"Rom-Traum" is the seventh episode of Arrested Development's fifth season.
George Michael thinks he's being lied to by Michael who thinks he's being lied to by George. G.O.B. hires guys to help with his "closet conversation".
Synopsis[]
Michael and the family attorney visit Buster in jail. Michael tries to calm Buster down because he thinks that Lucille thinks that Buster had something to do with Lucille 2's disappearance. Michael says that Lucille probably knows where Lucille II is. Michael says that they should leak to the DA that Lucille or George have evidence regarding Lucille II. That way Michael can follow them if they react and see what they know. Barry tells them to say that they are close to finding the stair car. Michael group texted the family to meet at the cottage which included George Michael. Maeby asks him how it went at the BBQ and George Michael says that he thinks that he really does like Rebel. Maeby tells him that she and Stan are dating but have to wait until after the election to be intimate. This is because his daughter Sally has entered into the race as well. George Michael tells her that that can't happen because she isn't really a 67-year-old woman. Maeby claims that he's jealous. Michael tells Lucille that if she isn't going to bail out Buster then the least she can do is go visit him.
Lucille says that it could be very bad for Lindsay's campaign if she goes to see Buster, especially now that Sally has entered the race. Lucille says that Tobias better find her before the 4th of July parade. G.O.B. brings up the Bluth float and tells them that he isn't doing magic on their float because he's doing it on the Laguna Closet Conversions float. He's only doing it because he thought that that's where a person went for conversion therapy but he didn't do a lot of research. He tells the guys that work there everything about him and Tony. He realizes too late that really all they do there is make closets. G.O.B. tells them that they work for the Bluths now because he bought the company. Michael gets a call from Barry telling him the fake news about them finding the stair car and being closer to finding Lucille II. Lucille and George suddenly have to talk alone together which is suspicious to Michael. He goes to the parking lot but George Michael follows him. George Michael tells him that he can loan him the 50 grand to get Buster out. Michael tells him no and that it went up to 75 because Buster strangled a skinhead. Michael also tells him to be careful now that he has a company because people might try and use him. Michael asks George Michael why he dyed his hair and George Michael lies and says because he wanted Rebel to think that he was cool. George Snr walks by and gets into his car telling Michael that he has personal business to take care of. Michael gets into his car and follows him. George Michael gets suspicious as well and decides to follow Michael. Barry shows up at the cottage to see if their scheme worked but Lucille tells them that they figured out their little trap. It's revealed that Barry has a picture of Lucille II and Oscar in a car. Lucille tells Barry to go find George because she isn't going to let Lucille II steal everything that she's taken from her. George Michael calls Maeby and tells her that he's following Michael and that he thinks that Michael is going to see Rebel. Maeby meanwhile is sorting through Stan's medicine trying to find something that will kill his libido.
G.O.B. gets convinced by the closet guys to do a trick with Tony. George Snr. gets to the Mexican border. Michael is two cars behind him with George Michael being two cars behind Michael. George Snr heads to Father B.'s Colony and Michael realizes that this would be where they'd hide Lucille II. Michael confronts George Snr telling him that he knows Lucille told him to keep Lucille II hidden. In fact, Lucille really just told George that she was going to be seeing Dusty later and didn't want him to see her with him. Michael asks him then why is he out at Father Bs. George says because that's where the curse started. Tobias shows up dressed as a native american because he got a job delivering mail for the day. He got this job from Marky Bark's mom. Tobias gives George a package which has estrogen pills inside. Michael realizes that for the past two years his Mom has been giving his Dad estrogen pills which is why he is the way he is. George Michael arrives but when he doesn't find Michael with Rebel he runs to get back into his car but Barry then arrives. He manages to get past Barry and jumps in his car and leaves but not before Michael sees him. Thinking that it's Lucille II, Michael, George, and Tobias give chase. They don't notice the spike strips on the ground and so they all get flat tires. The cowboys arrive and say that they are Romeny land and that they are the Mexican Romneys. They show a paper that Tobias signed as he pretended to be George so that he could hand over the land to the Romneys. George tells them that he never signed anything and that he's gonna fight this but then the Romney's pull out guns. Instead, George asks where does he sign.
Appearances[]
- Recurring
- Ed Begley, Jr. as Stan Sitwell
- Isla Fisher as Rebel Alley
- Debra Mooney as Joan Bark
- Kyle Mooney as Murph
- Christine Taylor as Sally Sitwell
- Henry Winkler as Barry Zuckerkorn
- Guest
- Edgar Blackmon as Chuck
- Paul Jurewicz as Jake
- Armando Molina as Ice Cream Vendor
- Adam Ray as Al
- Frank Ashmore as Mr. F #1
- Anthony de Longis as Mr. F #2
- Cort McCown as Mr. F #3
- Kevin Crowley as Mr. F #4
Recurring themes[]
On the next Arrested Development...[]
- "Gob and his new conversion buddies labor to design the perfect trick. Wow, now that's gonna be a great show."
