Arrested to Arrested Development: 106 - Visiting Ours
"George Michael had been terrified of the very notion of prison since, as a young boy, he accidentally watched HBO’s Oz, mistaking it for the classic Judy Garland musical."
Truth and honesty begin to show up in Visiting Ours. George Michael lies to Maeby about visiting pop-pop in prison to show he's not afraid, but clearly is, ("give pop-pop your hair")
Tobias and Lindsay finally begin to open up about their marital problems and step into each other's jeans just to get down to the core issues and it's about that time where just about everybody's looking to find that special someone to get their sexual release.
As far as arresting character development goes, we start to see even the least likable characters start to show some Jekyll's to their Hydes. Mama Bluth is called out on not visiting pop-pop since he was put away and Michael suggests she give him what he... can't exactly get from his children, to which she mistakes for pride.
Lucille: "Did he say he misses me? Does he need his wife's embrace?"It is at this point we start to remember that Lucille and George Michael Sr. were actually once a somewhat happily married couple. With running around nagging the family and trying to keep Buster on a leash, it is with this episode we start to see just a shade of the third-dimension existing within Lucille Bluth.
*Flashback to George, in prison*
George: "Daddy Horny, Michael."
Meanwhile, Gob has some issues with his own "love life."
"Take off your glasses... Wait... Let down your hair... No, glasses on, hair back up. Let’s just get that hair right back up. "
It is also this episode that marks the beginning of the uncomfortable complex Kitty-Gob relationship.
And elsewhere, where conjugal visits are not happening, we see some foreshadow as to what dark secrets will ensue with Lindsay but more so, Tobias. His "never-nude" policy is one that will be addressed shortly and explored as a deeply rooted issue for the helpless character.
The true comedy here is when their questionable couples' therapist has the two switch roles in order to try and bring out just what problems one has with the other.
Even more helpless at this point must be George Michael helping Maeby eavesdrop on her parent's "session" or as what they referred to as "going to get ice cream," to which the end result is nothing short of confusing after hearing a gender-confused Tobias argue with his therapist (and not Lindsay), who is also role playing, in the end just being too complicated to understand behind closed doors.
It is with this episode, I began to see some patterns that really start to shine in the show's writing; the choices characters make that lead to one bad event that ultimately results in an even worse one are reminiscent of Larry David. At this point in comedy (now, a decade ago), it had not been since Seinfeld that characters ended up in more awkward situations, although the awkwardness is near tenfold here and the almost-faux documentary style (not quite "mockumentary" as The Office would later revolutionize) makes the audience feel personal, up close and uncomfortable.
And that's just plain funny.
