Out on a Limb (Arrested Development)

"Out on a Limb"
Arrested Development episode
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 11
Directed by	Danny Leiner
Written by	Jim Vallely Chuck Martin
Production code	2AJD11
Original air date	March 6, 2005
Guest stars
Mae Whitman as Ann Veal Henry Winkler as Barry Zuckerkorn Christine Taylor as Sally Sitwell
Season 2 episodes
November 2004 – June 2005 The One Where Michael Leaves The One Where They Build a House ¡Amigos! Good Grief Sad Sack Afternoon Delight Switch Hitter Queen for a Day Burning Love Ready, Aim, Marry Me Out on a Limb Hand to God Motherboy XXX The Immaculate Election Sword of Destiny Meat the Veals Spring Breakout Righteous Brothers
All Arrested Development episodes

"Out on a Limb" is the 33rd episode aired of TV comedy series Arrested Development.

Plot

Michael and Sally Sitwell are having Sunday brunch at Skip Church's Bistro when he spots George Michael and Maeby at the same restaurant, and Michael introduces Sally to them. Once Michael leaves, Ann arrives to find George Michael, who she thought was skipping church to work. She complains that he does not find church or study fun, and leaves to return to church. Maeby pokes fun at her cousin, and when she learns that George Michael doesn't want to break up with Ann, she says they may have to speed up the process. Michael and Lindsay are discussing his relationship with Sally when Gob interrupts to announce that he's being sued for divorce. He explains that when his wife went off to war, she left him in charge of the seals that were in her care. Gob tried to include them in his act, but it didn't work, and taking care of the animals was a hassle, so he "released them from whence they came". Michael mentions that their parents prepaid Barry for Lindsay and Tobias's divorce, so they can use him. All three blame their failing relationships on their mother, who then turns around in a chair outside. She wants to know why Buster has invited her to the beach the following day: "Because if it's about going in the ocean, the answer is 'No'."

Buster has her to the beach so that they could be photographed together before the Army shipped him over to Iraq. Lucille, in denial, chooses to believe that Buster is trying to punish her and that he really wants to go swimming in the ocean. Michael and Gob track down their attorney, Barry Zuckerkorn, at the courthouse. He is representing Skip Church's Bistro against a waitress who claims that eating the Skip's Scramble—an egg dish containing everything on the menu—several times a week is making her fat. They inform Barry that they need him to get G.O.B. out of his marriage. Barry says, "I got Michael out of his marriage, didn't I?" and Michael reminds him that his wife died. Barry mentions that the attorney for the other side in his case is Maggie Lizer. Michael goes to catch up with Maggie and learns she's 8.5 months pregnant (they haven't seen each other in 8.5 months). Maggie tells Michael that the child is not his, but he isn't convinced. On his date with Sally, Michael tells her that he thinks Maggie's child might be his, because she's a liar and told him that it wasn't.

Sally explains that she broke up with Michael because she thinks that he is always looking for things to come between them. Lindsay, Michael, and G.O.B. discuss Michael's dilemma, and G.O.B. says that he would make Maggie pee in a cup right in front of him to make sure that she isn't lying about being pregnant. Lindsay and Tobias decide to break into Maggie's house and collect the specimen, mentioning that they have been looking for some excitement in their relationship. Lucille appears, complaining that Buster is pushing her buttons by "pretending" he's going to war. George Sr. summons Michael to the attic with his wolf howl to try to convince him to get Buster out of going to war. George Michael and Maeby, watching Lucille's cruelty to Tobias, devise a way to get rid of Ann: they'll bring her to Lucille's and she'll criticize Ann until she drives her away. When Michael goes to Maggie's, she opens the door pretending to be blind so she can rip off the pizza guy by giving him $5 and telling him the keep the change. The waitress she's representing is there and Maggie is making sure the witness stand creaks when she sits on it. Lindsay and Tobias sneak into the house and head to the bathroom to get a urine sample.

Dressed as Oscar, George Sr. visits Buster to convince him that he should hide to avoid going to war. Buster tells him that he's a good uncle, and George replies, "I'm not your uncle, I'm your father." Buster confronts Lucille, who unwittingly confesses that Buster's true father is Oscar. Buster angrily storms off, shouting, "Here's something you should know: I'm going to war!" Finally, Lucille snaps out of her denial. Michael brings Maggie to a bar to talk about his potential fatherhood while Lindsay and Tobias search the house for proof that Maggie is faking her pregnancy. Maggie tells Michael that the baby is his, but at her home, Lindsay and Tobias discover a box with a pregnant suit in it. They leave a message on Michael's phone confirming that the pregnancy is a scam. Later, Maeby and George Michael set their plan into motion by bringing Ann to Lucille's penthouse. Unfortunately, Lucille is too distracted by the thought of losing Buster to criticize anyone. Ann introduces her to the power of prayer.