References[]
- Andersen's Pea Soup - While on the phone with Michael, on his way to Mexico, George Sr. says he saw a Andersen's Pea Soup
- Mitt Romney - Barry mentions the politician
- Oscar - Tobias thinks George Sr.'s told him he deserves an Oscar
- Don't Rain On My Parade - The song plays while Gob and his conversion buddies are creating the Laguna Closet Conversion
Callbacks/Running Jokes[]
- Mr. F - The English-speaking Mexican banditos "MRF" return, with MRF revealing to stand for "Mexican Romney Family".
- ANUSTART - George Sr. tells Michael "Get in the ANUSTART. Then there's a brief shot of Tobias' license plate.
- Spanish - Tobias says "Adios muchachos" to Michael and George Sr.
- Is Tobias gay? - Ma Bark asks Tobias "How's your gag reflex?"
- Coincidence - While talking about the increase in Oscar's testosterone being caused by the maca root's proximity to a port-a-potty, the coincidence sound cue from Season 4 returns.
- Gob spelling - Michael says "Steve Gobs"
- Sitwell's hair - Sitwell says the eyebrow glue made him eat soup again
- Gangie - The horror movie franchise is discussed
- Maeby isn't smart - Maeby doesn't know what estrogen and Alzheimer's are
- Maca root - George Sr. returns to Mexico so that he can get some maca root, a drug that was popular among Oscar's friends group
- Cutoffs - Tobias is wearing cutoffs beneath the ostrich costume
- Catlike Agility - Tobias, once again, seems to have lost his catlike agility: he barely walks on the descent
- Mistaken identities - Barry thinks that George Michael and Maeby in the stair car are Oscar and Lucille 2
- Hop-ons - Michael asks his father if he “needs a hop-on” to run errands in his Winnebago
- Incest - Maeby says Lindsay was allowed to date Steve Holt because he's family
- Parmesan cheese and mustard - Gob is briefly seen making the Parmesan cheese and mustard
- Music
- The "Coincidence" singer/musical sting from "Indian Takers" and "A New Start" returns when George Sr. surmises that Oscar started consuming the maca root that was located downhill from the commode in Father B's Executive Retreat.
- The music MRF is replaced with a samilar music which says "Mexican Romney Family"
- After Gob spills his guts to the Laguna Closet Conversions crew he asks, “What are the confidentiality laws concerning people who walk into a closet store?”, an echo of his “What’s your return policy?” line after he kills the dove he just bought at the pet store inTop Banana.
- Wetzel's Pretzels - Barry says he peed in a Wetzel bag, referring to a product of the stand from "Self-Deportation"
Hidden/Background Jokes[]
- Fantastic Four - The figure used in the closed model made by Laguna reminds of The Thing, that had to be played by Tobias
- 90 Minute Tooth - A closed 90 Minute Tooth dentists' office can be seen next to the Laguna Closet Conversions shop. GOB actually predicted its closure in "An Old Start".
- Blendin - A Blendin Home Decor store is located next to the Laguna Closet Conversions shop. "Blendin" is the fake company name that the government goes by when attempting to bug the Bluth Company.
- Lucille's proverbs - The needlepoint in the cottage reads "We forget, but we never forgive"
- Cottage - Escondite, the name of the cottage, is spanish for "hiding place"
- No pounding! - This sentence is yelled at Buster when he pounds his hand on the table, in prison
Foreshadowing/Future References[]
- Motherboy - Buster understanding that Lucille and Dusty are frolicking and not fucking foreshadows Lucille and Dusty being in a motherboy relationship
- Maeby looking for something to kill Stan's sex drive (estrogen) foreshadows Lucille giving estrogen to George Sr. for two years to kill his sex drive
- George Michael, ironically, answers Maeby "That's something even Gangie wouldn't do"
- At the beginning of the episode a George Michael's post on Instagram is shown, you can see Michael in the background. George Michael will discover this later in the episode.
Quotes[]
Images[]
- → See 9 pictures from Rom-Traum at Images from Rom-Traum.
Notes[]
- Lindsay appears only in archival footage.
- This marks the first time the word "fuck" is unbleeped. On Michael's Prismo, the A.I. interface asks Michael how "Mom's fucking cottage" was.
SEASON FIVE EPISODES | ||
---|---|---|
1. "Family Leave" |
7. "Rom-Traum" |
13. "The Untethered Sole" |
Season One • Season Two • Season Three • Season Four • Season Five |