"Emotional Baggage" is the sixth episode of Arrested Development's fifth season.
Michael attempts to bail out Buster. George Michael finally meets the Howards and Ron Howard informs Michael that his plans for the movie have changed.
Synopsis[]
Michael accidentally bailed out their lawyer Barry instead of Buster. Barry suggests getting the money to bail Buster out from George Michael. George Michael says that all of Fakeblocks money is tied up in legality and patenting. Lucille tells Barry that he better figure out how to get Buster out or else she'll use her lawyer George Snr. freaks out thinking that it's a divorce lawyer. Her lawyer's name is Dustin Rattler but she hasn't hired him yet. It turns out to be the guy from the Newport Bay Boys. She tells them that he tickles her fancy which causes G.O.B. to imagine horrible things. Barry tells her that she doesn't want to hire another lawyer because of the DA. Barry says that they have to stay away from the media and Michael agrees. Tobias asks if this is going to affect the scripted aspect and Michael asks why there would be a scripted scene in the first place. Tobias mentions his movie with Ron Howard and Lucille asks Michael if that's still happening. Michael says no but that he did give Kitty the releases. Lucille tells him to get them back. G.O.B. suggests that he go talk to Kitty and Tobias offers to come along but Lucille tells him to go find Lindsay. Tobias and Murphy decide to go looking for her. Maeby and George Michael talk in the backyard. Maeby tells him that she wants to make out again to teach them a lesson but George Michael says he can't because Michael still thinks that he's dating Rebel Alley.
Michael comes up and asks Maeby if Tobias revealing Murphy Brown to be his bastard son upset her. Maeby tries to play it off but is in fact jealous. Michael tells George Michael that he overheard him saying that Rebel didn't want him to meet her parents. George Michael says that he could just show up at the BBQ. Michael tells him to not to rush to fit into that crowd because they are probably looking for a suck up and that isn't George Michael's style. Michael tells him to just be himself if he does end up meeting them. Michael takes G.O.B. with him to meet Kitty to make sure that she doesn't make a movie about Buster. Michael says that he thinks that he and George Michael are going to be closer than ever since Rebel has lost interest in George Michael. George Michael goes to see Maeby at the retirement home to get relationship advice. He tells Maeby that Michael thinks that he should take things slower with Rebel. She convinces him to dye his hair pink to offend Ron Howard. Tobias and Murphy Brown head to Mexico to find Lindsay. Michael tries to get G.O.B. to get Kitty to give them back their movie rights. Michael pushes G.O.B. onto Kitty who is enamored with him. He leaves the two alone despite G.O.B.'s protests. George Michael shows up at the Howard's BBQ but instead of alienating them he fits right in with his new Howard red hair. He tries to get them to hate him by telling them how his fake company is going under but that just endears him to them even more. G.O.B. tries to get into the mood to be with Kitty but receives a call from Tony. Tony tells him that he's back in town and G.O.B. says that the should hang out but Tony says that it might taint his brand. Tony hangs up and G.O.B. asks Kitty how much of the conversation did she overhear. George Senior goes to visit Buster. He tells Buster that he needs to toughen up since he's in lockup. He also tells Buster that he and his mom aren't together anymore. George decides to end it and charges at a guard but instead of beating him up, the guard just hugs him.
George Michael tries to tell Rebel that his company is fake but she offers to loan him some money to keep it going. George Michael accepts since he knows that his family could use the money to bail out Buster. Maeby realizes that the relationship with Stan that was so confusing is because she saw him as a father figure. Tobias and Murphy Brown arrive to Father B's property which is where Tobias last saw Lindsay. Michael goes to the BBQ looking for Rebel but runs into Ron. He tells him how he doesn't want a movie being made about Buster but Ron says he's going to make a true crime series instead. Michael then runs into Bryce who tells him that Rebel is just using George Michael because of his internet company. Michael tries to leave unnoticed so he goes to the security room to watch the monitor to see when the coast is clear. Michael realizes a way to keep an eye on Rebel is to go ahead with the docuseries so he tells Ron that he can do it based on Buster. Michael goes home to the house where Lucille is waiting for him. He tells her about the tv show but Lucille doesn't like it. Michael says that this will help Buster because they can use it to convince the DA to release him.
Appearances[]
Recurring
- Ed Begley, Jr. as Stan Sitwell
- Isla Fisher as Rebel Alley
- Judy Greer as Kitty
- Ron Howard as Ron Howard
- Kyle Mooney as Murph
- Ben Stiller as Tony Wonder
- Henry Winkler as Barry
- Guest
- Bryce Dallas Howard as Herself
- Cheryl Howard as Herself
- Paige Howard as Herself
- Jocelyn Howard as Herself
- Rance Howard as Himself
- Reed Howard as Himself
- Frank Ashmore as Mr. F #1
- Anthony de Longis as Mr. F #2
- Brandon Molale as Guard Duck
- Renes Rivera as Guard Bearhug
Recurring themes[]
On the next Arrested Development...[]
- "Ron Howard arranges a jailhouse interview with Buster and Buster remembers George Sr.'s advice. And Maeby enjoys her new paternal relationship... until this happens."
