Shock and Aww
Encyclopedia
"Shock and Aww" is the fourteenth episode aired of the TV comedy series Arrested Development.
teacher. Lucille barges in with a problem: her adoption application (filled out in a rage last year when Buster wouldn't finish his cottage cheese) came through and now a young Korean
boy is hers
. Michael then gets a call from Gob, who has lined up two women for them. Upstairs, Lindsay misinterprets George Michael's crush on his ethics teacher as a desire to set up a date for his father. Michael meets up with Gob and the two women, who turn out to be a high school student (Gob's date) and her frighteningly masculine chaperone named Nazhgalia, whom Gob intends for Michael. Michael is kind to her, which Gob reads as romantic interest. His jealousy and still-simmering anger over Marta kicks in.
At a parent-teacher conference, Michael sees the new ethics teacher, Miss Baerly. He is immediately attracted and asks her out for a drink. Meanwhile, George Sr. is dealing with his own admirer, a woman who visits him in prison and fawns over him. Later, Lucille calls Michael in a panic: the Korean boy, whom she named Annyong (Korean for "hello"), is in her apartment. Buster comes home and when Lucille notices his jealousy over the adopted boy, she decides she'll keep him after all.
Michael and Miss Baerly have a second date and spend the night together; the next morning Michael sees Nazhgalia just leaving after having spent the night with Gob. George Michael comes down and before Michael can tell him about the Miss Baerly development, George Michael reveals that he's in love with her. When he sees her come down the stairs, George Michael is devastated; Michael abandons ethics and tells his son that Gob slept with her. Over at the prison, George Sr. is preparing for an evening with his devoted fan, Cindi Lightballoon. She is really an FBI
agent planning to catch George Sr. incriminating himself on tape. She presses him for details; when he tries to fondle her through the fence, the agents in the surveillance van panic, thinking he's found their camera. Meanwhile, Michael visits Miss Baerly to say he cannot see her anymore because George Michael is in love with her.
At the school dance, Miss Baerly tells Michael he has to tell his son the truth if he wants to see her again. George Michael, meanwhile, confronts Gob about sleeping with Miss Baerly. Gob is there to apologize to Shannon for sleeping with her chaperone. Michael finally tells his son the truth about Miss Baerly, and a gloating Gob tells Michael he slept with her too (he actually slept with the much-older civics teacher). Miss Baerly overhears Michael talking to George Michael, decides that Michael is moving too fast, and breaks off all contact. She goes off with another student.
Plot
Michael is sharing his bed for the first time in years; unfortunately, it is with his younger brother, Buster. George Michael has developed a crush on his ethicsEthics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
teacher. Lucille barges in with a problem: her adoption application (filled out in a rage last year when Buster wouldn't finish his cottage cheese) came through and now a young Korean
Korean people
The Korean people are an ethnic group originating in the Korean peninsula and Manchuria. Koreans are one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogeneous groups in the world.-Names:...
boy is hers
Korean adoptee
A Korean international adoptee or KAD is a person who was adopted from South Korea through the international adoption of South Korean children as a child and raised in another country, often by adoptive parents of another race, ethnic background, and culture.-Historical context and the impact of...
. Michael then gets a call from Gob, who has lined up two women for them. Upstairs, Lindsay misinterprets George Michael's crush on his ethics teacher as a desire to set up a date for his father. Michael meets up with Gob and the two women, who turn out to be a high school student (Gob's date) and her frighteningly masculine chaperone named Nazhgalia, whom Gob intends for Michael. Michael is kind to her, which Gob reads as romantic interest. His jealousy and still-simmering anger over Marta kicks in.
At a parent-teacher conference, Michael sees the new ethics teacher, Miss Baerly. He is immediately attracted and asks her out for a drink. Meanwhile, George Sr. is dealing with his own admirer, a woman who visits him in prison and fawns over him. Later, Lucille calls Michael in a panic: the Korean boy, whom she named Annyong (Korean for "hello"), is in her apartment. Buster comes home and when Lucille notices his jealousy over the adopted boy, she decides she'll keep him after all.
Michael and Miss Baerly have a second date and spend the night together; the next morning Michael sees Nazhgalia just leaving after having spent the night with Gob. George Michael comes down and before Michael can tell him about the Miss Baerly development, George Michael reveals that he's in love with her. When he sees her come down the stairs, George Michael is devastated; Michael abandons ethics and tells his son that Gob slept with her. Over at the prison, George Sr. is preparing for an evening with his devoted fan, Cindi Lightballoon. She is really an FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agent planning to catch George Sr. incriminating himself on tape. She presses him for details; when he tries to fondle her through the fence, the agents in the surveillance van panic, thinking he's found their camera. Meanwhile, Michael visits Miss Baerly to say he cannot see her anymore because George Michael is in love with her.
At the school dance, Miss Baerly tells Michael he has to tell his son the truth if he wants to see her again. George Michael, meanwhile, confronts Gob about sleeping with Miss Baerly. Gob is there to apologize to Shannon for sleeping with her chaperone. Michael finally tells his son the truth about Miss Baerly, and a gloating Gob tells Michael he slept with her too (he actually slept with the much-older civics teacher). Miss Baerly overhears Michael talking to George Michael, decides that Michael is moving too fast, and breaks off all contact. She goes off with another student.
