Arrested Development 4x5-6 | Watch Along
Added 2025-12-24 15:00:19 +0000 UTC
Comments
i watched the original version of this season once, and the remix once, and it's my first time rewatching either I did not remotely remember how deeply, deeply weird and different the vibe is i'm actually really curious now to go back and watch the original version
Patrick
2025-12-27 01:37:22 +0000 UTCIf the remix version was the only version of season 4 available I would be hard pressed to watch it as often as I do. The original cut of season 4 is 100 times better in terms of pacing and setup/payoff
ASB-BHoB
2025-12-25 02:24:44 +0000 UTCSo, the biggest immediately notable difference between this season and the first 3 is the pacing. The first version of season 4 was like 11 episodes that were each 40 minutes long. Scenes that would normally be finished in 45 seconds linger on for over 2 minutes. The scene where Buster is transferring smoke to the outside was a funny scene but it could have been shown and done in under 30 seconds. Instead, it lasts almost a full minute and a half. The narrator was a helpful way to give exposition so that the previous episodes could maintain their breakneck pace. Now the narrator is reminding you of things that happened previously so that you can keep up with the continuity as the story jumps from timelines. Part of this came from the fact that they could only pair up the actors for limited scenes because all of them were busy with other projects and so they shot each character mostly by themselves. In the original version of season 4, each episode followed a single character or two over the course of 6 years with all of the stories converging at the Cinco de Quatro celebration. An episode would be title "Tobias and Lindsay" or "Michael part 1". They have done two re-edits to get multiple characters in the same episode, but it mucks up the narrative flow. Yes, these circumstances create problems, but the biggest issue is that once the producers went to Netflix, they were no longer under the pressure of a 22-minute run time. What resulted is a season that is still funny and has some really good elements but overall, just feels too slow compared to what the audience is used to.
David Sumner
2025-12-24 23:23:52 +0000 UTC
