Beef Consommé
From Arrested Development Wikia
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Michael Bluth, Lucille, George Sr., and their attorney, Barry Zuckerkorn were meeting to discuss George Sr.'s arraignment the next day. Barry tells them that it would help if they all came and appeared loving and supportive for 10 minutes. Lucille asks if he can get it down to 5. Just then, G.O.B. called Michael, asking about his girlfriend Marta and the man he suspected she was seeing behind his back, Hermano. Michael was nervous, having found out he was actually the Hermano that she was speaking of, since "hermano" was the Spanish word for brother. So Michael tells G.O.B. to lie low while he talks to her again.
At Marta's house, Michael apologizes for accusing her of cheating on G.O.B. Marta apologizes for disrespecting G.O.B., but Michael, who had been secretly infatuated with Marta for a long time, tells her it's not a big deal. Realizing that they both must remember to honor their family, they both decide to do the right thing, but soon begin doing the wrong thing anyway. But when they both see reminders of G.O.B. around the apartment, they realize they have to tell him first.
Meanwhile, back at the model home, Maeby is tired of Tobias and Lindsay's constant fighting. George Michael, having heard a clue that might mean Maeby wasn't his blood relative, decides to do some investigating. G.O.B. drops by to ask Michael about the situation with Marta. Michael asks if he's spoken with Marta, but G.O.B. says he's ignoring her calls. He plans to keep lying low so that she can't break things off, and in the meantime, find Hermano and beat him up. Buster, overhearing his brother's plan, wonders what it would be like to get into a fight, having lived his entire life under his mother's wing. Lucille then calls to remind the family about their father's hearing the next afternoon, and to tell Buster that she doesn't miss him.
Meanwhile, George Michael is beginning his investigation into Maeby's conception, and asks Tobias to elaborate what he meant when he said they had trouble conceiving. But Tobias becomes distracted when he learns that his role as "Frightened Inmate #2" is a shower scene that requires him to be naked. As a never nude, this poses a problem for Tobias.
Back down in the kitchen, Buster asks if G.O.B. would mind if he asked Marta out, since he planned to break things off anyway. G.O.B. tells him to go ahead, not taking his baby brother seriously. But when he overhears Buster say "hermano" and learns that it is the Spanish word for brother, he assumes that it must be the actor who plays her character's brother Tio on El Amor Prohibido and goes off to get his revenge. Michael then gets off the phone with Lucille, and when Buster tells him where G.O.B. went, he realizes he's got to stop him before it's too late.
At Lucille's apartment, George Michael stops by to ask a few questions about Maeby, and learns that she was a test-tube baby, which he takes to mean that he's not actually related to Maeby.
G.O.B. finally reaches the El Amor Prohibido set, and takes a swing at the actor he's looking for, who proceeds to knock G.O.B. out cold. When G.O.B. wakes up, he's in the hospital room set of the soap opera, where Michael is waiting for him. Michael tells G.O.B. that he was the "hermano" that Marta was in love with, and G.O.B. tells Michael that if he'd known it was him, he wouldn't have minded. He gives Michael and Marta his blessing. Michael is happy and rushes over to tell Marta that they can finally be together. But they are interrupted when Michael receives a call from his mother, and remembers that he is late for his father's hearing.
In fact, nearly all the Bluths were running late. Buster had rented a mariachi band to proclaim his love for Marta, but arrived just a few seconds after Michael did. And Tobias told Lindsay about the problem with his part. Lindsay tells him he has to get over it, but Tobias tells her that he can't. Seeing his vulnerability, she decides to help him finally face his fear.
George Michael finds Maeby to tell her that they might not be related, but after realizing that her family was all she had, he decided he couldn't take that away from her.
At the courthouse, only Lucille and G.O.B. had shown up for the hearing on time. Barry arrived shortly after George Sr. was led in, and Buster soon came in with the mariachi band still in tow, and tells G.O.B. about seeing Michael kissing Marta just a few minutes ago, which makes G.O.B. jealous. As the judge reads the lengthy list of charges against George Sr., Michael finally arrives, and is immediately accosted by G.O.B., and the two brawl their way out of the courtroom, then out onto the courthouse steps. Buster, seeing an opportunity to finally know what it's like to take a punch, joins in the fracas. George Sr., who had never heard his charges listed in one sitting, used the chaotic situation to attempt his escape through the courthouse stairwell.
Meanwhile, Tobias and Lindsay took their clothes off together, and Tobias was finally able to be fully nude. Having finally reconnected as a couple, the two made love for the first time in years.
At the courthouse, the scene was getting even more chaotic. Michael, G.O.B. and Buster were fighting all around the courthouse lawn. Embarrassed by her family, Lucille takes off for home. George Sr. accidentally runs into the room containing his cell, and is locked back up by the guard, who didn't realize he had even tried to escape in the first place.
G.O.B., Michael and Buster had fought their way out of the courthouse and into the adjoining park, where they were found by Marta. Seeing Michael and G.O.B. fighting, Marta realizes that she doesn't want to date either of them, and tells Buster she has no idea who he is. Michael and G.O.B. make up, realizing that they should never let a girl get in between them.