Cultural references
- The title refers to the Bush administration’s term for the IraqiIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
air strike at the beginning of the war (shock and awe). - Many references are made to the former Iraqi dictator, Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
, who will play a pivotal role in the 3rd season.- Beth Baerly loves him (as a teaching topic), and pictures of him are posted in her classroom.
- Michael makes multiple references to how pictures of Hussein's palace bear a resemblance to their model home, foreshadowing later plots.
- George Michael creates a collage of Saddam images to impress Miss Baerly. Its title is "What would Saddam do?" -- an allusion to the popular line of What would Jesus do?What would Jesus do?The phrase "What would Jesus do?" became popular in the United States in the 1990s and as a personal motto for adherents of Evangelical Christianity who used the phrase as a reminder of their belief in a moral imperative to act in a manner that would demonstrate the love of Jesus through the...
bracelets. - Jeremy bakes a Saddam cupcake to impress Miss Baerly.
- The film Some Like It HotSome Like It HotSome Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
, featuring men dressed as women, is referenced in an ad for coffee at Klimpy's Express: "Some Like It Hot! Some Like It Cold." The ad appears behind Nazhgalia, who is actually a male actor portraying a woman. - The song "Everybody Have Fun TonightEverybody Have Fun Tonight"Everybody Have Fun Tonight" is a song by Wang Chung from their album Mosaic. It was released as a single in 1986, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart....
" by Wang ChungWang Chung (band)Wang Chung are an English New Wave musical group.The group found their greatest success in America, with five Top 40 hits in the US, all charting between 1983 and 1987, including "Dance Hall Days" , "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" and "Let's Go!" .-Pre-history: The Intellektuals and 57 Men :Jeremy...
is playing in the background during the dance.
Character Cameos
- Iqbal ThebaIqbal ThebaIqbal Theba is a Pakistani-American actor. Theba currently has a recurring role as Principal Figgins in the show Glee.-Life and career:Theba became a familiar face in the 1990s when he appeared in various TV shows and commercials in the United States....
, who plays Nazhgalia, is a man. - This episode is the first to feature Annyong, Lucille's adopted Korean child. He appears throughout the rest of Season 1 and the start of Season 2, before being sent to the Milford Academy by Lucille, then returns at the end of Season 3.
- This is one of the few Season 1 episodes where Michael's deceased wife, Tracey, is mentioned.
- Heather Graham plays Ms. Beth Baerly, George Michael's ethics teacher.
- Jane LynchJane LynchJane Marie Lynch is an American comedian, actress and singer. She gained fame in Christopher Guest's improv mockumentary pictures such as Best in Show and is currently best known for playing the role of Sue Sylvester in the television series Glee...
plays FBI agent Cindi Lightballoon.
Foreshadowing/Future References
- Michael makes several comments about the model home’s resemblance to photos of Saddam’s palaces. This hints at George Sr.'s illegal housing development in Iraq, a fact which is revealed in the season finale, "Let 'Em Eat CakeLet 'Em Eat Cake (Arrested Development episode)"Let 'Em Eat Cake" is the 22nd episode of the TV comedy series Arrested Development.-Synopsis:The Bluth Company is in trouble. Because of the low-carb diet fad , the banana stand has been struggling. Meanwhile, the model home is falling apart because of shoddy workmanship. Lindsay thinks she has a...
." - In the scene where Buster takes Annyong to register at school, there is a sign reading, “Hold on, Surely Fünke. Surely Fünke: How we (heart) thee.” Maeby's invented sister Surely is revealed several episodes later in "Altar EgosAltar Egos"Altar Egos" is the seventeenth episode aired of TV comedy series Arrested Development.-Plot:Michael Bluth and family gather to discuss George Sr.’s upcoming trial. They've received a plea offer, but lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn hasn’t read it yet because he is too busy picking up cross-dressing...
." - Michael asks Lucille, "Did you and dad adopt a child?" It is later revealed that they had adopted Lindsay.
- In the first appearance of George Michael's ethics teacher, we hear her say "...even minor crimes are punishable by brutally chopping off the offender's hand," while making a chopping motion on her wrist. Loss of an arm or hand is a running theme in the series; this scene foreshadows Buster's loss of a hand in a later episode.
Episode Notes
- At first the series had a 13-episode order. This is the first episode produced after the show was picked up for a full, 22-episode season.
- Tobias does not appear in this episode.
Hidden/Background Jokes
- In flashback Lucille tells Buster that she will adopt a child who will eat his cottage cheese. Later in the episode Lucille is out with Annyong and leaves nothing but a carton of cottage cheese for Buster to eat.
- The Saddam poster Michael shows to Lindsay at Parent Teacher Night has several misspellings. One caption begins, "Saddam is scene here with his favolite gun."
- Miss Baerly got the ethics post after the previous teacher, the elderly Mr. Daniels, had a stroke. Later, when George Michael and Maeby are discussing the school dance, Maeby reveals that, since she wanted to cause shock at the dance, she phoned Mr. Daniels and inadvertently caused his stroke by asking him out.
External links
- The-OP.com
- FOX
- Quotes for this episode on WikiQuote