Good Grief

Infobox Arrested Development episode
episode_name = Good Grief
episode_no = 2AJD04
airdate = December 5, 2004
writer = John Levenstein
director = Jeff Melman
on_the_next = "Buster finds out about the death of Captain Kangaroo, Michael grows weary of caring for his father, and Gob finally makes the cover of "Poof" magazine." | guest_star =
Mae Whitman as Ann Veal Henry Winkler as Barry Zuckerkorn Malik Yoba as Ice Jason Aaron Tinero as Young Buster Abraham Higginbotham as Gary


season = 2
"Good Grief" is the twenty-sixth episode aired of TV comedy series "Arrested Development".

Plot

Michael is adjusting to his new role as vice president, and G.O.B. is starting to feel that his work as president is getting in the way of his magic career. Lucille calls Michael with the news that their bounty hunter has found George Sr. George Michael has a talk with Ann, who resents Michael's constant interference in their relationship. She suggests they break up, which leaves George Michael despondent. Disgusted by her parents' attempts at an open relationship, Maeby asks Barry Zuckerkorn if she can divorce her parents. Barry says that if she can prove she's in an unhealthy environment, he can have her on the streets within a month. The bounty hunter, Ice, reveals that George Sr. has been killed by a guard and buried in Mexico. The family is shocked by the announcement, but still doesn't lose sight of its own desires. Lucille asks Barry about George Sr.'s will. Maeby suggests having Ice (who is also a professional party planner) cater the wake so that she can set up Ice and Lindsay and cinch her emancipation. G.O.B. suggests taking the place of his father's body so that he can be buried alive, in the hopes of making the cover of "Poof" magazine. Lucille makes everyone promise not to tell Buster of George Sr.'s death, for fear of his violent tantrums when grieving. She tells Buster that the wake is going to be a party celebrating his father's birthday, and G.O.B. asks Buster to assist him in his illusion by spinning the coffin so that G.O.B. can escape through a trapdoor.

Michael informs George Michael of George Sr.'s death. Not wanting to burden his father with his own problems, George Michael says that he broke up with Anne. Later, he makes an interesting discovery: a spider hole in which his grandfather is hiding. George Sr. begs his grandson to hide him, so George Michael secretly stores him in the attic. George Sr. informs him that he faked his death, but came back to win back Lucille from his brother Oscar. George Michael agrees to keep his grandfather's whereabouts a secret. The next morning, Michael catches his son taking food into the attic for George Sr., and thinks that he is secretly hiding Ann. The wake begins, and George Sr. watches through a vent in the attic, sending George Michael to bring him hors d'oeuvres. Michael intercepts his son, reuniting him with Ann and telling him that he wants them to be happy and honest with each other. Buster arrives, and Lucille asks G.O.B. to get Buster out of the house before he realizes it's a wake, so they go to work on the fake coffin. Michael asks those gathered if they'd like to say anything about George Sr., who continues to watch through the vent. After the wake, Michael tells his son he doesn't want any more secret trips to the attic.

Thinking that his father already knows the truth, George Michael admits to Michael that he has "Pop Pop" in the attic. Michael misinterprets, thinking his son is referring to sex with Ann. G.O.B. hustles the wake outside for his buried-alive illusion. When Buster hears that their father is actually dead, he panics and runs off. With the coffin facing the wrong direction, G.O.B. tumbles out of the trap door and into the grave. The coffin then falls on top of him and he is buried alive. But when Michael finds a box of Glisten toothpaste in the dirt – George Sr.'s favorite brand – he realizes what his son actually meant by having "Pop Pop" in the attic. Michael confronts his father, who pleads ignorance and asks not to be turned in. Michael, not wanting his son to be involved, tells the family that George Sr. is in the attic, but by the time everybody gets up there, they see only a rope ladder dangling from the window. Michael promises to keep secret the whereabouts of George Sr., who was hidden in the Aztec Tomb.

Cultural references

*Anne Frank When Michael says that George Michael is hiding Ann in the attic, Lindsay jokes that it's from the Nazis.
*"Charlie Brown"
**The banana stand is closed, and the sign ("The frozen banana maker is OUT") resembles that from Lucy's psychiatry stand.
**The piano music throughout the episode is Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time Is Here" as featured in "A Charlie Brown Christmas".
**George Michael passes a group of young children playing football (the frequent subject of jokes in "Peanuts")
**George Michael walks by a beagle lying on the roof of a doghouse, reminiscent of Snoopy.
**George Michael walks past two men carrying a sad Christmas tree, reminiscent of the tree in "A Charlie Brown Christmas".
**George Sr., Tobias, and G.O.B. also do the sad Charlie Brown walk later in the episode.
**The title of the episode echoes a phrase that Lucy often exclaims when she is disappointed in Charlie Brown.
*John Wayne Airport While performing an impersonation of John Wayne, Tobias says, "I'm gonna build an airport, put my name on it," a reference to the airport located in Orange County, California, posthumously named after Wayne in 1979.
*Saddam Hussein
**George, Sr. is discovered hiding in an underground spider hole and wearing a long beard, like Saddam Hussein.
**George Michael performs a dental exam on George, Sr., like in the first photographs of Saddam Hussein after he was captured.

Cameos

*Gary, the new homosexual employee at the Bluth company, is introduced in this episode. Abraham Higginbotham, who plays Gary, is a writer for the show.
*Tony Wonder (Ben Stiller) is mentioned and seen briefly in a newspaper clipping for the first time in this episode. He has a large role in this season in "Sword of Destiny".
*This is the first and only appearance of Rosa, the maid that Lucille had employed when Michael, Buster, Lindsay, and G.O.B. were young. She was previously mentioned in "Staff Infection" when Lucille called for her help while Lupe was at a family reunion.

External links

* [http://the-op.com/episode/204 The-OP.com]
* [http://www.fox.com/ FOX]