Five whole years have passed since Netflix picked up Arrested Development and released season four to a somewhat middling reviews, I liked it but it was mostly due to the fact that after ten years the Bluth Family was back. It was an awkward season due to the fact that most of the actors had conflicting schedules making it very difficult for them to share any actual scenes together forcing Netflix to focus each episode on an individual family member instead of a full on Bluth Family Bonanza.
Now we have Arrested Development Season 5 Pt. 1. The season was release May 29th and for the most part it is a huge improvement from the previous season. This season pretty much starts soon after season four with Michael and George Michael still on a bit of a fallout. Gob battling his feeling for Tony Wonder. Lindsey is Running for office in place of Herbert Love and so on.
What is excellent now is that this season the family is back and share significantly more time together. All the characters bring there "A" game and remind you why you fell in love with them. What this season also nailed was how it paired certain characters that you would not typically think work well together and it ultimately lead some hilarious moments. Tobias returning as Lucille's therapist was hilarious especially as he continuously breaks through her hardened exterior but of course is way to oblivious to notice or how he fights so hard to find his place in the family resulting in one of the shows most hysterical running gags. Michael and George Michael share much more of there time together resulting in one of the funniest and most awkward confrontations in the show. Another great pairing was Maeby and Stan Sitwell of all people making it one of Maeby's most hysterical con jobs. As good as I thought this season was there were still some issues. For starters Lindsey didn’t really make too much of an impression this time around. She did have some nice scenes with her mother but then she kind of disappears half way through the season, story wise I guess it made sense but I really wished she would have stuck around. I’m almost certain she will return for part two but because of how much I love her character in general I wish she stuck around. Another big issue I had was that Netflix decided to split the season in two. At only eight episodes and a runtime of roughly 25 minutes each episode the story didn’t progress as fast as I would of hoped causing some pacing issues, especially in the first couple of episodes where a big chunk of time was spent on flashback of the previous season to just catch everybody up.
All in all, I think that this was a great return for the Bluth family albeit a short one. For the most part the characters really nailed it and the story was weird, ridicules, and often hysterical. I wish some characters had some more screen time and that they didn’t spend so much time on flashbacks and catch up.
What did you think? Let me know in the comments and remember to look for Hit B to Jump on Instagram and Twitter.
