Hand to God (6 Mar. 2005)

Lindsay and Tobias continue to investigate the mysterious pregnancy by Maggie Lizer, while Michael continues to see her. Buster prepares to go off to Iraq, but before doing so, decides to ... See full summary »

Director:

Joe Russo

Writers:

Mitchell Hurwitz (creator), Chuck Martin,

Stars:

Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Bateman	...	Michael Bluth
Portia de Rossi	...	Lindsay Bluth Fünke
Will Arnett	...	Gob Bluth
Michael Cera	...	George-Michael Bluth
Alia Shawkat	...	Maeby Fünke
Tony Hale	...	Buster Bluth
David Cross	...	Tobias Fünke
Jeffrey Tambor	...	George Bluth Sr. / Oscar Bluth
Jessica Walter	...	Lucille Bluth
Henry Winkler	...	Barry Zuckerkorn
Jerry Minor	...	Officer Carter
Jay Johnston	...	Officer Taylor
Ian Roberts	...	The Literal Doctor
Michael Paul Chan	...	Judge Lionel Ping
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Maggie Lizer

Storyline

Lindsay and Tobias continue to investigate the mysterious pregnancy by Maggie Lizer, while Michael continues to see her. Buster prepares to go off to Iraq, but before doing so, decides to go on a long-delayed right of passage - swimming in the ocean, and gets his hand bit off by a seal.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Release Date:

6 March 2005 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Stage 5, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Season 2, when GOB is talking about his wife and cannot remember her name. He suggests the name Amy in a hypothetical situation of trying to remember her name. This is the actual name of the actress who plays his wife.

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Goofs

In "Not Without my Daughter", Officers Carter and Taylor are portrayed as having daughters. In "Hand to God", they are two gay cops trying to have a child.

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Quotes

Lucille: [after Michael answers the phone] Ahhhhhh.
Michael: You've really got to stop starting conversations like that.

User Reviews

Odd but not bad

Hand to God gives more attention to the bizarre twist at the end of Out on a Limb, Buster's loss of a hand to a seal while swimming in the ocean. Learning more about it and seeing more of the family's reactions probably won't have a viewer get used to the change already; if anything it seems more strange when we learn GOB is responsible. That sort of reflects how Arrested Development's conflict is typically man vs. man rather than man vs. nature, and that its story lines are about family. Meanwhile, Michael learns Maggie's pregnancy is not real, and Maggie's client is pregnant instead, with the baby going to two gay cops.

There's some good in this episode. True to the show's tragedy and celebration of flawed characters, we have George Michael saying he's "almost always" alone and Michael using George Michael and saying he's a better guy than he actually is- he says he can raise Maggie's baby knowing it's not his own, but then regrets saying that immediately. We also see the literal doctor again and his joke this time- "all right"- works. Then we have Maeby "lying for no reason," which is funny because it's true.

So why do I think Hand to God is one of the weakest episodes of season 2? Overlooking the strangeness of the hand loss story, seeing Buster's hook cutting and hurting people (particularly Oscar) and seeing the blood (including a cut on Buster himself) is not pleasant, more like cringe-worthy. Note that hook hands in real life are not that sharp, so it's a misrepresentation, too. The episode has some laughs but it's not the funniest.

And what of that twist ending? When Michael and Maggie have sex at the end, the episode implies Maggie actually did get pregnant this time. But we never see Maggie again in the series so we don't know the consequences. Had the show lasted longer, she probably would have returned again, and the pregnancy story could be developed. However, this show has led us to believe several things about Maggie that turned out not to be true, so it's possible she's still not really pregnant. Unless an AD movie is made and Maggie's in it, we'll unfortunately never know.