"A Couple-A New Starts" was the third episode of chronological re-cut of Arrested Development's fourth season. It premiered on Netflix on May 4, 2018.
Lindsay searches for answers far away from home, where a familiar face is also on a journey of discovery.
Synopsis[]
After the sinking of the Queen Mary, the family gathers at the coast guard's office and Lindsay begins to doubt whether she truly belongs to the Bluth family. After Lucille rejects her once more, she decides to finally divorce Tobias and distance herself from the Bluths. Tobias begins to feel similarly misunderstood by them.
Lindsay begins to look for a new path and, inspired by the book Eat, Pray, Love, she decides to travel to India. Unknowingly, Tobias also books a trip to India after finding the book discarded in the model home. Despite travelling to the same place in India, Lindsay and Tobias never meet each other. When they arrive, Lindsay's bus hits Tobias and he is taken to hospital while Lindsay continues onto her hotel.
In the hospital, Tobias is encouraged by one of the medical students to become a comedy actor. Meanwhile, Lindsay meets a shaman at her hotel who encourages her to live truthfully and return home to find the love she left. Lindsay's card is declined and her shaman appointment was cancelled, leaving Lindsay to wonder who she met. In order to get more money, she phones Lucille who promises money if Lindsay testifies at Lucille's upcoming trial.
Lindsay and Tobias return home on the same plane, still unaware of each other, and go to the family meeting at the penthouse. Due to their trips to India, Lindsay has decided to recommit to Tobias and Tobias has decided to recommit to his acting dreams. Michael announces he's leaving the family and founds his own company to finish building Sudden Valley although it struggles because there are no roads to it.
Meanwhile, Lindsay and Tobias decide to buy a house together and are convinced by real-estate agent James Carr to buy a mansion they can't pay for. Tobias also convinces James Carr to become his agent. Lindsay, Tobias, and Maeby move into the mansion while Lindsay continues rehearsing her testimony. Later, John Beard announces the collapse of the California housing market on the news.
On the next Arrested Development: Fateful Consequences... Michael lives in Sudden Valley as it becomes a ghost town.
Appearances[]
Main Cast (in order of appearance)
- Portia de Rossi as Lindsay Bluth Fünke
- Will Arnett as G.O.B.
- Tony Hale as Buster Bluth
- Jessica Walter as Lucille Bluth
- Jeffrey Tambor as George Bluth and Oscar Bluth
- David Cross as Tobias Fünke
- Michael Cera as George Michael Bluth
- Alia Shawkat as Maeby Fünke
- Jason Bateman as Michael Bluth
Recurring
- Ed Begley, Jr. as Stan Sitwell
- John Beard as Himself
- Rich Aliaändanost as Shaman Sheman
- Ed Helms as James Carr
- Kristen Wiig as Young Lucille Bluth
- Rizwan Manji as Animesh/Male concierge
- Ian Roberts as Literal Doctor
Guest
- Raja Deka as Veejay
- Parvesh Cheena as Kabir
- Thushari Jayasekara as Bus passenger
- Guru Singh as Jaideep
- Sharmila Devar as Indian medical student #1
- Priya Ayyar as Female concierge
- Joe Holt as Carpenter
- Jayden Maddux as Young Buster Bluth
Recurring themes[]
References[]
- David Spade - Lindsay buys a knockoff Kate Spade jacket called a "David Spade". The salesman says that anything smaller than a size small is a "David Spade". Rebel later brags that her handbag is a David Spade in "Modern Marvels".
- Eat, Pray, Love - Lindsay reads the first two sections of the book before traveling to India for a spiritual journey. Tobias, like Lindsay, reads Eat, Pray, Love and decides to visit India.
- Laugh In - The Indian interns say they just received the 1960s sketch show.
- NINJA loan - James Carr gives the Fünkes a NINJA loan (no income, no job or assets) and Tobias replies "ninja please!"
- Portia de Rossi's wedding dress - Tobias's last way of tying the bed sheet during his flight to India resembles Portia de Rossi's wedding dress.
Callbacks/Running Jokes[]
- Banners - Sitwell Homesteads runs an airplane banner that reads, "16 Luxury Homes - We Have Cable / Paved Road Right To Your Door!" This competitive sign is reminiscent of the ones in "Making a Stand" that read "A frozen banana that won't make you sick and kill you." and "A Colombian cartel that won't kidnap and kill you."