Michael listens to Lindsay's message about the pregnancy suit, calls Maggie a liar, and dumps her. She shows him her very real pregnant stomach, and Lindsey and Tobias burst in to say that the urine from the sample they had collected was positive: "You're going to be a daddy!" Barry comes to see Michael at his office with news of a big break in his fat case: the waitress wasn't fat at all, just wearing a fat suit. Barry also announces that he has another case: Maggie is suing Michael for paternity. For the first time in her life, Lucille prays, begging God to take anything from the family to keep Buster from going to war. Buster is on his way to the Army when he decides to finally go swimming in the ocean, where a loose seal bites off his hand, after he misinterprets a warning from a coastguard about a "loose seal" by retorting that he doesn't care about Lucille.

Cultural references

• G.O.B.'s wife's penchant for daring found a natural outlet in the armed services in Iraq. She is pictured in a set of photos resembling those that surfaced when the Abu Ghraib prison scandal broke.
• During his magic show, G.O.B. attempts to distract the audience by telling them to look away to see one of the Desperate Housewives.
• Lucille said that she signed Buster up for the Army because she was confronted by Michael Moore. Michael corrects her to say that it was only a lookalike for a bit on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
• At one point, upon Tobias and Lindsay's finding of the prosthetic stomach, Michael tells Maggie: "You're a liar. You lie," a possible reference to Love Stinks, in which Jason Bateman (Michael) had a bit part; French Stewart's character says these same words to a lawyer.

Callbacks/Running Jokes

• G.O.B.'s wife's occupation as a "Seal Dealer" makes light of the running joke that Gob didn't consummate ("seal the deal" of) their marriage.

• While discussing his divorce situation with Barry Zuckerkorn, G.O.B. says "I just want my wife back" to which Barry replies with "Let's save it for the stand, OK, Tom Jane?" a callback to "The One Where They Build a House" and similar to the lead tagline (I just want my kids back!) from Homeless Dad, starring Tom Jane.

• Sally tells Michael that they should try to break a 3x lovemaking record and Michael lies to George Michael and says she means a shotputting record, a callback to when G.O.B. lied to George Michael in Pier Pressure and said the girl exiting his yacht was an Olympic hopeful he was training.

• Michael incorrectly deduces that Maggie is not pregnant when she lifts a 60-lbs box, a callback to when he incorrectly thought that Lucille couldn't lift a lightweight box of protein bars in Staff Infection.

• When Michael and Sally wonder what kind of child they would've had together, a photo is shown courtesy of "Mommy, What Will I Look Like," recalling Lindsay's failed business that was revealed in Let 'Em Eat Cake.

• Her? The way George-Michael says "Her?" in response to Michael's declaration that he has become involved with Maggie again reflects the way that other characters (primarily Michael himself) say "her?" in response to George Michael's relationship with Ann.

• From whence you came When speaking about the seal, Gob tells Michael "So I released them from whence they came" - this mirrors the way he exclaimed "Return from whence you came" as he throws the dead seagull into the sea in Top Banana.

• Come on! When Michael knocks on Maggie's door the second time, her client, realizing that Michael is (again) not the pizza delivery boy, gets out of her chair, exclaiming, "Come on!", which is a frequent exclamation among the Bluth family, particularly G.O.B.

Notes

• When Maggie tells Michael they last saw each other "8 1/2 months ago," he says "Could've sworn it was a year," referencing FOX's erratic scheduling of the series: "Justice Is Blind" aired 11 months before this episode.
• This episode was aired back-to-back with "Hand to God".
• This is the episode in which Buster loses his hand. It happens in the "On the next..." segment.
• In this episode, Buster discovers the truth about his father, a fact he later forgets due to the trauma of his accident.
• When G.O.B. can't remember his wife's name, he uses "Amy" as an example of a name she could have (albeit a "bad example"), a reference to Amy Poehler, who played the character and is Will Arnett's real-life wife.
• Amongst the photos of the "series of escalating dares" that lead to G.O.B.'s marriage, he and his new wife are each eating a Skip's Scramble. They are also seen with stockings over their heads as they hold up a convenience store.

Foreshadowing

• When Buster is sitting on the bench awaiting the bus, the "Army Officer" painted on the bench is partially covered up to say "Arm Off".
• When G.O.B. tells Michael his wife is a seal dealer, the camera focuses on his left hand on Michael's shoulder; later in the episode, a seal bites off Buster's left hand.
• When Buster, Lucille, and Oscar are at the beach, a seal can be seen jumping out of the ocean in the background while suspenseful music is played, foreshadowing how a seal would later tear off his hand.
• When George, Sr. talks about never reaching out and touching Buster's hand again, suspenseful Jaws-like music plays.
• When Michael introduces Sally to Maeby, he says, "This is my niece, Maeby." This is a play on "This is my niece, maybe," referencing both the possibility that Maeby was a test-tube baby and Lindsay's being adopted.
• G.O.B.'s wife's Abu Ghraib style photos have a "Bluth Homes" sign in the background (Shopping cart race photo).

External links

• The O.P.
• IMdB