Wednesday, May 29, 2013

How I Rank the Episodes of Arrested Development Season 4

This ranking is based on my first viewing experience.  I assume I will ranking things differently upon future viewings.

BEST TO WORST:  Episodes Ranked

Episode 4 - The B. Team - Michael 2

This is where the season started to really click for me. This episode was jam packed with GREAT cameos and wonderful meta-humor. Finally things started to feel natural.

Episode 15 - Block Heads - George-Michael 2

The funniest episode of the season wraps up some of the story lines, but doesn't bring things to a fully satisfying conclusion.  But since this is comedy, if it's funny, I can forgive a lot.

Episode 5 - A New Start - Tobias 1

Much like the previous episode, they seem to have found their stride. The meta-humor is flowing naturally again.  I've always enjoyed Tobias.  This episode showed a more sympathetic Tobias. So it was enjoyable to me.

Episode 9 - Smashed - Tobias 2

Another solid Tobias episode with plot lines weaving in and out with one another. We even get a nice musical number.

Episode 13 - It Gets Better - George-Michael

At this point in the season there's enough backstory established that all of the episodes have plenty of pay off.  Perhaps if this episode came earlier in the season it wouldn't have been as strong, but this episode benefits from some of the weaker episodes earlier on.  Likewise making us wait to see the answers to some questions was probably for the best.

Episode 11 - A New Attitude - Gob 2

Tony Wonder finally gets some good screen time, and it pays off. Some early mysteries are starting to be answered.


Episode 14 - Off the Hook - Buster

I wasn't particular excited about this episode because I'm not a fan of Buster.  In small doses he's humorous, but typically he's a bit too over-the-top for my taste. To my surprise, this episode really worked.  I'm not sure why, but they found the right angle to make Buster relatable.

Once again we're starting to get more answers, but there's still a few more questions to be answered.


Episode 1 - Flight of the Phoenix - Michael 1

The Bluth's have returned.  The show is still funny, but the initial episode comes off a bit forced.  And the multiple story lines are more confusing than ever.

Episode 12 - Senoritis - Maeby

While not one of my personal favorite characters, they seem to keep her out of any annoying directions.  Her episode was solid, funny, and answered some questions. Though it didn't strive to the heights of some past episodes.

Episode 8 - Red Hairing - Lindsay 2

The first half was disappointing, but once things got moving this was a solid episode.  We're starting to see just how all the story lines will cross.

Episode 6 - Double Crossers - George Sr. 2

While this episode focused on George (who I am not all that interested in), the episode worked because it felt more like an ensemble.  Likewise, this episode was the first time they started to join the stories together more and show us wearing things were going.

Episode 7 - Colony Collapse - Gob

Gob's is a personal favorite.  Unfortunately they spent too much time on the Anne storyline. Obviously as a Christian I'm biased, but I didn't find any of the Christian jokes remotely funny.

Episode 10 - Queen B. - Lucille

I'm not a big fan of the character as a lead, but once the stories start tying together this is a solid episode.

Episode 3 - Indian Takers - Lindsay

I don't mind Lindsay and I find Tobias delightfully awful.  So I went into this episode pretty excited. Unfortunately this episode was pretty disappointing.  It was mildly amusing, but the Lindsay character in particular seems to most forced.

Episode 2 - Borderline Personalities - George Sr. 1

George Sr. isn't particularly interesting by himself, and I don't find his twin Oscar pleasant at all. Therefore, this episode is an example of why I was worried about the single character idea for the fourth season. I don't want to see an episode devoted to George Sr. Therefore, this episode had little appeal for me.


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