In the last few weeks, all anyone with a Twitter account and a love for hyperboles could talk about is the Netflix season of Arrested Development. And then it was released and we watched it and, well, the response has been…well, how about that Isla Fisher?!…
We’re in a very weird time right now where the way we dissect things is instantaneous and without reflection. We watch or listen or read things now to be the first to tweet or Instagram that we are watching or listening or reading something but are we really? For some we are, for other’s it’s just being able to get their thoughts out there first. Remember watching TV without live-tweeting it? Life was very peaceful. But that’s not the way it works anymore. At the same time, our beloved shows don’t stay dead anymore. And in correlation with nostalgia and our expectations, reviving the things we once loved is a very ambitious, irresponsible and exciting thing to do. Come to think of it, those 3 words is exactly how I would describe the new season of Arrested Development.
Let’s get this out of the way: the new season of Arrested Development has moments of sheer brilliance (Kristen Wiig has Young Lucille is PERFECTION) that are too few and far between whatever is actually happening. As a whole the season is uneven and nonsensical but hilarious and fun all at the same time. I’m not making any sense am I? Well the Netflix season doesn’t either. From the timeline to Portia’s wig, everything is a mess and nothing feels quite the same, but why would or should it really? Does it work? Should it even have happened? Those are two questions everyone wants answered but you can’t answer those because that’s all about how you interept the product. I’ve seen some people claim that the entire thing was brilliant, and some are left lying on the cold hard ground. It’s all up to you.
I wish I could pretend I loved this Netflix season of this beloved show of mine but I can’t. I can’t ignore that more than a handful of the episodes I was half-watching because what am I supposed to do with an entire episode about a character I really don’t care about? It’s like if Friends had a spinoff show about, hmmm, Joey, who is arguably the most uninteresting character and you take him out of the setting we loved him in and gave him new people to interact with that weren’t Ross or Monica or…oh wait…
Arrested Development‘s brilliance was always the story of the entire family and how they interacted together. I understand that this was done because of the actors busy schedules (I have my questions about this because, um, most of them aren’t that busy…) but I could’ve waited and that is really my biggest problem here. Sure, I love the show and wanted another season but I could’ve waited another year.
What it all comes down to is asking if this was necessary. Was it necessary? The answer I’ve come to after a week of watching 14 episodes that we’re 15 minutes too long for their own good is that it wasn’t. Of course, I’m saying this in hindsight so it doesn’t really count but if you had asked me this before I would’ve said the same thing. It’s what I said when they announced the Veronica Mars movie. “I’ll show up, I’ll be there opening night, of course, but that doesn’t mean I needed this”. Maybe, what turns me off the most about this season is that it tarnishes the “what if?” factor. We all imagine what the charcters from our favourite shows would be doing in the future, but that doesn’t mean we really need or should know as fans of Sex & The City know all too well. Sometimes it’s just better to leave things alone and leave it to your imagination.
The Reel Times 