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[Reply #520 on:]

Despite all that though, he's still miles more competent than the rest of his family (well, George Michael's okay) and the fact that he's mostly separated from them in season 4 is what makes his true colours stand out.

I'm not sure if "competent" is really the best word - the overall theme of the show (which is also the title of the show) depends on these characters failing to grow or progress as people. Michael may not have tarnished the Bluth name with criminal activities like his parents, but Sudden Valley was still a massive failure, as has been the case with every project he's taken on. What drives Michael is the sense of superiority he feels over his family. He may act as though he hates having to bail them out of their constant drama, but really, he needs them as much as they need him (and, by extension, each other, which is what I feel season 4 was really all about).

As for George Michael, he definitely became a true Bluth in season 4. The fact that he now has a non-existent company built entirely on a lie pretty much embodies everything the Bluth family ever truly achieved. Think of the fake house in The One Where They Build a House, which looked like a nice house from the outside but had a completely hollow interior - it's the exact same metaphor for the Bluths as FakeBlock. Though I'd have at least thought George Michael would be smart enough to use the real money he'd received for his fake company to hire a bunch of programmers and just actually build the damn software.

I have admittedly only seen the series once so I don't think I'm in any position to try and write a counter-essay, so I'll take your word for it. Michael's smugness does sound familiar and I actually forgot about the FakeBlock story arc until you mentioned it.

Okay UrL, drop everything you're doing and rewatch the series at least a dozen times.

[Reply #521 on:]

I rewatched the entire series over the last week or so with my wife. I've never watched all four seasons in succession before. This was the first time I watch season 4 since it came out, and the first time I watched anything from 1-3 since, I want to say, around 2010. I had a couple of thoughts, so I figured I would resurrect this thread to see if anyone wants to talk about them.

- Season one and two were as good as I remember them. Season two is probably the greatest season of television ever made.

-I was surprised by how much the wheels came off in season three. It was still funny, but the story line seemed to jump around a lot and they really rushed to the ending. I can only guess they got blindsided by the show getting shit canned so they tried to wrap things up as quickly as possible. The jump from episode one to two was especially jarring, we go from having Oscar in jail and George on the lam in one episode, to George under house arrest and Oscar nowhere to be seen in the next. I remember liking season three a lot more back in the day than I did this time around. The Rita stuff was still great, but overall the narrative felt very forced compared to the first two seasons. I think if they had maybe three or four more episodes to let it grow in a more organic manner it would have been fine. It feels like 18-episodes worth of material crammed into 13.

-I remember hating season 4, but on this watch through I actually like it a lot more than season 3. I think Micheal's character felt off and that's why I came away with a bad impression the first time around. He was always sort self-righteous, petty and pathetic, but before those thing came across as the character flaws we all have as human beings, and he was still genuinely likeable. In this season it felt like those traits were amped up to 11 and he kind of came off as annoying and unlikable. However, while he was the protagonist in the first three seasons, his characterization does not hurt the show all that much here because he plays a much smaller part in the overall plot. Tobias, George, Gob, George Micheal and Maeby all had really great stories. I also like how Andy Richter's characters become regulars that just casually populate the AD universe in this season. Some of the characters like Kitty and Mort didn't really need to come back because they don't do anything story wise, and it felt like they were there for the sake of having a callback. That being said, they certainly didn't hurt the scenes they were in either.

[Reply #522 on:]

Talk about a blast from the past - nice to see you around, Newhook!

AD is a show I've only watched once. iirc, Randi brought seasons 1-2 with her to the August PEELathon in NNYC Jersey City and we binged on most of it.

[Reply #523 on:]

Talk about a blast from the past - nice to see you around, Newhook!

It's a relic from the early 2000s, in a thread about a relic from the early 2000s posted on a website about a relic from the early 2000s! Break out the Nintendo Gamecube and the Flip phone.

[Reply #524 on:]

You have a GameCube and a wife?  When are we playing Melee at your house?

[Reply #525 on:]

Is there an off chance anyone is left on PEEL who is anticipating season 5?

[Reply #526 on:]

Yep! I was even about to come find this thread to ask the same thing.

They've re-edited season 4 to flow more similarly to the original series, and in my opinion, it's so much better. Cutting between the different character's perspectives and showing them parallel instead of individually improves the pacing while still having some "A-ha!" moments where something suddenly clicks together. It still feels incredibly different from the rest of the show but I don't know why they didn't release it like this from the start.

[Reply #527 on:]

I was on the fence after the first few episodes, because I actually like the original season four, but after watching the whole remix, I agree. Some of the characters that I found grating after having to spend 30+ minutes with them, were much less annoying in the new format.

[Reply #528 on:]

Okay, what the fuck. Season 5 is out, but not in Australia. Talk about a disappointing turn of events.

[Reply #529 on:]

It's too bad, because I think it's actually quite good. You going to torrent it?

[Reply #530 on:]

Torrent?

[Reply #531 on:]

It's too bad, because I think it's actually quite good. You going to torrent it?

I might just wait a month or two. Apparently one of our channels owns the first-airing rights for all episodes of AD. This probably means it won't be that long.

Hopefully.

[Reply #532 on:]

I have yet to see the remixed episodes of 4.  Is 5 mixed like that, out of curiosity?

[Reply #533 on:]

Season five is very similar in format to the original three seasons. Maeby really shines in the new season.

The season four remix cuts back and fourth between character arcs a lot, but the characters aren't actually together very often. They are together and playing off each other pretty frequently in season five.

[Reply #534 on:]

Thanks for the info!