Arrested Development: “The B. Team” (Episode 4.04)

While the first three episodes of the fourth season of Arrested Development are great, there is somewhat of a learning curve watching the Bluths in a new format. It takes a while to get used to the interconnectivity of the plots at times and the pacing doesn’t feel as rushed, not constrained by a 21-minute episode. Having blasted through the entire fourth season hours after being posted, I can say that “The B. Team” ends up being one of the more straightforward episodes and the first episode that keeps things as tight as AD’s first three seasons.
After starting the season with the Michael-centric “Flight of the Phoenix” episode, where Michael has failed with the Sudden Valley development and George-Michael has kicked him out of living in his dorm room, Michael is now given a new shot at success as a movie producer. Following up on the final moments of “Development Arrested,” Ron Howard calls Michael to his office to get things started on the Bluth movie. The project has been in, well, arrested development, since Maeby never had the rights of the Bluth family when she started the project. Michael now has to acquire signatures from his scattered family in order to get the movie back on the rails.
While leaving his meeting with Howard, George meets Rebel, played by Isla Fisher, who is an actress that reminds Michael of his dead wife. Michael instantly falls for her in a cliché meet-cute moment, doesn’t get her name, and goes around Hollywood trying to find out who she is. He eventually comes to the conclusion that she’s Ron Howard’s girlfriend-on-the-side, when in actuality, she’s Ron’s daughter.