A few years ago I set a long-term goal to write a review on all 53 episodes of Arrested Development on IMDb, and now that I'm close to achieving that aim, Netflix is going to be dropping 14 episodes in just one day, and I'll be behind again. I've decided to make an important AD episode, Bringing Up Buster from season 1, the subject of my 300th IMDb review.
In truth, when I first saw the show in 2007, I would have ranked Bringing Up Buster near the bottom among AD episodes. A little bit of time soon altered my perspective and the episode gained in stature in my eyes. Being the third episode, it comes too close to Top Banana, which also ended with sweet Michael-George Michael bonding complete with the Burn It, Aunt Mommy music. But Bringing Up Buster works well as a standalone episode. In it, Lucille grows tired of Buster being around the apartment all the time and drops him off with Michael at the Bluth Company- just as Michael is concerned his own son is pulling away from him. Meanwhile, George Michael and Maeby join a high school play with the moron jock Steve Holt, while Tobias takes the director's chair after threatening to puke all over the principal's head, sir. This is Steve Holt's first episode, about a full year and four months before it's revealed he's actually a Bluth, himself (contrary to some critics' claim that every new character is revealed to be a Bluth two episodes later).
There's humour all over, including physical humour with the Cornballer or Tobias falling over in his director's chair, awkward humour like George Michael shouting out his incestuous kiss question, and GOB looking for a place to live. Incidentally, although Lucille acts cold much of the time, the way she laughs with GOB here suggests they secretly love each other more than they let on. But Buster's the real star of the show, after having been completely left out in Top Banana. We get insight into his personality upon hearing he spent 11 months in the womb, and also learn that although he is a pushover, he will take offence when a bird walks on his pillow. There's no doubt that Bringing Up Buster is a classic.
In truth, when I first saw the show in 2007, I would have ranked Bringing Up Buster near the bottom among AD episodes. A little bit of time soon altered my perspective and the episode gained in stature in my eyes. Being the third episode, it comes too close to Top Banana, which also ended with sweet Michael-George Michael bonding complete with the Burn It, Aunt Mommy music. But Bringing Up Buster works well as a standalone episode. In it, Lucille grows tired of Buster being around the apartment all the time and drops him off with Michael at the Bluth Company- just as Michael is concerned his own son is pulling away from him. Meanwhile, George Michael and Maeby join a high school play with the moron jock Steve Holt, while Tobias takes the director's chair after threatening to puke all over the principal's head, sir. This is Steve Holt's first episode, about a full year and four months before it's revealed he's actually a Bluth, himself (contrary to some critics' claim that every new character is revealed to be a Bluth two episodes later).
There's humour all over, including physical humour with the Cornballer or Tobias falling over in his director's chair, awkward humour like George Michael shouting out his incestuous kiss question, and GOB looking for a place to live. Incidentally, although Lucille acts cold much of the time, the way she laughs with GOB here suggests they secretly love each other more than they let on. But Buster's the real star of the show, after having been completely left out in Top Banana. We get insight into his personality upon hearing he spent 11 months in the womb, and also learn that although he is a pushover, he will take offence when a bird walks on his pillow. There's no doubt that Bringing Up Buster is a classic.