Arrested Development Season 5 Review: 6 Ups And 3 Downs

1. A Return To Form

No matter how Mitch Hurtwitz tries to remix it, Season 4 was largely a failure. An ambitious one, sure, with some moments of real hilarity, but ultimately it wasn't the same show people loved and simply wasn't anywhere near as funny.

Season 5 is the opposite of that. This is Arrested Development screaming that it IS still the show that became a cult classic, moving to shift the balance back to what it used to be and get back to its more classic sitcom structure.

That could've led to it feeling stale or like a nostalgia grab, but for the most part it instead represents a return to form. TV has moved on in a lot of ways from where Arrested Development was 15 years ago, but there's still room for this show. The plot threads are entertaining and interesting, the characters both feel like they're supposed to and - in some cases - are actually allowed to change (something that doesn't often happen in sitcoms), and the old spark and magic has definitely been recovered.

It doesn't quite hit the highest highs of its peak years, but that would be an unreasonable expectation given how long it's been and how much has changed. If Arrested Development is to have further seasons after this, then Season 5 could be seen as ANUSTART.