- Camp Kissame Mommy - A shirt from Buster's in-home summer camp is later seen in "The Parent Traps".
- Cutoffs - Tobias wears cutoffs under his sarong.
- FOX 6 -
- The "Halted Development" story is told by Beard, before he quits.
- In-flight magazines - Lindsay reads Skymall and we12 on her flight to India.
- Is Tobias gay? -
- Tobias can remember the Hot Cops names but not Michael's.
- Tobias calls Mike the Hot Cop a "hot seaman" (as he nearly did in "Development Arrested")
- Tobias sings "Oh, is that a gal I see, no it's just a fallacy!" (or "phallus, see")
- After tying his bed sheet in a way that resembles Portia de Rossi's wedding dress, Tobias says "I actually like this better." He also says one of his earlier attempts makes him look like "one of those hot guys from Spartacus".
- Tobias's license plate reads ANUSTART, which is supposed to be read as "a new start", but everybody else refers it as "anus tart".
- The body pillow on Tobias's bed looks like a large phallus due to its color, positioning and shape.
- James Carr - In "The One Where Michael Leaves" James uses Cookies scented spray to deceive homebuyers. He keeps up to his predatory tricks in this episode.
- Medical emergencies - Tobias continues his streak of bad medical luck. He breaks his skull three times in this episode:
- Hit by a bus in India.
- Falling off his gurney when his "sarong" was caught in the hospital elevator.
- Falling off his hospital bed while talking to interns.
- Ostrich -
- Lindsay and Tobias travel to Shuturmurg, India. "Shuturmurg" is Hindi for "ostrich".
- Lindsay's shaman tells her to pull her head "out of the sand".
- Lindsay sees an ostrich at her hotel after seeing her shaman.
- Prayer hands -
- Lindsay makes prayer hands at the hotel attendant.
- Lindsay makes prayer hands at Michael in Balboa Towers.
- Shémale shirt - Tobias wears a Shémale shirt in Lucille's apartment
- "[synonym for arrested] Development"
- In 2008, John Beard reports on the real estate market crash with the headline "Halted Development".
- Tantamount Studios - The films Tobias looks at on the flight to India are a "Tantamount Collection" featuring Fantastic Four, Junk, Homeless Dad, and Love, Indubitably.
- The Literal Doctor - Dr. Fishman works at a hospital in The City of Hopelessness, India. He says, "This man broke his skull in two places. Once outside the airport and once in the elevator..."
- Tipping - Michael tries to tip the construction workers. The family discuss tipping in "Re Cap'n Bluth".
Hidden/Background Jokes[]
- John Beard - James Carr brags that he got the newsman into a house with two gatehouses. When the real estate market collapses, John Beard leaves his house and quits his job.
- Maeby's whiteboard drawings - While Tobias and Lindsay are discussing getting a home with James Carr, Maeby appears to be drawing pictures of her parents on a whiteboard with a blue marker. The drawing of Lindsay has a speech bubble saying, "Give me!" Tobias's shows him about to drop a pair of shorts onto a fire. At first, he is uncolored, wearing pants and no shirt with a blue square around his genital region. Later, he is completely colored in with the blue marker. Finally, Maeby draws penises. She especially takes advantage of numbers with 2 consecutive zeros in them. When Tobias asks James Carr to be his agent, a butler with a speech bubble saying "BUTLERS LOVE KITCHENS!" can also be seen. This could be a reference to the "Family love Michael" banner in "Forget-Me-Now".
- Music - When Lindsay sees that her shaman is gone and an ostrich appears, the vocalist in the music sings "coincidence!"
- Slogans - The slogan of the Michael B. Company is "Home is where the HOUSE is," referring to the fact that Michael lives in the model home after the family has left it.
Foreshadowing/Future References[]
- Bob Hope Airport in India - The airport Tobias arrives at in India is "बॉब होप हवाई अड्डे" which translates from Hindi as "Bob Hope Airport", a reference to "Moving Pictures".
- Camera crew - A camera crew is seen in the Indian airport, explained later in "One Degree of Separation".
- Coughing - At the harbormaster's lodge, coughing can be heard. This is explained in "One Degree of Separation".
- Lindsay becomes Lucille / Lindsay is true Bluth -
- Lindsay has a roomba like Lucille does.
- Lindsay tells Lucille, "You can't say one nice thing about your daughter." Lucille replies, "Adopted daughter...and that's not true." without saying anything nice.
