2x08 Queen for a Day

[9.4/10] Good lord is this a delightful episode. Literally every part of this episode is clever and funny.

Let’s go with the to-do around Lucille 2. I like that the show works with the idea of her vertigo here, both for her getting cured at a clinic and Michael retriggering it with his new car, in a delightfully clockwork gag. (Not to mention Lucille 2 chalking up her getting over her vertigo for why her kitchen seems smallers.) I also really enjoy the setup and payoff with Michael’s red windbreaker, wind-tussled hair, and bug on his cheek accidentally turning him into a Liza Minelli impersonator when he ends up at a drag club with her. And the twist that she is “Standpoor”, the company that bought the Bluth stock, is outstanding, especially when she ends up maintaining control of the company.

That brings us to the love quadrangle. Starla breaks up with GOB because he hates his mother, only to start dating Buster on Michael’s advice because they both love their mothers, which re-breaks up Buster and Lucille 2, only for GOB to start sleeping with Lucille 2 in order to be installed as president of the Bluth company again. It’s an enjoyable ridiculous series of events, and I especially like the small bit of sentiment when Michael is willing to give up Bluth control of the company rather than let Buster suffer when he realizes that Buster was the only Bluth who didn’t sell his stock. Again, I don’t think of AD as a sentimental show, but there’s these little sweet moments that really do something.

I also got a big kick out Lucille’s mini-war with Lucille 2 over extending the Bluths’ bathroom into her kitchen, and Lucille 2 only realizing later. The way that Lucille Bluth hates her “rival” and Lucille Austero “loves the Bluths” until she realizes the malfeasance is a great bit.

Then you have the unexpected story with Maeby and George Sr., where George Sr. inadvertently gives notes on Maeby’s scripts which works to perfection. And the bit with Maeby thinking the edits came from George Michael, with the misunderstanding over the word “notes” and George Michael thinking they’re his love letters is inspired. I also enjoy that a big part of Michael’s storyline is thinking that his son is embarrassed to be seen in his car.

Last but not least, you cannot beat the pure comedy of Tobias buying a drag club, getting caught up with the hot cops posing as a street gang turned musical thespians at Lindsey’s behest, and the whole lot being sent into chaos when they run into an actual gang. It’s Tobias’s comic obliviousness at its absolute peak, and the humor that emerges where his naivete collides with reality is outstanding.

Overall, just an excellent episode with only minor, if any, flaws.