[7.2/10] This was cute! I liked almost all of the storylines and got some solid laughs out of pretty much everything, which is rare for post-cancellation Arrested Development.
The shtick with Oscar and Buster going on the lam continues to be amusing. Stan’s futile attempts to get help, their efforts to shake Maeby, and Maeby’s efforts to shake them were all funny. I particularly liked the tandem bike/water ball swerve, which made for a great bit of physical comedy.
Maeby also stole the show on this one. Her bit about killing of the Maeby “character” and talking to Annette shows her slowly losing her grip in an amusing way. Honestly, the simple bit of Maeby continuing to pretend to be an old person is the comic gift that keeps on giving. And her amoral advice to George Michael continues to be funny.
Speaking of which, I loved the scene where they decide to offer to make GOB the President of Fakeblock. He’s the perfect useful idiot, and his gags about only being able to access his computer there, his job applications to “mailer daemon”, and his just drifting off into nonsense about mid-week-ends and wednesdays were all funny. The two kids have become the highlight of the show’s revival, and pairing them with GOB, the always amusing dunce, works well.
Likewise, I actually really liked them picking up the Argyle Austero shtick from season 4, the rare continuing element from that season I’m pleased to see again. Expanding his role and the presence of the “gay mafia”, their plot to discredit gay onversion therapy, and the reveal that they were behidn Tony WOwnder’s demise due to his phony gay act are all amusing expnasions to the show’s world. Tommy Tune plays the role with panache, and GOB’s obliviousness to a lot of what’s happening is amusing as always.
Otherwise, even the lesser bits on this episode are amusing enough. Michael’s inability to use a variety of tooth-based technology is pretty funny. Tobias’s new family is the broadest shtick here, but his crew living in “tent city” and eating “jeff” is worth a laugh.
On the whole, this was a big improvement from the mid-season premiere. Hopefully it sticks!
Shout by Andy GilleandVIP 6BlockedParent2019-03-17T05:50:55Z
How did they miss Stan Sitwell's hairy legs!?
(or does he tape all that hair on his legs?)