Development Arrested

"Development Arrested" is the thirteenth and final episode of the third season of the American television satirical sitcom Arrested Development, and is the 53rd overall episode of the series. It was written by co-executive producers Chuck Tatham and Jim Vallely from a story by co-executive producer Richard Day and series creator Mitchell Hurwitz, and was directed by John Fortenberry. It was the final episode to air on Fox before the series was cancelled. The episode originally aired on February 10, 2006, along with the three previous episodes in a two-hour block against NBC's coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.^[1] The series was later revived by Netflix for a fourth and fifth season.^[2][3]

The series, narrated by Ron Howard, follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family, who made their money from property development. The Bluth family consists of Michael, his twin sister Lindsay, his older brother Gob, his younger brother Buster, their mother Lucille and father George Sr., as well as Michael's son George Michael, and Lindsay and her husband Tobias' daughter Maeby. In the episode, Michael is relieved to have all the charges against his father dropped and shocked to learn who holds the real power in his dysfunctional family.

Michael (Jason Bateman) wakes up to find George Michael (Michael Cera) in his bed. Michael asks his son if he has anything on his mind, and George Michael suggests moving out of town without explaining why. The family gathers at the penthouse for brunch, and Lucille (Jessica Walter) suggests throwing a party to name Michael as the new CEO of the company. Lindsay (Portia de Rossi) tells Michael she wants to sell her shares because she wants to remarry, and George Sr. tells Michael he wants to cash out and move to Cabo San Lucas. Michael finds Gob (Will Arnett) trying to flee on a boat, and Gob tells him that Stan Sitwell (Ed Begley Jr.) made a generous offer for his stock. George Michael confesses to Michael that he and Maeby (Alia Shawkat) kissed, and Michael suggests that George Michael try to get back together with Ann (Mae Whitman). Stan Sitwell tells Lindsay that she was adopted by the Bluths and biologically a Sitwell.

Maeby finds the movie studio has received ten offers on Maeby's life story. Lindsay pins Michael to his bed, and after telling him that she is adopted, asks Michael to marry her, but he declines. The next morning, Michael finds Tobias (David Cross) in his bed, and he offers Tobias the job of Events Coordinator. George Michael visits Ann's to win her back while Michael confronts Lucille about Lindsay's adoption. Lucille proposes making the family sign an agreement promising not to sell their shares for ten years. George Michael finds out that Gob has been dating Ann, so he punches and knocks him out. At the party on the Queen Mary, Lucille asks Maeby to collect signatures for her, offering each family member $100,000, and Michael addresses the gathered crowd. Michael leaves the party to find George Michael after being told he is fleeing.

Lucille agrees to sell Stan Sitwell the company for 12% above the market value. Gob notices SEC police boats approaching the party. Annyong (Justin Lee) appears and reveals that he turned the Bluths in. Lucille makes the claim that the reasons all the charges of embezzlement were strangely dropped from George Sr. was because he "sold her out," but quickly finds that the man she is accosting is actually Oscar (Tambor), who has once again been tricked into posing as his brother. Michael informs George Michael that Maeby is not actually his cousin. The yacht is rocked by a huge wave as Lucille tries to power the Queen Mary off the dock and into the open sea. The boat's rocking sends Buster (Tony Hale) overboard and into the ocean, and is confronted by the seal who bit off his hand. George Michael motions to go back and stick with the family, but Michael stops him, realizing that his son is the most important thing in his life. Michael decides to let the family handle their own problems while he spends time with his George Michael, and they motor off into the sunset.

Michael and George Michael finally arrive in Cabo, and the next morning Michael wakes up to see George Sr., and Maeby pitches her film idea to Ron Howard. Howard tells them that he does not see the concept working as a series, but says "Maybe a movie."

"Development Arrested" was directed by John Fortenberry, and written by co-executive producers Chuck Tatham and Jim Vallely from a story by co-executive producer Richard Day and series creator Mitchell Hurwitz. It was Fortenberry's third and final directing credit, Tatham's third and final writing credit and Vallely's 15th writing credit.^[4] The episode was originally intended to be titled "Harboring Resentment", and was the 13th and final episode of the season to be filmed.^[5] "Development Arrested" was the final episode to be produced by Fox, and was the series' final episode until Netflix revived the series for a fourth and fifth season.^[2][3]

In the United States, the episode was watched by 3.43 million viewers on its original broadcast.^[6]

The A.V. Club writer Noel Murray commented on the episode being "funny, with some moments that are classic Arrested Development (and thus leaps and bounds beyond the average sitcom). But it’s also an episode that lives down to some of the most pointed criticism leveled at the show: that it’s often so busy connecting dots and making callbacks that it never gets to anyplace new or surprising." Murray then stated that the episode "is dotted with great Arrested Development gags."^[7] Brian Tallerico from Vulture ranked the episode as the tenth best of the whole series, calling it "a truly great series finale, recalling both the maritime setting of the pilot and Michael Bluth’s remarkable inability to leave his family."^[8]

Richard Day, Mitchell Hurwitz, Chuck Tatham and Jim Vallely were nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series at the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards for "Development Arrested".^[9]

• "Development Arrested" at IMDb