"Arrested Development"
Pier Pressure (2004)

Director:

Joe Russo

Writers:

Mitchell Hurwitz (creator)
James Vallely (written by) ...

TV Series:

"Arrested Development" (2003)

Original Air Date:

11 January 2004 (Season 1, Episode 10)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

When Michael suspects that George Michael has been smoking marijuana, he enlists the help of a one-armed man his father used to scare them as children...

Plot Keywords:

Illusion | Uncle | Incest | Fake Documentary | Cult Favorite

Cast

Jason Bateman	...	Michael Bluth
Portia de Rossi	...	Lindsay Bluth Fünke
Will Arnett	...	George "Gob" Bluth II
Michael Cera	...	George-Michael Bluth
Alia Shawkat	...	Mae "Maeby" Fünke
Tony Hale	...	Byron "Buster" Bluth
David Cross	...	Tobias Fünke
Jeffrey Tambor	...	George Bluth Sr.
Jessica Walter	...	Lucille Bluth
Liza Minnelli	...	Lucille Austero
Steve Ryan	...	J. Walter Weatherman
Johnny Savas	...	Drug Dealer
Greg Kohout	...	Derek
Dan Horton	...	Marcus - Hot Cop #1
Benjamin Lowe	...	Hot Cop #2 (as Benjamin 'Stoli' Lowe)

Trivia:

Episode 1-10 "Pier Pressure" (and the infamous J. Walter Weatherman) came about after FOX executives sent a note to the writers suggesting that in one of the episodes, Michael should "teach his son a nice lesson".

Quotes:

Michael: [referring to George Michael smoking pot] All I know is that this has been going on forever. His eyes are red, his grades are slipping.
Gob: I heard about the A minus.

Dysfunctional family humour at its best

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

What can I say about this episode? There are several continuity errors about whether it's night or day, and at times it gets cheesy with its anti-drug message and the characters' imitations of drug dealers and buyers... but this episode still rocks. Cheesiness may be a part of that. Other bits of the episode are edgy. It's all hilarious.

Pier Pressure starts by opening a window into the family's insanity- flashbacks to the Bluths' childhoods when their father George would teach them lessons by having a one-armed man act out being injured by the children's mistakes. For dysfunctional family humour, this was inspired and original. The episode then goes on to toy with Michael and Lindsay Bluth's different parenting strategies- Michael's pushing and Lindsay's hands-off approach- and which is superior. This gives us a great scene when Michael discovers how stressed his son is. A great portrait of stress. But Michael soon becomes afraid that his son's stress could lead to drugs, and arranges for the kind of lesson he went through when he was young to turn his son off drugs. This is a fantastic portrait of Michael- flawed, stubborn to recognize a bad idea, but still caring and concerned for his child. Michael recruits the help of his brother GOB, an unlikely ally in an anti-drug mission.

Meanwhile, Lindsay's daughter Maeby is sent to her grandmother Lucille's apartment. Lucille, known for her biting comments, is great in this episode.

Right down to the music- a main original song called I Get Up is played at the end, and a new song, The Big Yellow Joint, debuts- Pier Pressure is a masterpiece episode. It's not only irreverent, it's important for establishing characterization.