In spite of rumours Fox would drop Arrested Development after season 2, due to ratings that failed to improve, season 3 debuted with The Cabin Show in 2005. (Indeed, the show is now supposedly going to be resurrected for a second time, with season 4 promised on Netflix in 2013). Picking up where Righteous Brothers left off, The Cabin Show feels more like a season 2 episode than a season 3 one, probably because it is written by the only writers who stayed on after seasons 1 and 2, Mitch Hurwitz and Jim Vallely.
It's good the show was brought back, because I didn't want to see the (relatively) innocent Oscar in jail for too long. In this episode, Michael realizes his true identity and begins getting him free. Complicating matters is some good news for the Bluth Company (but colourfully, not too good- they're upped from "Sell" to "Don't buy"). Tension between George Michael and Maeby is strong and delicious, with the two cousins being thrown together in the car ride to Reno, and certainly the rub off/tent joke was good enough that it was a big reason why I bought the season 3 DVD.
The stories of the episode are important, with GOB discovering Steve Holt is his son, and the Michael-George Michael talk in the cabin is sort of touching. However, this episode is also memorable for standalone jokes, including a shot at Scientology, an abortion reference and the often quoted "Taste the happy/sad."
As for Tobias, AD fans are fairly divided as to whether he is actually gay. Certainly there are many jokes where he appears to be gay, and many fans take these at face value. However, the more astute AD fans see that the humour derived from these jokes is that Tobias isn't really gay but is outrageously oblivious to the things that make him appear so. Most of Tobias' gay jokes have a subtle double meaning. In this particular episode, some fans point to his kiss with Barry as proof Tobias is gay, but it's really still a mystery. It was just a scheme to make his wife want him again; it is explicitly stated in the episode more than once that Lindsay only wants what she can't have. As usual, you have to think about the jokes in Arrested Development- and they're totally worth the effort.
It's good the show was brought back, because I didn't want to see the (relatively) innocent Oscar in jail for too long. In this episode, Michael realizes his true identity and begins getting him free. Complicating matters is some good news for the Bluth Company (but colourfully, not too good- they're upped from "Sell" to "Don't buy"). Tension between George Michael and Maeby is strong and delicious, with the two cousins being thrown together in the car ride to Reno, and certainly the rub off/tent joke was good enough that it was a big reason why I bought the season 3 DVD.
The stories of the episode are important, with GOB discovering Steve Holt is his son, and the Michael-George Michael talk in the cabin is sort of touching. However, this episode is also memorable for standalone jokes, including a shot at Scientology, an abortion reference and the often quoted "Taste the happy/sad."
As for Tobias, AD fans are fairly divided as to whether he is actually gay. Certainly there are many jokes where he appears to be gay, and many fans take these at face value. However, the more astute AD fans see that the humour derived from these jokes is that Tobias isn't really gay but is outrageously oblivious to the things that make him appear so. Most of Tobias' gay jokes have a subtle double meaning. In this particular episode, some fans point to his kiss with Barry as proof Tobias is gay, but it's really still a mystery. It was just a scheme to make his wife want him again; it is explicitly stated in the episode more than once that Lindsay only wants what she can't have. As usual, you have to think about the jokes in Arrested Development- and they're totally worth the effort.
