Arrested Development Season 5 Review: 6 Ups And 3 Downs

4. The Core Narratives

Arrested Development Season 5
Netflix

At the heart of Season 5 are two twin narratives: Lindsay Bluth's run for Congress, and the disappearance of Lucille Austero, aka Lucille 2.

Both of these bring the family together and allow them to play off each other in unexpected ways, while being genuinely interesting to follow in their own right.

Lindsay herself doesn't appear much, but her aim for power brings out the very worst in her family, with plenty of Trump comparisons to be made (especially following on from the wall plot of Season 4). Of course, the Bluths are actually never better than when they're at their very worst, displaying their most selfish, insane, and downright horrible ways while Michael can only look on aghast.

Likewise, the disappearance of Lucille is a genuinely engaging - if very weird - mystery that gives Tony Hale some great material to work with as Buster. Without saying too much about it, it's a superb fit for his character and leads to some of the season's biggest laughs.

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Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.