- Shaman - As Lindsay meets with her shaman, the shaman's face is usually obscured by the blowing curtains. The shaman later turns out to be Maeby in disguise. ("One Degree of Separation")
- "When love is near your heart will be happy." - Lindsay uses her shaman's advice poorly in "Mixed Messages".
- Prostitute - Lindsay tells Michael "I'm not a whore", but does become one in "Mixed Messages".
- Tobias tells G.O.B., "You look like I feel," and G.O.B. replies, "Gay?" This both continues the running joke of the family thinking Tobias is gay and foreshadows G.O.B.'s own storyline in "Locked and Loaded", "Turning on Each Other", and "Cinco de Cuatro III".
In Comparison to the Original Cut[]
This episode is made up from 6 episodes of the original cut of Season 4. Because the re-cut is chronological and combines the characters' stories into one narrative, new narration was recorded and there is even some additonal dialogue. These changes, as well as which scenes appear in which original episode, are listed below:
- Lindsay shopping in India (4x3 Indian Takers)
- Flashback to Season 3 (a small section is from 4x3 Indian Takers)
- Most of this flashback wasn’t included in the original cut.
- At the coast guard’s office, new dialogue in italics (4x3 Indian Takers, 4x5 A New Start)
- Hot Cop: Hi, Tobias.
- In the original cut, Tobias' line is split “remotely […] misleading” but has now become “remotely mis- […] –leading”
- In this episode, the caption says “52 seconds earlier…” instead of “11 seconds earlier…”
- When Tobias and G.O.B. sit next to each other, 2 out of sync versions of The Sound of Silence now play.
- Lindsay going to India (4x3 Indian Takers)
- Tobias going to India (4x5 A New Start)
- Tobias: (singing) Coincidence!
- Lindsay & Tobias in India (4x3 Indian Takers, 4x5 A New Start)
- When Tobias is hit by the bus, Lindsay pauses then laughs along as does the narrator. Lindsay and the narrator's laughter is new to the remix.
- Lindsay shopping (4x3 Indian Takers)
- The line "best coat on the mountain" has been moved from where it was in the original cut.
- Tobias in hospital (4x5 A New Start)
- Tobias: My name is Tobias… (falls off bed)
- Lindsay at the hotel (4x3 Indian Takers)
- Aeroplane from India (4x3 Indian Takers, 4x5 A New Start)
- Tobias: (voicemail) Leave a message!
- Family meeting (4x3 Indian Takers, 4x5 A New Start, Michael is done with the family in 4x1 Flight of the Phoenix, 4x2 Borderline Personalities, 4x7 Colony Collapse, 4x13 It Gets Better)
- Narrator: So Lindsay and Tobias were making a new start as a family and Michael was making a new start without one.
- Michael builds Sudden Valley (4x1 Flight of the Phoenix)
- At the estate agents (4x3 Indian Takers, 4x5 A New Start)
- At the mansion (4x3 Indian Takers)
- Lindsay & Lucille at the penthouse (4x3 Indian Takers)
- Tobias trying to become an actor (4x5 A New Start)
- Housing market collapse (4x3 Indian Takers)
- Narrator: And so Tobias and Lindsay, who each asked the universe for a new start, only to disregard that and chase the same things that had made them unhappy to begin with, soon found out the universe wouldn’t be ignored.
- On the next… (4x1 Flight of the Phoenix)
Notes[]
- Throughout this episode, the narrator makes reference to Lindsay and Tobias looking for a new path and hoping the universe will show it to them:
- Narrator: Lindsay was looking for inspiration in finding a new path.
- Narrator: Yes, Tobias was confused about his identity as well which is why he couldn’t resist a book the universe had somehow placed in his path.
- Narrator: That’s when the universe gave Tobias a really sweet compliment. […] But Lindsay’s search would continue…
- Narrator: But, fortunately, the universe offered a solution to her financial problem that only required she go back on everything she’d given up to find herself.
- Narrator: So Lindsay and Tobias were making a new start as a family […] and Michael was making a new start without one.
- Narrator: As Michael prepared to sell, the Fünkes prepared to buy, even though they’d have no money until after the testimony.
- Narrator: And soon, this out-of-work actor and his enlightened wife were starting their life in their new home.
- Narrator: And so Tobias and Lindsay, who each asked the universe for a new start, only to disregard that and chase the same things that had made them unhappy to begin with, soon found out the universe wouldn’t be ignored.