Let's not pretend S3 wasn't already a major downgrade from the first two, even before the show got cancelled and they had to cram all the reveals into the last few episodes. The stuff with Michael dating a retard was a stretch too far even for AD.
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Arrested Development Season 5 Part 2 Official Trailer
- Thread starter ElectricBlanketFire
- Start date
Let's not pretend S3 wasn't already a major downgrade from the first two, even before the show got cancelled and they had to cram all the reveals into the last few episodes. The stuff with Michael dating a retard was a stretch too far even for AD.
The "it's not over until we say it's over" is grim. Maybe it's a feint to make it seem like it won't be an ending, but it sounds like a warning.
Really no interest at all, trailer looks bad and I already didn't like S5. I'll keep my perfect seasons 1-3 and call it a day.
The fact that the only funny parts of the trailer were the callbacks is a real problem.
But maybe not, actually. Season 4 went hard against the callbacks and tried new gags, sometimes very successfully (A New Start, Hello Darkness...). But if they can't write compelling stuff anymore, maybe they're right to lean into nostalgia.
Even more since it's probably the end for real, this time.
One day until the final episodes drop. Reviews are pretty tepid.
Lindsey's actress moved on from acting; she's only in a few green-screened/composite shots and largely written out of the story.
Lindsey's actress moved on from acting; she's only in a few green-screened/composite shots and largely written out of the story.
The Lindsay story set up in the S4 finale had me so excited for *years*, and they did her dirty.
I hate it too but IMO it's not that difficult to understand.
A season is ordered with a set number of episodes. For whatever reason (scheduling, editing, actor availability, etc), some of those episodes are aired at one point in the year, the second set of episodes aired later. The second batch of episodes isn't suddenly a new season, it's still part of the same season that the first batch are from. Therefor you get Season X part 1 and Season X part 2.
Now, if they started breaking seasons up into more than 2 parts, I'd be ready to burn some shit down. I can accept a mid-season cliffhanger before wrapping it up later in the year but anything more than that is just top fuckery and needs to be abolished.
Lmao it's the other way around, they had a whole storyline written for her and then she quit acting, so she did them dirty. It's a miracle they got her back for what little she's in the final season, there was some interview with her last year where she said she didn't even know how they did it lol.
I have watched up through episode 3/11, I am pleasantly surprised so far.
I've been pretty skeptical of the newer seasons. At first I was inside the group that was excited, then outside, inside, outside, but now I'm back inside.
I've been pretty skeptical of the newer seasons. At first I was inside the group that was excited, then outside, inside, outside, but now I'm back inside.
I've watched through part of episode 13 already. I still enjoy it, but they're scraping the bottom of the barrel here and hitting the call backs really hard. I hope this season is the end (maybe a "movie" epilogue, at most).
I found S5 part 1 extremely mediocre, and I honestly don't know if I have the willpower to finish the rest of the season. Looking to hear some impressions from people who's in the same boat as me
Ah, I see. In any case it's just not the same show without her. Nothing against Jessica Walter and Alia Shawkat, both of whom keep doing amazing work on the series, but removing the only woman among the "Bluth adult children+Tobias" group kills their dynamic for me. It doesn't help that George Michael and Maeby are full-blown adults now, making all these interrelationships feel much muddier.
Oh yeah I agree. I still like the new seasons, and it's still Arrested Development to me, but there's just no denying that due to scheduling the show is not the same. I still like to get to spend time with the characters and see their antics, the jokes, the callbacks, the hidden shit for rewatching, and I definitely want to see how the story rounds out since Mitch had so much more planned that got cut off at the knee before they got cancelled. But it's definitely not the same.
This is apparently the end of it, but there were a lot of rumors that they wanted to do a season/storyline that was part sequel, part prequel. I wouldn't mind them doing a season of Arrested Development that was set up as a prequel series with new actors playing younger versions of the characters. The AD cast is fucking perfect though so I dunno how they'd ever recapture that dynamic with a new set of actors.
Watched the first 4 new eps. It's OK. They've kept the cringe-worthy CGI to a minimum but I think after the 5 seasons the hyper-convoluted business plotting is just more boring and tiresome than amusing.
I'm up to episode 13 now and I don't know, it's fine. I've gotten a few laughs, although not as much as part 1, but it's just been comfy so far since the cast dynamic is still great, even with Lindsey missing and the accusations regarding Tambor making watching it a bit weird in spots. Although they could cut Tobias plot out and nothing of value would be lost.
