In case you’re putting off watching all 15 episodes of the new season of Arrested Development, I’ll be careful not to spoil things here.
And so it came and went. On May 26 Netflix released an entirely new batch of Arrested Development episodes that played out quite brilliantly; I consider them to be some of the most complex, layered & brilliantly designed episodes ever produced for any series spanning the drama and comedy genres. Even more so than the original three seasons, these new installments beg to be rewatched again and again.
The consensus is like this: the majority of long-time AD fans absolutely loved the new episodes while critics gave mixed reviews. The New York Times bashed the whole experiment starting with the line, “Chalk one up for the Internet: It has killed Arrested Development.” But in my opinion, the NYT review must be taken with a grain of salt since the piece’s writer had only watched the first 8 of 15 episodes before “deadline” arrived. Fans would ferociously argue that all 15 must be screened before an appropriate review could be conjured; jokes set up in episode 1 are not unlocked until the final episode, in fact. A more delicate review can be found over at The Atlantic; “Hurwitz et al. have bequeathed to us something that doesn’t really have a name, or a meaningful precedent: not a series, or a movie, or even a mini-series, but rather a single, eight-hour work of dada televisual art,” writes Christoper Orr. It’s true–what creator Mitch Hurwitz did here is something so unusual and unique that it’s hard to categorize it into a single genre or type.
No matter which way you see it, Netflix has confirmed that the May 26 launch Arrested Development was a great success. “It’s been huge, just as we had hoped,” Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told CNBC in a televised interview. When pressed about sharing numerical results, Hastings held back. “Netflix is about being able to watch when you want, not having to watch at a certain time like linear TV is. So we’re really not focused on the day one ratings, it’s really over the first year.” So perhaps by next May we will have a better idea as to how the new episodes performed for the streaming service in terms of how many people watched and how many new subscribers the company picked up along the way.
This brings us to the big question fans ’round the world are wondering: is there more where this came from? AD season 4 ends with many plot points still up in the air, but this shouldn’t have come as a huge surprise for most. Leading up to the launch star Jason Bateman spilled that these new installments serve as “simply just the first act of what we hope to continue and complete in a movie, which would [serve as] Act 2 and 3. These episodes set that up. One does not work without the other.” He added, “There is certainly a satisfying conclusion to these episodes, if for some unfortunate reason the movie does not happen. But [the episodes and the movie] are all meant to work within each other as a hybrid package of Arrested Development stuff.”
Since the new season launched, Netflix’s Hastings and someone high up in the AD camp commented on the series’ future. “Arrested is unique, because that’s really up to the talent. If the talent were willing to do more, and interested in that, I’m sure we would be willing,” said Hastings to CNBC. And then in an interview with Deadline, Imagine Entertainment co-founder Brian Grazer said, “It’s up to [Netflix Chief Content Officier] Ted [Sarandos]. If Ted is into it, we would be very excited to pursue it.” Added Imagine TV president Francie Calfo, “It’s also up to Mitch, who is probably resting right now as he put everything he had into these episodes and hasn’t had a chance to think beyond that.” When asked about the potential of the long-imagined AD movie Grazer simply stated, “We’re hoping that we could do that; the popularity of the series will inform that decision.” So in sum, Imagine (the producers) and Netflix (the content distributor) are certainly interested in bring the gang back together to make more Arrested whether it’s another season or a movie. First, Mitch must do what he does best and come up with more character arcs and interweaving plots to continue the story; and second, the actors must make time in their busy schedules to reunite again.
As we wait (again) to learn the fate of Arrested Development, don’t lose sight of what’s right in front of you and available now.