References[]
- Ray Velcoro - Michael's Prismo license plate is 2DDT456. This is the same licenseplate as Ray Velcoro, a character from the TV show True Detective. Ray Velcoro can be slightly compared to Michael, he is a father figure to his son and has a cycle of love and hate with his family.
- Space Monkey - Gob and kitty discuss about space monkeys
Callbacks/Running Jokes[]
- Ice cream sandwich - Stan Sitwell has a predilection for ice cream cones, contrasting the Bluths' affinity for ice cream sandwiches.
- Banners - The Bluth's banners return with a “Welcome Home From Jail, Buster” banner, that has the words Father, Mother, and Oscar crossed out.
- Untitled Michael B. Project - Michael greets Ron Howard and he tells him they used to work to together on the Untitled Michael B. Project
- Prayer hands - Ron Howard makes prayer hands when he sees Michael
- Marry me! - Maeby uses a variation of her Season 2 catchphrase with Stan Sitwell ("Bury me!").
- "No. I love it." - George Michael bails out of possibly offending the Howard family after claiming that he doesn't like hot dogs by saying that he loves them instead, similar to Carl Weathers’s response to Lucille 2 about ham in "Marta Complex" and Steve Holt to GOB about magic in "For British Eyes Only".
- John Beard's To Entrap a Local Predator: Orange County Edition: Super Creeps - Tobias tells Murphybrown the story of when he was on John Beard's show
- No touching! - The Orange County Prison guards are once again forced to utter this line.
- Winking - Michael winks at George Michael
- Is Tobias gay?
- When Tobias and Murphybrown are in the desert Tobias says "The desert makes one see what one wants to see". This sentence is followed by him yelling "Is that two-barrel chested strapping men on horseback approaching us?"
- George Michael assumes Murphybrown is Tobias' boyfriend
- In a brief shot from the background we can see that Tobias bows like a woman
- Tobias says: "Marky Bark from the cuckholding!", making a pun with the word cuckolding
- Getaway - Mark Cherry's son can be heard as Gob's ringtone
- Tobias plays a Bluth - When Tobias first met the "Mexican Romney Family" he decide to interpretate George Sr.
- Same! - Gob and Tony Wonder can't say "Same" at the same time.
- Recess vs Yard - George sr. tells Buster to say "yard" and not "recess". It is likely a callback to Illusion vs Trick
- Buster's hands - Buster gets a mitten to replace his robotic hand
- George Michael dyes his hair red, as Tobias did with his mustache
- Characters speaking along with the narrator - Gob says "There was a time when we could speak in unison but I guess that's over now" along with the narrator, who only changes "we" with "they" and "that's" with "it's"
- Maeby suggests kissing George Michael again. George Michael made the same suggestion to Maeby in Pilot, and answers "How would that work?", giving Maeby the same response she had given him in the first episode of the show
- Mistaken identity - Tobias and Murphy Brown mistake a sickly cactus with a plastic bag on it for Lindsay, as George Sr. and Gob, during their trip in Mexico, psyched each other up about a woman that turns out to be a trash bag caught on a bush
- Scandalmakers - When Tobias decides to play George Sr. hhe narrator explains, “It was a part he had played before.” Tobias had previously portrayed George Sr. in a show directed by Carl Weathers
- Beads - Michael asks GOB if he meant to say "geo-bead" (according to the Netflix transcription), which could be a sly allusion to Lindsay's bead business idea from "Let 'Em Eat Cake".
Hidden/Background Jokes[]
- On the next... Arrested Development - Howard says “On the next” four times: “On the next on the next on the next Arrested Development,” and then to his cameraperson: “On the next shot…”
- Shoedini - The commercial makes another appereance in on one Rance Howard's TVs in the surveillance room.
- Bleeps - Buster says "bleeping skinhead", yet the word "bleeping" is censored
- Apron - Ron Howard's apron reads "Howard you like your hamburger"
- Same - While Gob and Tony Wonder are talking every time one of them says "same" the other says "different"
- When George Michael confesses to Ron Howard that Fakeblock is struggling, Ron responds with an anecdote about how when he founded Imagine, he often felt like a fraud, before he realized that everyone feels like a fraud. Later in the episode, he’s shown telling the same anecdote to a redheaded woman, played by actress Liza Dean. She’s the only non-Howard to play a family member in the episode, making her an actual fraud.
Foreshadowing/Future References[]
- Tony Wonder refers to Gob as "The super straight Christian Magician", the name that Gob will adopt during the Laguna Closet Conversion
- The English-speaking Mexican banditos "MRF" returns, their identity will be revealed in the following episode
Quotes[]
Notes[]
- Lindsay doesn't appear in this episode
- This was Rance Howard's final acting role. The episode was filmed before his death.
Promotional Photos[]
- → See 9 pictures from Emotional Baggage at Images from Emotional Baggage.
SEASON FIVE EPISODES | ||
---|---|---|
1. "Family Leave" |
7. "Rom-Traum" |
13. "The Untethered Sole" |
Season One • Season Two • Season Three • Season Four • Season Five |