in the back of the car. They agree to go to the cabin together to give their relationship a shot in the arm.Lucille's missed the cabin, and Buster ends up in the lake, just like the kid in the news clip earlier on.
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Notes and Observations
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Interestingly, this scene is really two scenes back to back, due to GOB entering right when Lucille leaves. This is potentially common in Arrested Development with the open plan house and the seeming reliance on Michael to drive story.This scene also contains two separate flashbacks (one of which a recap).There are still new story threads being introduced after 7 minutes of episode, a third of the way through. There are also an insane number of story threads to try and follow through at this point, but the effect is very dense, layered comedy that rewards a rewatch and makes the viewer feel smart.This scene is pure sleight of hand. Nothing about it makes sense - George Michael wants to go to the cabin to avoid Maeby, but they're only going to be there overnight, it only buys him a day. And Michael suggests they both "pop a tent"; why?! It makes absolutely no sense. It's purely for the gag, but it flies by and you don't really notice it, unless you're writing a Google Sheet breaking down the episode in detail. Noticing that the scenes often make quick reference to other plot strands that aren't otherwise being forwarded in that particular scene. This one opens with a narration line that basically sends Michael to Reno. Suspect it's in part because it's very elaborate to follow, so we need a lot of hand-holding.Purely a bridging scene to join a few ideas up - but the cross-pollination of two plot strands helps with the comedy. Michael's line about watching the kids is based on absolutely nothing at all - it's just to plant the seed that the kids need to join for this road trip. The show is presumably full of tricks like this since there's so many characters to service. Again, we don't notice as it's all happening so fast.The smaller stories here clearly adding funny texture to some of the scenes that are progressing the larger stories - e.g. in this case, George Michael and Maeby's sexual tension is really just additional rhythm for Lindsay and Tobias who are driving the scene. Barry only appears in the episode very briefly, but they still set him up with something to pay off comedically later on - namely the fact that he'll go on to become a male prostitute. Scenes are now getting very short. That's four in a row that play out for under a minute.This is a tiny act break scene; once again the pace here is very very quick.The Lucille/Buster storyline has been incredibly short. It seems clear that with ten characters to service, there's going to be one story that's very short and very detached from the others; this episode, it's Buster and Lucille.This scene literally seems to function as a reminder that this storyline exists. It is spelled out in the narration, then there's one gag, then we're immediately out. This scene doesn't even have a gag, unless "trucked off" as a verb counts. It's just to set up a later gag.Buster's tortured logic - sleeping in the car so his snoring doesn't disturb Lucille, and then leaving a recording of his snoring so she wouldn't know he was gone - is terrific, classic high concept AD madness.This is a surprisingly downbeat note to end on - kind of a heart scene, with no real gags. And it is not at all adequately explained why George Snr is driving the cabin away at all?! All of these final gags are story pay-offs, e.g. they are twists in the respective story threads. In the case of Maeby and Steve Holt, it's two story strands pulled together for an ironic payoff. ^^
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There are two separate comedic flashbacks in this first scene.It definitely feels like the dense plotting of this is thoroughly reliant on the voiceover.Presume something was cut in this scene, as Lindsay is in the office but says nothing and appears to fulfill no purpose.This is a great example of a very short scene that performs a very simple function, yet they've infused it with a comedic engine by playing Michael's behaviour off of this pre-established dynamic that Lindsey only wants what she can't have. So they get a tiny sketch out of that idea, with Michael and Lindsey's behaviour building directly off this premise. It's literally a fifteen second scene and yet incredibly it has a comedic premise to play off.Interestingly, they've spontaneously added a new and important location - the hotel - purely because Michael needs to spot George Michael in the next scene. This is covered with no exposition whatsoever except for a line explaining that they're at "the hotel" in the narration.The Tobias payoff in particular is utterly bizarre and inexplicable.
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Jokes and Comedic Premises of Note
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Just a beautiful, absurd irony as Michael celebrates his stock being risen to the lofty heights of don't buy, and in fact he immediately starts to posture and crow as a result of it. Very quickly thereafter, there's an instant puncturing where he's cut down to size (and his point is also instantly subverted)."Unfortunately for Oscar, you've got the wrong twin was a very popular alibi." - just a hilarious line that's worthy of a whole cutaway, in itself a tiny sketch with a twist ending.Michael looks at Lindsay's photocopy and says "that's not a vulvO..." which is a classic bit of Arrested Development trusting the audience to get the unspoken punchline, something they do again and again.The visual gag with Barry's assistant sitting with the fishing rod is a brilliant surprise.GOB misinterprets the statue as a "kid who found a severed hand", which defies analysis and is hilarious."Make the biggest little mistake of your life in Reno" is a classic bit of Arrested Development verbose wordplay that you know is coming back up later on at some stage, even if it isn't particularly funny first time out.Hilarious delivery from Barry who tries to be as casual as possible when he asks Michael "so how much do you know?"George Michael can't get out of the car. He clearly has an erection, but it's entirely trusted to the performance of a very young Michael Cera; it's never at all explicitly acknowledged.At this point, there's just callbacks all over the shop. This scene gets laughs out of callbacks to: son and son, the kid who found the severed hand, and "I've made a huge tiny mistake"."Not according to that day's blog on Oscar.com" - another great callback.The show uses callbacks extensively within episodes, but "that was a freebie" is a callback that spans multiple episodes - the show frequently has little snippets of language that it uses in multiple episodes as little easter eggs for long-term watching.Buster's gag about sleeping in the car so his snoring wouldn't disturb her, but then leaving a recording of his snoring so she wouldn't worry he was gone, is excellent.^
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Lucille almost gives the game away with her "he's driving me crazy", but keeps her poker face and very warmly insists "you won't even know he's here". Deceptive, inexpert, beautifully delivered."Glad I didn't spring for colour" is a quintessential Michael Bluth line - he is the blueprint for a funny straight man. GOB then goes on to talk about the statue he misinterpreted as if in a very profound manner - "anything for his father's approval. Heartbreaking." which adds a brilliant extra layer to the initial stupidity, by adding confidence.Kitty has a blue handprint on the back of her head and both of her tits which is funny, but not as funny as the reveal that, when Tobias was describing this to Michael, he felt the need to expose his own breasts.But his doughy performance is even better.^^^
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High concept-style AD gag: Lucille is still taking postpartum depression meds 32 years after birthing Buster.Great visual gag implying that GOB was the co-author of two aborted babies in high school.
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"How am I going to find someone willing to go into that musky old claptrap?" - "...the cabin, yes..." - simple double entendre but sold beautifully with a very lengthy deadpan pause."son and son thing" is hilarious, but not as hilarious as "this is me right here!" when they reach GOB's segway. There's no analysing this.
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The reveal of GOB standing behind the door looking incredibly serious is hilarious.
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GOB has a very alpha line: "pardon me if I don't burst into tears, Michael" - then immediately he bursts into tears. Comic irony - trying to appear macho, and stable, and immediately reveals himself to be sensitive and teetering. And the tearful line is the ironic "he just let me blindly enjoy my childhood".
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GOB with two hilarious visual gags that are linked: twice making Michael lick his face. Taste these tears, then taste the happy. GOB is absolutely wild in general and has been chewing the furniture since he arrived in the scene - why is it working so well? Might be because of the incredibly measured straight-man foil of Michael Bluth, who has great lines ("not gonna lick your eye" and "tastes kinda like sad" respectively).
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Great visual gag as George Snr gets balder, then very much not balder, as the flashbacks get more recent, implying a hair transplant at one point.
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