I couldn’t help but go back and find some of the reviews of the first few seasons of Arrested Development to get a sense of the overwhelmingly positive response people had to these canonized episodes that were universally beloved. But to my surprise, there were plenty of dissenting voices criticizing the show from its very first season for its overcomplicated plots and lack of humor. It took itself too seriously. The characters weren’t likeable enough. There was too much nonsense and too many exercises in story construction that made it implausible and bloated. While those voices were drowned out by the critics who were discovering the show for themselves and doing their best to promote its innovative style and humor, it’s interesting how similar the criticisms were then and now.
Citing the complexity of the new season as a weakness sounds as preposterous as those negative reviews of the previous seasons sound today. Yes, sometimes the show feels like we’re in the middle of a roofie circle, unsure of how everything links up and whether it even matters. The end features a bit of misdirection, although this fits in with themes that are made apparent earlier in the season, with hints that the things we may think are the most important parts of the story aren’t actually as central as others. But the way the story is told, from a variety of perspectives on the same events, with punchlines and dramatic moments being cast seemingly out of order but in a way that makes their unfolding pretty riveting, is nothing short of brilliant. It is more complicated and ambitious than the stuff that came before it, but that only makes the payoff, which comes more in the unfolding rather than from a big moment, more satisfying and impressive.
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