Well, here's the verdict after binge watching these episodes after they landed on Netflix. This season is not better than the previous three seasons, but I still felt they were good and watchable and fit well into the Arrested Development canon. I'm not saying they're perfect because they're not. But as a continuation from Season Three and as new episodes of the Bluth family, these will do extremely well and serve their purpose, which is to extend the storyline and build upon the Bluth legacy.
This season needs to be binge watched because of the episodic nature of the story line. Basically Season Four is one long story told in 15 parts with each episode overlapping into each 15 parts of the season. Editing this must have been a nightmare as it was hard to follow at times for me, but rest assured the people behind it do know what their doing as it pertains to the overall story line. Each episode is told from the perspective of one of the Bluth family, as it breaks that perspective at certain times throughout the episode, but for the most part stays focused on that Bluth member. There's a lot of back story as this season catches the viewer up on what happened to each Bluth member for the last five years. You can imagine all the trouble this family can get into in five years. By doing this the writers introduce a lot of new people and have a lot of things going on as they pertain to each Bluth member, so that's new people and new plots for each family member. That's a lot of things to keep focused on. By the last episode all the major loose ends are tied up and all the balls in the air are caught except for the news ones thrown up into the air with the last few episodes. The ending for this season was one of a head scratch-er also. I still don't know what to make it. It was very abrupt and very quick, the credits started rolling when I thought they were going to the next scene. It had the feel of the last episode of the Sopranos, it ended that quickly, but with that kind of ending the creators did set it up for a movie or a new season. And I would welcome either one.
I don't think anything like this has ever been tried before with a television series. The way the story acted like a Gordian knot and tied back in on itself so many times. I've never seen anything like it, especially for a comedy. It could also be said it was almost too smart for its own good. But the one thing that really hurt this season was not having the Bluth family together more than it did. This is an ensemble cast that needs to be together to feed off of each other, they act so well together that to not have them together more really hurts everything that's being tried. Also some characters just don't work as well on an island alone. That feeling of being stranded on a island, was really there for parts of this season. These characters are all assholes and act like complete bastards to just about everything around them. So when they aren't with each other these flaws become way more apparent and border on psychological insanity. They need each other to balance out these flaws and the longer they aren't together the more these flaws stand out, and not in a good way. But I will say this, that when the cast was together it was just like old times and the laughs were coming in fast and furious. I welcomed those moments when they came.
Things they kept that needed to be kept. The insane amount of puns and play on words. The bleeped curse words. The documentary feel of a single camera following this family. This show actually incorporated the camera crew in much better ways than the copy cat The Office failed at. Use of music in certain scenes: the Charlie Brown song and the Sound of Silence were instrumentally used throughout this season. I still love at how oblivious the whole Bluth family is to everything going on around them, except for Maeby who is, I still think, the most focused of the Bluth family. I mean she actually has a real job and actually works and doesn't get caught, as much, as a deer in head lights like most of the other family does. There's two times unexpected things happen to her that she can't do anything about and completely blindsides her. When she receives her life time achievement award (the Opies), and has it's meaning explained to her, and when George Michael fires her. Both of those she never saw coming and the look on her face is one of perplexity but other than that shes in full charge of everything around, other than her clueless parents.
Guest actors used to perfection. Kristen Wiig and Seth Rogen as a young Lucille and George Bluth, were perfectly cast and did a great job in ever scene they were in. Isla Fisher as Ron Howard's daughter was simply brilliant. I don't see enough of her acting as it is, but having her in here was a delight, plus the fact she's insanely hot doesn't hurt her screen presence either. Spotting all the other various guest actors as they popped in for a scene, or two, was quite fun and only added to the viewing enjoyment.
Ron Howard's narration was used was too much, but I thought having him play himself, as Michael tried to get the movie rights from his family was brilliant. Howard just seemed indifferent to everything in every scene he was in, which fit in perfectly with the self-centered family, who thinks the universe revolves around them. I actually didn't mind him as much as most critics seemed to, and normally I don't like it when Hollywood becomes all lovey-doovy with itself, but his self centered persona was perfect.
All in all I thought it was a welcomed return to the Bluth family and I look forward to whatever they do next.
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