Watch the first two episodes of part 2. Sigh....
This is gonna be rough to get through. At this point, I'm only actively watching to be a completionist. My mind and attention span immediately start wandering whenever they try to actively develop the "plot". There is pretty much nothing left of what I originally came to the show for.
This is gonna be rough to get through. At this point, I'm only actively watching to be a completionist. My mind and attention span immediately start wandering whenever they try to actively develop the "plot". There is pretty much nothing left of what I originally came to the show for.
I legitimately don't remember most of the first half of the season, so I'm not sure if I should re-watch it or just jump in. I don't really want to re-watch it...
Neither did I. But the show is full of plenty of callbacks to refresh your memory. The problem is when you realize how nonsensical and unfunny most of it is.
I wound up liking it but the sloppy production brings it down. theres so much obvious and distracting ADR
Haven't finished but I think it is really good. I still think the joke writing is sharp, it is just he overall plotting that is baggy.
It's more of the same at best. Michael (who actually has a little character development) and the kids carry the show; everyone else is flanderized or just flat. AD has always been self-referential, but no one wants to see Gob do his frustrated stutter every episode.
The trial scenes are pretty good though.
Done with it. Overall it was mediocre with a handful of bright spots, which were mostly in part 1 from what I remember. The overall murder plot is bad, tonally disjointed and just meanders to a nothing conclusion that basically fails to justify the entire existence and time spent on that plot and by extension this season. It does still have some good moments seperate from that, mostly revolving around Maeby who gets the best material but that was more frontloaded in part 1. I said it in an earlier post but the show is still enjoyable for the casts chemistry, even when the material isn't as good as it used to be and the editing is a mess in spots. I definitely enjoyed season 4 more than 5, although I think I generally liked season 4 more than most.
I don't need to see anymore Arrested Development after this, not that I'd expect it to happen with how things have gone.
I don't need to see anymore Arrested Development after this, not that I'd expect it to happen with how things have gone.
Buster being the one that killed Lucille 2 is just such a bizarre tonal thing. I wondered how they would handle it after season 4 since having a member of the family actually kill someone seemed like a step too far. But yet they actually committed to Buster doing it, rather than a last minute reveal of her being alive which wouldn't have felt just so off. There's also the stuff about Mimi which also feels weird. That's probably my biggest problem with this season because the Bluths are awful people but murder doesn't match the established tone of the show, and their attempts to make it fit don't work in the slightest. That takes the step from likable awful people to "Oh god, Buster is a psychopath and should have stayed in jail.".
It was nice to see Jean Smart show up for a bit in a role. Their guest casting is still good at least.
It was nice to see Jean Smart show up for a bit in a role. Their guest casting is still good at least.
Wow the ending really stunk. That was awful. The show really needs to end here, you could sense nobody's heart was really in it beyond a paycheck.
So I think a lot of us have had a rough few days and I've been a bit out of it, and going into this my expectations were pretty low so that likely effected my overall opinion, but I did really quite like this. I thought there were lots of clever jokes and wordplay, good callbacks, a few new interesting and clever bits, and it felt dense but not overly so or a bit convoluted like season 4 did, and while it still has structural issues and not all the jokes land, it was tighter and funnier than the first half of season 5. I think there are a lot of flaws still, some characters go underused, the ADR is really bad, which is something the series has always been a bit poor with, but it's far more noticeable here, and some scenes feel strangely put together and paced at times, but overall, yeah, I liked it. I imagine they are ending here, and for me, it's ending on a better note than I expected with how things were going, though my feelings may change when I re-watch this, and like I say my current overall mood may be effecting my judgement here too.
Maybe this was all intentional by the cast and creators. Make the show so unbearably average that we'd all leave them alone and let them move on with their lives.
I have to say that was truly awful and I went in expecting nothing. I think I laughed once. This whole extended plotline was just the worst and could not have been more uninteresting. It felt like half of this season was spent recapping shit that just happened earlier in the episode, in the prior episode, or during the first half.
Could a mod merge these threads?
I agree the gay innuendo jokes are dated, at least they used to make sense as they were Tobias' schtick.
I still laughed at some because of Arnett's delivery, but what's weird is there are SO MANY of them in season 4 & 5 and they completely take over Gob's character.
I really liked it! The constant recapping is the weirdest thing though - it flies in the face of the way people watch netflix.
They should just let maeby and George Michael get together already...I also didn't enjoy what they did to Buster.