Even as part of the incredible first four episodes of Arrested Development, Top Banana is a stand-out, one of my top 5 of the series. Being the second episode, Top Banana is the first to feature the title sequence (here with added winding noises later cut out), and the first to foreshadow the Iraq and never-nude plot lines.
In this episode, Michael is searching for information needed for reasons only explained in a deleted scene. However, his father, pulling strings from behind bars, has the information and the surrounding storage unit burnt to the ground. Michael promotes his 14-year-old son to manager of the banana stand, and Lindsay outperforms Tobias at an audition.
There are some great jokes in the episode, including Michael's surprised reaction at a dead dove in a bag (despite explicit labelling). GOB wants to return it and later throws it into the ocean- AD makes something disgusting like animal cruelty funny, quite the achievement. Some of the best jokes develop characterization, as you'd expect from one of the first few episodes. Lucille shows elitist insensitivity in yelling at her housekeeper, Tobias overacts and stupidly passes up an opportunity at a second chance in his audition, and George Michael's comment about working kids shows he's under too much pressure and consequently has some backwards logic. Tensions between George Michael and Maeby are strong here, and delicious.
GOB's character is also developed further as he expresses some jealousy that Michael has taken over the business despite being the younger brother. His resentment is reminiscent of Fredo expressing the same kind of jealousy of his younger brother Michael in The Godfather Part II (1974). However, note that insightful comparisons between AD and The Godfather on the Internet tend to equate Fredo, as the inept brother, to Buster rather than GOB. Buster is nowhere to be seen in this episode.
But it's the amazing ending to Top Banana that establishes it as a masterpiece. It's great to see Michael going the extra mile to be a great father to George Michael. Having the banana stand burnt to the ground is a radical and impressive step. Besides being touching, this ending is packed with misfortune, perhaps inevitably in taking such a reckless move. Michael only learns after the fire is started that the banana stand has no insurance and his father George hid substantial sums of cash inside it. Compounding the misfortune, both Lindsay and Tobias lose out on their acting gig. Ultimately, Top Banana is a masterful episode, part of what makes AD the greatest series of all time.
In this episode, Michael is searching for information needed for reasons only explained in a deleted scene. However, his father, pulling strings from behind bars, has the information and the surrounding storage unit burnt to the ground. Michael promotes his 14-year-old son to manager of the banana stand, and Lindsay outperforms Tobias at an audition.
There are some great jokes in the episode, including Michael's surprised reaction at a dead dove in a bag (despite explicit labelling). GOB wants to return it and later throws it into the ocean- AD makes something disgusting like animal cruelty funny, quite the achievement. Some of the best jokes develop characterization, as you'd expect from one of the first few episodes. Lucille shows elitist insensitivity in yelling at her housekeeper, Tobias overacts and stupidly passes up an opportunity at a second chance in his audition, and George Michael's comment about working kids shows he's under too much pressure and consequently has some backwards logic. Tensions between George Michael and Maeby are strong here, and delicious.
GOB's character is also developed further as he expresses some jealousy that Michael has taken over the business despite being the younger brother. His resentment is reminiscent of Fredo expressing the same kind of jealousy of his younger brother Michael in The Godfather Part II (1974). However, note that insightful comparisons between AD and The Godfather on the Internet tend to equate Fredo, as the inept brother, to Buster rather than GOB. Buster is nowhere to be seen in this episode.
But it's the amazing ending to Top Banana that establishes it as a masterpiece. It's great to see Michael going the extra mile to be a great father to George Michael. Having the banana stand burnt to the ground is a radical and impressive step. Besides being touching, this ending is packed with misfortune, perhaps inevitably in taking such a reckless move. Michael only learns after the fire is started that the banana stand has no insurance and his father George hid substantial sums of cash inside it. Compounding the misfortune, both Lindsay and Tobias lose out on their acting gig. Ultimately, Top Banana is a masterful episode, part of what makes AD the greatest series of all time.