“And now, The Story Of A Wealthy Family Whose Future Was Abruptly Cancelled…”
Writer / Director: Mitchell Hurwitz & Troy Miller
Cast: Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat, Tony Hale, David Cross, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walters
Release Date: May 26, 2013
Genres: Comedy
Review:
The return of one of my favorite comedies of all time had my sights set high, very high. Years of seemingly endless discussions about a possible movie seemed more like a death knell than anything else. Diehard fans rejoiced at the news that Netflix had picked up the series for a new season. The result is an impressively intricate plot with a puzzle like structure. It starts a little slow but rolls towards hilarity as it all comes together. Due to scheduling, Mitchell Hurwitz & Troy Miller had to devise a way to work with the cast members they had at any particular time. As a result, most episodes focus on one family member typically interacting with some but rarely the entire family member. It takes a little while to get used to but as you make your way through the episodes you’ll the genius in viewing the same situations from different point of views. It’s all lovingly crafted and even more self aware than it was before. The jokes are just as rapid fire as you remember with plenty of call backs to previous seasons and a bevy of new instantly quotable jokes. Some of the jokes reach a crazy level of meta comedy at play. The main cast slip back into their roles with impressive ease. The format allows each actor or actress to shine usually accompanied by returning recurring characters or new guest stars. The one drawback to the format is that if you don’t like a particular character you are kind of stuck with them for an episode or two. Since the episodes are so well written it’s never a big issue but some drag a tad more than others, George Bluth Sr.’s plot is a good example. I will warn you that the season does seem to have slightly darker twisted feel to it throughout which might take some people by surprise. Additionally, some of the budget restraints are apparent and even joked about. Even with these minor drawbacks, the season as a whole is a massive success. I was more than a little depressed when I reached the last episode of season 4. It was short lived of course because I knew I’d be watching the episodes again very soon.
A-
I was beginning to get worried after I watched the first two episodes and found them to be less than stellar. But now that I am on Episode 10, the season has really revealed itself to be impressively complex AND funny.
ReplyDeleteGreat review, great show.
I had the same reaction Jordan. Wow, did they really go out of their way to give something different because it’s incredibly complex and totally pays off a the end!
DeleteThanks for reading!
I have not seen Arrested Development but everyone seems to enjoy like the series. Maybe I should give the series a try sometime.
ReplyDelete-James
I can't recommend it enough James, it's one of the best comedy series ever. I've watched the original 3 seasons multiple times and I always catch something I've missed before and it never fails to make me laugh.
DeleteI'm almost through the whole thing and can't wait to write about it. But you summed it up perfectly. It's much darker and extremely different from the first three seasons. And it does take some getting used to, especially at the start. Really ambitious in how they set the whole season up.
ReplyDeleteI think on first viewing you can't see how everything is going to fit together but it becomes clearer and clearer as it goes. It's incredibly ambitious and I think they succeed, nearly across the board. Can't wait to read your review.
Delete