Season two of Arrested Development premiered in November of 2004, and not only is it my favorite season of this fantastic show, it’s my favorite season of any show I’ve ever watched! I already explained the premise and general details of the show in The Ultimate Guide to Season One of Arrested Development, but to refresh your memory, the show was created by Mitchell Hurwitz and stars Ron Howard (Narrator), Jason Bateman (Michael), Will Arnett (Gob), Portia De Rossi (Lindsay), Tony Hale (Buster), David Cross (Tobias), Jeffrey Tambor (George Sr.and Oscar), Jessica Walter (Lucille), Michael Cera (George Michael), and Alia Shawkat (Maeby). A new member of the Bluth family is introduced near the end of this season: Franklin Delano Bluth, a racist African-American puppet, who Gob plans to use in a ventriloquism act. Season two of Arrested Development included eighteen brilliant episodes, and here is a breakdown of what happened in each one.
The One Where Michael Leaves”: Michael decides that he and George Michael will move to Arizona, but is unable to make the move because of unexpected circumstances. Michael learns that George Michael is too old to sit on his lap and drive. Gob is running the Bluth Company, and Lindsay and Tobias try having an open marriage. Oscar moves in with Lucille and Buster. Lucille signs Buster up for the Army when confronted by a Michael Moore look-alike.
Memorable quote: “I’ve got the thingie. Half in English, half in…squibbly.”-Gob
The One Where They Build a House”: Gob and Michael argue over who should cut the ribbon at the groundbreaking of the newest Bluth Company model home. Buster suspects that Lucille is having an affair with Oscar. Lindsay decides to bring a homeless man she met outside of a bar as her date to the ribbon cutting, unaware that the homeless man is actually actor Thomas Jane researching a role. George Sr. is mistaken for Oscar and arrested on drug charges in Mexico. Tobias has an unfortunate incident with some expensive diamond cream.
Memorable quote: “I heard zoo noises”-Buster
“Amigos!”: Michael wants to take George Michael to Legoland, but must change his plans when Gene Parmesan (Martin Mull), a private investigator Lucille hired years ago to see if George Sr. was cheating on her, tells Michael that the stair car has been spotted in Mexico. Gob overhears this conversation and thinks that Michael is planning to flee the country, leaving Gob to run the Bluth Company by himself, so he hires Ice (Malik Yoba), a bounty hunter, to keep tabs on Michael. Lucille throws a going-away party for Buster, who tries to get out of Army duty by escaping to Mexico in the trunk of Michael’s car. Michael leaves something very important to George Michael in Mexico.
Memorable quote: “Make love in your own hand, Mother!”-Buster
“Good Grief”: Annoyed by Michael interfering in their relationship, Ann (Mae Whitman) breaks up with George Michael. Ice tells the family that George Sr. was killed in Mexico and has already been buried there. Gob agrees to take George Sr.’s place and be buried alive, so the family can have a proper funeral, after which Gob hopes to escape from the coffin and make the cover of Poof magazine. George Michael discovers that all is not as it seems when it comes to George Sr.’s death, and Ann decides to give her relationship with George Michael another chance after Michael invites her to George Sr.’s wake.
Memorable quote: “It’s as Ann as the nose on Plain’s face.”-Michael
“Sad Sack”: Lindsay becomes attracted to Maeby’s crush, Steve Holt (Justin Grant Wade), so Maeby tells Steve that Lindsay is really a man. Wayne Jarvis (John Michael Higgins) comes back into the Bluth’s lives: as the prosecutor in George Sr.’s case. George Michael makes a B- on a math test; his excuse for not making an A is that he studied with Ann and got distracted by her prettiness, so Michael decides that George Michael needs glasses. Buster is having trouble at Army training and wants Gob to motivate him. George Sr., who has been hiding in the attic, tries to find out if Lucille is in love with Oscar.
Memorable quote: “If he’s got a shot with her, just give me a little tap on the fanny.”-Barry Zuckerkorn
Afternoon Delight”: On the day of the company Christmas party, Gob alienates the Bluth Company employees by bragging about his expensive suit and warning them against flirting with Lindsay. Michael is upset because George Michael wants to go to a Christmas party at Ann’s house instead of the Bluth Company party, and Lindsay doesn’t want Maeby to go to the party because she thinks it’ll be harder for her to meet men if her daughter is around. Michael and Maeby rebuild the banana stand, which has been vandalized as it is every year around Christmas, and decide to go to the Christmas party together; they end up doing karaoke that is not appropriate for a man to be singing with his teenage niece.