[edit] Episode notes
- When Arrested Development was first picked up by FOX, it was for only 13 episodes, so this episode was intended to potentially serve as the series finale. As a result, many of the ongoing storylines from the first season reached some sort of resolution, including the brothers' rivalry over Marta, Tobias's never nude disorder, and George Michael's crush on his cousin.
[edit] References
- Cock of the Walk - Marta uses this expression, derived from the way a rooster struts around the barnyard to convey his position as the dominant male, to describe G.O.B., meaning she thinks he is an arrogant and bossy person. This could also be an interesting reference to Gob's chicken dance.
- Gypsy - Lucille quotes a line of the song "Rose's Turn" from this musical, "How do you like them egg rolls, Mr. Goldstone". A snippet of this song can be heard in Marta Complex and Spring Breakout.
- Love is in the Air - This 1978 song by John Paul Young is referenced throughout the episodes.
- G.O.B. has given Marta a homemade CD of himself performing the song.
- Buster hires his mariachi band to play this song for Marta.
- Oscar de la Hoya - The man who hits G.O.B. learned to fight by having once played this talented Mexican-American boxer.
[edit] Callbacks/Running Jokes
- Barry's secret life - Barry tells the Bluths that he had another hearing that day where he was the defendant.
- Brother in other languages - Though G.O.B. doesn't recognize the Spanish word for brother (even though he claims he took four years of Spanish in school), he tells Michael how to say brother in both Italian (fratello) and French (mon frère). Will Arnett who plays G.O.B. is fluent in French.
- When Buster explains to G.O.B. that "hermano" means brother in Spanish, G.O.B. doesn't realize that it is, indeed, his very own brother Michael. Buster suggests a man who plays Marta's brother in her show, named Tío. Tío means "uncle" in Spanish.
- Boyfights - Michael and G.O.B. have their first fight in front of the courthouse (which is later called back to in Righteous Brothers). This begins a running joke about Michael and G.O.B. fighting, and also begins a running joke with Michael jumping into trees when they fight.
- Throughout this episode, Buster says he wants to get punched in the face, which is later referenced again in Best Man for the GOB.
- Buster says hey - Buster once again refers to people by their relationship to him, rather than by their name.
- When explaining to G.O.B. what "hermano" means, Buster uses the example, "Hey, hermano".
- El Amor Prohibido - This is the second time that we see the set and actors of Marta's soap opera.
- Never Nude - Tobias's condition becomes a key plot point in this episode.
- At the end of the episode, Tobias overcompensates for his disorder by walking to the breakfast table completely nude.
- Runner - This is the first time George Sr. attempts to run from court, something which he later attempts again in Justice is Blind.
- Tobias is gay
- Tobias first tells George Michael, "when a man needs to prove to a woman that he's actually..." - this likely would have ended with 'straight' as we learn in the pilot episode that Tobias has had that discussion with Lindsay many times.
- When attempting to explain sex between a man and a woman to George Michael, he tells him that an erection comes "with deep, deep concentration and-and great focus", indicating that Tobias is not very attracted to women.
- Very very wrong - Michael tells Marta that being together behind G.O.B.'s back is "very very wrong". Later that episode, George Michael says that if Maeby weren't his cousin, it would be "very very right".
[edit] Hidden/Background Jokes
- A note on the refrigerator can be seen reading, “I finished the milk. Will buy more. —George Michael”, a callback to George Sr.'s lesson to his children in Pier Pressure to always leave a note.
- Documentary - A couple of references are made to the show's documentary film style.
- Judge Ping orders the cameras to be removed from the courtroom, and so the next shot is taken from outside the courtroom doors, where we hear G.O.B. accosting Michael, then pushing him through the doors. Judge Ping also looks directly at the camera when he says, "No cameras".
- When Lindsay and Tobias get naked, the camera is pushed out of the room, but the cameraman sneaks back through to catch the view from under the doorway.
- While Tobias walks to the table nude, Michael does not look away until the very end. The DVD commentary cites this as Jason Bateman beginning to laugh, and trying to hide it from the camera.
- The page of the Spanish/English dictionary showing the translation of 'hermano' features a picture of two men who resemble G.O.B. and Michael with large moustaches. Also on the page are the Spanish words for 'Beautiful,' with a picture that resembles Lindsay, and 'Hermaphrodite' with a picture that resembles Tobias (This is mentioned on the DVD commentary to this episode).
- GOB spits his food back into his bowl when Tobias comes downstairs nude.
[edit] Character Cameos
- This is the first time we see Michael Paul Chan as Judge Ping, who was the judge for George Sr.'s trial, and would preside over several legal proceedings over the span of the series.
- This was Patricia Velasquez's final appearance as Marta Estrella (aka Marta 2.0).
[edit] Foreshadowing/Future References
- Maeby's parents - This is the first time we are given evidence that Maeby might not be George Michael's biological cousin, which was used as a storyline for the span of the series, and was finally resolved in Development Arrested.
- Never Nude - This is the last time we would see Tobias struggle with this problem until Sad Sack, when he would suffer a relapse.
[edit] Goofs
- George Michael visits his grandmother Lucille, but he is actually seen knocking on Lucille 2’s door.
