Sad Sack (Arrested Development episode)

Infobox Arrested Development episode
episode_name = Sad Sack
episode_no = 2AJD05
airdate = December 12, 2004
writer = Barbara Feldman
director = Peter Lauer
on_the_next = "Oscar returns to find a now distant Lucille, which was what attracted him to her in the first place; Lindsay reconciles with her daughter; and Tobias, traumatized by the public exposure, returns to an unfortunate quirk."
guest_star =
Henry Winkler as Barry Zuckerkorn John Michael Higgins as Wayne Jarvis Justin Grant Wade as Steve Holt


season = 2

"Sad Sack" is the twenty-seventh episode aired of TV comedy series "Arrested Development".

Plot

Michael Bluth is nervous about meeting with the new prosecutor of his father's criminal case, because he had found his father earlier in the week, and is currently hiding him in the attic. George Michael reports that, despite studying with Ann, he only got a B- on his last math test. He thinks he might be distracted by how pretty she is. Michael decides to set his son up with an eye appointment to hopefully settle this Ann issue once and for all. Tobias announces to Michael that he's heading off for the gym, which makes Lindsay paranoid. She isn't having any success in their open marriage competition and is worried that Tobias is ahead of her. Meanwhile, Maeby, determined to get closer to Steve Holt, begins ordering unnecessary items – such as a Memories of Thanksgiving basket – in order to have Steve deliver them to the house as part of his job. But during this latest delivery, Steve and Lindsay see each other. Maeby is repulsed by her mother's attraction to the same 19-year-old she's after. Michael takes the new gift basket to his father in the attic. He isn't so sure he's ready to meet with the new prosecutor now that he knows his father is actually alive. Why did he have to come back anyway? George Sr. says he came back only to see if Lucille is still his. If she's in love with Oscar, George Sr. will go away for good.

Michael meets with the new prosecutor, Wayne Jarvis, the man who almost represented the Bluths in "In God We Trust". Wayne floats the idea that if Michael can hand over his father, he'll be granted immunity. Buster, meanwhile, is not finding success in his army training, as he can't scale a wall which he needs to climb to pass. Unfortunately, the drill sergeant can't motivate him by yelling at him and calling him "homo," due to a recent lawsuit. Elsewhere, Buster tries to convince G.O.B. to accompany him to boot camp, since G.O.B. had always proven to be a great motivator for Buster. Mainly because he abused him frequently. Michael sets out to see if his mother and Oscar are really in love, and Lindsay decides to spend more time getting to know her daughter by visiting her at school, and aggressively coming on to Steve Holt. Maeby sabotages that by later telling Steve that Lindsay is actually her transgendered father. Unfortunately, this only furthers Steve's interest in Lindsay. Meanwhile, Buster is still trying to convince G.O.B. to motivate him, but G.O.B. was so embarrassed by his poor interview with Wayne Jarvis earlier that he is completely without confidence.

Later, Michael reports to his father that Oscar is probably on his way out, so he should sit tight in the attic. At work, Michael gets a call from his son that his glasses were making him feel nauseous and disoriented. Michael cuts the call short to meet with Wayne Jarvis again. Wayne reveals that they tapped into the Bluth Company e-mail server and found satellite images of the Iraqi countryside. He believes that Michael's father was building over WMD bunkers to hide them. Wayne says that George Sr. is guilty, and Michael can't protect him. The only way out for Michael is if he turns George Sr. over in exchange for immunity. At home, Michael is going to relay Wayne's words to his father when Lindsay proudly announces that she's set up a lunch date with Steve Holt. Also that their mother claims to be finding love in the oddest places in the model home. And earlier, we see that George Sr. watched through the vent as his wife talked about her feelings for Oscar. Michael heads up to the attic and finds his father missing once again. Michael calls his mother to ask if she's seen George Sr. She says she hasn't and that his plan to drive Oscar away backfired because he was back in her penthouse. And they were just about to have sex. Except it was George Sr., wearing a remarkably bad wig, that was in her penthouse. As “Oscar,” George Sr. asks Lucille if she loves him, and when she responds in the affirmative, he takes off.

The photos that Wayne Jarvis obtained finally made their way to the public, and thanks to the Patriot Act, have been seen by several branches of government. Including the Army, which was beginning to ship out without Buster since he wasn't combat-ready. At the 11th hour, G.O.B., instilling great fear about weapons of mass destruction, inspires Buster to finally scale that wall. At school, George Michael tells Maeby that he got a C on his latest math test, because he can't see with his new glasses. Maeby wants to know if he's seen Lindsay, who was coming for lunch with Steve Holt. But upon overhearing Maeby tell George Michael about her own crush on Steve Holt, Lindsay leaves the school ground, abandoning her dreams of Steve Holt.

Later, George Sr. returns to the attic, where his son is waiting for him. George tells Michael that he could turn him in for all he cared because he doesn't have love in his life anymore. Later that day, Michael has his meeting with Wayne Jarvis. Wayne threatens Michael with the Iraqi photos, but Barry Zuckerkorn, seeing the photos for the first time, realizes that they are actually a close-up of "balls". The picture was of Tobias' testicles, which he inadvertently photographed and e-mailed to the company while playing around with the cell phone G.O.B. had given him. The U.S. government realizes it's made a fool of itself as Michael returns home a free man. George Michael complains about his new glasses, and comments on how the photos of Tobias's balls look familiar. Which he had accidentally seen when Tobias was briefly sharing a room with him. Michael accepts that his son's eyesight is fine, even if he does find Ann attractive. Unfortunately, the exposure of Tobias's testicles causes Tobias to go back to his cut-offs.

Cultural references

*The headline of the "WMDs" report on Fox News says "We knew it!", a joke about Fox News' alleged right-wing bias.
**Later, when Fox News admits they were wrong, the headline reads "We blew it!"
* The comic strip "Sad Sack" was started in the 1942 by Sergeant Baker, which is also the name of Buster's sergeant. The title of this episode pays homage to the comic. The title is also a reference to the true nature of the photos that depict what is first thought to be the Iraqi countryside.

Cameos

*John Michael Higgins returns as Wayne Jarvis. This is his first appearance in Season 2; he appeared in one episode in Season 1, "In God We Trust". He would later return in "The Righteous Brothers".
*Steve Holt (Justin Grant Wade) makes his first appearance in Season 2, after appearing in Season 1's "Bringing Up Buster" and "Shock and Aww". Although his only other appearance this season would be in "The Immaculate Election", he would later become a frequently recurring character in Season 3.

Episode notes

*This episode made the Parents Television Council's "Worst Primetime TV Show of the Week" list for the week of December 6-12. [ [http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/bw/2004/1212worst.asp Arrested Development - Worst Family TV Show of the Week ] ]
*This episode marks the return of Season 1 characters Wayne Jarvis and Steve Holt.
*"Marijuana": When George Bluth is pretending to be Oscar, he tells Lucille that what he smells like is "weed. I went back to my *-hole trailer and smoked some, like a cigarette." The awkward phrase is the same George Michael used in Pier Pressure, when he claimed he was buying marijuana for himself rather than for Buster.

References

External links

* [http://the-op.com/episode/205 The-OP.com]
* [http://www.fox.com/arresteddev FOX]
* [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arrested_Development#Sad_Sack_.5B2.5.5D Quotes for this episode on WikiQuote]