Memorable quote: “These are my awards, Mother, from Army. The seal is for marksmanship, and the gorilla is for sand-racing.”-Buster
Switch Hitter”: Gob is hired by Stan Sitwell (Ed Begley Jr.), the president of a rival real estate company, but George Sr. thinks Sitwell only hired him because it’s almost time for the annual Bluth Company/Sitwell Housing softball game, and Sitwell wants to steal the Bluth Company’s best player for his team. Maeby ends up with a job as a movie studio executive and gets Tobias a job as a security guard.
Memorable quote: “It could be worse. He could want to marry your mother. Oh, I’m sorry, is your family not laughing at that yet?”-Stan Sitwell
Queen for a Day”: Gob is fired from Sitwell Housing. Barry Zuckerkorn (Henry Winkler) tells Michael that the company stock is unfrozen; Michael tells the rest of the family not to sell their stock because he wants to be able to buy a car that George Michael won’t be embarrassed to be seen in. Tobias and Buster go to the Queen Mary, where Buster runs into Lucille Austero (Liza Minnelli) and decides to rekindle his relationship with her; Tobias buys the Queen Mary. Michael introduces Buster to Starla (Mo Collins), the Bluth Company “business model” (who Gob claims he has slept with) and convinces him that he should be with her instead of someone who is so much older than him. Maeby leaves a stack of scripts in the attic, and a bored George Sr. writes notes on them; Maeby thinks that George Michael did this and says she loved his notes. George Michael thinks she is referring to love notes that he had written for her and stashed in the attic.
Memorable quote: “My schedule is as open as my relationship with my wife.”-Tobias
“Burning Love”: Ann talks George Michael into hosting a Christian music-burning party, while Lucille asks Michael to bid on her at a charity bachelorette auction. Lindsay wants to borrow one of Lucille’s fur coats for her date with actor Moses Taylor (Rob Corddrey). Michael fills in for George Michael at the frozen banana stand and is approached by Sally Sitwell (Christine Taylor), a woman he had a crush on in high school; he arranges to run into Sally at the country club, and when he tries to pay for lunch, his credit card is declined as a result of George Sr. charging a hot tub for the attic. Tobias tries to raise money to bid on Lindsay at the charity auction by capturing a wolf that has been on the loose (thus receiving reward money), but ends up shooting Lindsay with a tranquillizer gun because he mistakes her for the wolf in her fur coat. George Michael and Ann kiss for the first time.
Memorable quote: “Jesus called, he wants your Thriller album.”-Maeby
“Ready, Aim, Marry Me!”: Michael suspects that Lucille Austero and Stan Sitwell are working on a business deal. Michael calls “Uncle Jack” (Martin Short), a muscular old man who can no longer use his legs, because George Sr. says that he might give them money if they give him something in return; it turns out that Lindsay is what he wants in return, but she is attracted to Dragon (Troy Brenna), the “deaf giant” who carries Jack around. Michael gives Lindsay the spa package he received when he won a date with Sally at the charity auction and tells her that Dragon will be her date, though the date is really will Jack. Buster decides that he wants Lucille Austero back, but discovers that she has been sleeping with Gob and is now interested in another man.
Memorable quote: “She’d love to get at me any way she could. That’s why she’s been flirting with Gob. She’s trying to prove that she’s closer to my children then I am, but the joke’s on her because she doesn’t know how little I care for Gob.”-Lucille
“Out on a Limb”: George Michael’s interest in Ann is waning, but he doesn’t want to break up with her, so Maeby comes up with a plan to get Ann to break up with George Michael. Gob’s wife (Amy Poehler) wants a divorce. The day before Buster is supposed to be shipped out with the Army, he invites Lucille to the beach, where he has hired a photographer to take pictures of them. Michael encounters Maggie Lizer (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss) at the courthouse and discovers that she is eight and a half months pregnant; she says the baby is not Michael’s, but he doesn’t believe her. Michael tells Sally that because Maggie is a liar, he thinks the child might be his, and they end their relationship. Lindsay and Tobias break into Maggie’s house to try to get a urine sample to make sure Maggie is really pregnant. Buster decides to go in the ocean and ends up losing a body part.
