After a 2013 revival season more discussed than loved,Arrested Developmentis about to re-return.
Season 4 had a bold, not-entirely-successful structure, splitting the Bluths into their own separate journeys.
This was partially a scheduling issue.
If youre anArrestedfan, this new season could feel like a homecoming.
But the cure is worse than the disease.
Some subplots take forever.
People keep going to Mexico, then coming back from Mexico, then going back to Mexico again.
15 years into this shows existence, some trademark callbacks just feel like bored repetition.
Meanwhile, some new directions go nowhere.
Lucille (Jessica Walter) is plotting, which is always fun.
Good news: Were living in the result of that evolution!
This is not by any means a bad thing.
(Im the dope whos still listening to WeezersPacific Daydream.)
Deadpan Bateman is still one of TVs greatest straight men[Ron Howard Voice] unlike Tobias.
Alia Shawkats Maeby feels promoted to greater prominence, a onetime precocious child grown into a next-generation Bluth hustler.
Maybe personal preference, but Id say Howard is better seen than heard.
And his onscreen presence reflects a broader issue.
The shows ditched season 4s distinctive structure, but its doubled down on many of its central plot points.
You want inside-Hollywood gags?
(Ben Stillers Tony Wonder is still here, literally phoning in.)
There will always be money in this banana standbut there used to be so much more.