Memorable quote: “I like not having fun. I like your idea of fun…I mean, our idea of fun. I like not having that.”-George Michael
Hand to God:” At the hospital, the doctor tells the Bluths that Buster will be “all right;” they are overjoyed until the doctor explains that Buster no longer has a left hand. Buster tells Michael that he should fix things with Maggie, but Maggie tells Michael that the baby really is not his, it’s from a sperm donor. Gob thinks that he may have had something to do with Buster losing his hand. Two gay cops (Jerry Minor and Jay Johnston) tell Michael that Maggie is carrying a baby for them.
Memorable quote: “A seal didn’t bite your Linus off, did it?”-Buster
“Motherboy XXX”: Lucille doesn’t want to take Buster to Motherboy XXX, a dance for mothers and sons, because she is embarrassed by his hook; she asks Michael to go, but he refuses. George Michael wants to go on a Christian retreat with Ann, but Michael tells him to spend time with Buster instead. Maeby pretends to be religious, so she can go on the retreat and miss a day of school. Carl Weathers agrees to give Tobias the role of George Sr. on an episode of Scandalmakers if he will sign a release form giving them permission to do an episode about the Bluths. Lucille forces George Michael to go to Motherboy XXX with her.
Memorable quote: “Wow, I misunderestimated you.”-Wife of Gob
“The Immaculate Election”: After being kicked out by Lindsay, Tobias begins living on the set of Wrench, a TV show that stars Lindsay’s one-time date, Moses Taylor. George Michael decides to run for student body president, but Michael, afraid that losing will affect his son’s self-esteem, enlists Gob’s help in playing dirty. Lucille catches Buster in bed with Lupe (BW Gonzalez), her housekeeper. Tobias disguises himself as Mrs. Featherbottom (who looks very similar to Mrs. Doubtfire) in order to become Lindsay’s housekeeper and spend more time with Maeby. George Michael is embarrassed by a video of himself recreating a scene from Star Wars.
Memorable quote: “She’s religious. That one gets pregnant, it stays pregnant.”
-Gob
“Sword of Destiny”: Lindsay asks Michael to give Tobias a job. Gob buys the Sword of Destiny for his magic act and tries to convince Michael to register as the magician and Gob as the assistant because Gob has been banned by the Magician’s Alliance from performing at the Gothic Castle; Michael refuses, but Buster agrees to do it. Michael attempts to teach George Michael to drive (by having George Michael watch him drive), but instead ends up in the hospital as a result of an excruciating pain in his side. After a show at the Gothic Castle, fellow magician Tony Wonder (Ben Stiller) asks Buster and Gob if they would like to be on a DVD he’s putting together, but later tells Buster that Gob doesn’t need to be on the DVD because he’s just an assistant.
Memorable quote: “If I make this comeback, I’ll buy you a hundred George Michaels you can teach to drive!”-Gob
“Meat the Veals”: When Lindsay tells Michael that George Michael wants to give Ann a pre-engagement ring, Michael invites Ann’s parents (Alan Tudyk and Ione Skye) to the party, so they will disapprove of their family. Oscar decides to throw Lucille an anniversary party. George Sr. overhears Oscar’s plan and decides to renew his vows with Lucille; he asks for Gob’s help, so Gob puts ether on the lips of Franklin and has the puppet kiss an unsuspecting Lucille, knocking her out. Ann’s mother finds herself becoming attracted to Michael.
Memorable quote: “Franklin said some things Whitey just wasn’t ready to hear.”
-Gob
“Spring Breakout”: After Lucille jeopardizes a business deal by showing up to a meeting drunk, Michael asks her to go on a spa weekend with him and instead checks her into rehab. Tired of women being objectified by the Girls With Low Self-Esteem videos, Lindsay decides to objectify men, with Tobias’ help; in the process, they discover that Phillip Litt (Zach Braff), the man behind Girls With Low Self-Esteem, is a never nude, just like Tobias. After watching Scandalmakers, Kitty (Judy Greer) figures out that George Sr. is hiding in the attic and kidnaps him.
Memorable quote: “They’re not even eating these. They just like saying ‘bananas and nuts.‘ I won’t tell you why-that’s your father’s job.”-George Michael
The Righteous Brothers”: Tobias quits his job as Michael’s assistant, but is upset when Michael says wasn’t aware Tobias worked there; it seems that the job has been stressing Tobias out so much that he has developed an eating order. Gob gives Michael a CD of him singing with Franklin, and Michael, who hasn’t listened to it, tells Gob that he loves the CD. Kitty pays Michael a visit and promises to leave the family alone; Michael decides to keep her occupied by having Tobias spend the day with her. Buster learns some startling news about the identity of his father.
Memorable quote: “Look at us, crying like a couple of girls…”-Gob
