Whistler's Mother (Arrested Development episode)
Encyclopedia
"Whistler's Mother" is the 20th episode of the first season of the Fox
TV comedy series Arrested Development.
George Sr.'s twin brother, Oscar, is in town; George calls Michael and asks him to give Oscar $10,000. Michael refuses. Maeby, working at the banana stand, spots the same man George Michael saw. Meanwhile, Lindsay finds out her hair stylist has been called up to serve in the Iraq War. She decides to protest the war as her charity work. Michael encounters Gob and Tobias at a coffee shop; Michael assumes they are planning to invest in such a shop and tells them to write a proposal. Uncle Oscar comes in after Gob and Tobias leave; he asks for money, then offers to sell some land to Michael, who doesn't realize the land is worthless because the government has an easement
on it.
Maeby and George Michael discuss seeing the man they believe is their grandfather in a wig. They visit the prison to see if he is still there. Michael, now aware that the land he purchased is worthless, tries unsuccessfully to contact Oscar. Gob and Tobias approach Michael with their investment idea ("Gobias Industries"). Michael, embarrassed about his own poor investment, lies to them and says George Sr. made the deal and that no more investment money is available.
Lindsay joins a group of protesters at a military base; they are herded into a "free speech zone" (a large cage). But the media people are not there; they are confined somewhere else in a "free press zone." Meanwhile, Maeby and George Michael visit George Sr. in the prison and mention the lemon grove purchase. Michael tells the Bluth Company board that his father made a bad deal; Mr. Jordan, a potential whistleblower, points out that George Sr. cannot legally conduct business from jail. Then George Sr. then calls to discuss the deal with Michael. Lindsay and the protesters gets the attention of some local residents, who hose them down and play loud disco music. All the protesters except Lindsay run off. Defiantly shouting "no hair for oil," she does a triumphant pole dance; the enthusiastic response of the locals boosts her self-esteem.
Michael visits his mother to discuss the bad investment. Lucille comforts him and says she will "take care of it." She visits Oscar at his trailer in the lemon grove and makes him buy the land back, which he does because he loves her. She uses the money to buy Mr. Jordan off the board and puts herself in his place, solving the Bluth Company's problems but creating a problem for Michael.
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
TV comedy series Arrested Development.
Synopsis
Michael is making plans for some Bluth company funds that recently became available. He is approached by successive family members, who each want some of that money. Lindsay wants it to start an affair; Michael suggests she take up charity work again. Lucille wants it to pay for Buster's operation on his clicking jaw; Michael suggests she stop coddling him. Tobias wants it for acting lessons and Gob just wants it; Michael suggests Gob and Tobias come up with a business idea to make money themselves. Meanwhile, George Michael spots a man who looks just like George Sr., except with hair. He tells Maeby, but she doesn't believe him.George Sr.'s twin brother, Oscar, is in town; George calls Michael and asks him to give Oscar $10,000. Michael refuses. Maeby, working at the banana stand, spots the same man George Michael saw. Meanwhile, Lindsay finds out her hair stylist has been called up to serve in the Iraq War. She decides to protest the war as her charity work. Michael encounters Gob and Tobias at a coffee shop; Michael assumes they are planning to invest in such a shop and tells them to write a proposal. Uncle Oscar comes in after Gob and Tobias leave; he asks for money, then offers to sell some land to Michael, who doesn't realize the land is worthless because the government has an easement
Easement
An easement is a certain right to use the real property of another without possessing it.Easements are helpful for providing pathways across two or more pieces of property or allowing an individual to fish in a privately owned pond...
on it.
Maeby and George Michael discuss seeing the man they believe is their grandfather in a wig. They visit the prison to see if he is still there. Michael, now aware that the land he purchased is worthless, tries unsuccessfully to contact Oscar. Gob and Tobias approach Michael with their investment idea ("Gobias Industries"). Michael, embarrassed about his own poor investment, lies to them and says George Sr. made the deal and that no more investment money is available.
Lindsay joins a group of protesters at a military base; they are herded into a "free speech zone" (a large cage). But the media people are not there; they are confined somewhere else in a "free press zone." Meanwhile, Maeby and George Michael visit George Sr. in the prison and mention the lemon grove purchase. Michael tells the Bluth Company board that his father made a bad deal; Mr. Jordan, a potential whistleblower, points out that George Sr. cannot legally conduct business from jail. Then George Sr. then calls to discuss the deal with Michael. Lindsay and the protesters gets the attention of some local residents, who hose them down and play loud disco music. All the protesters except Lindsay run off. Defiantly shouting "no hair for oil," she does a triumphant pole dance; the enthusiastic response of the locals boosts her self-esteem.
Michael visits his mother to discuss the bad investment. Lucille comforts him and says she will "take care of it." She visits Oscar at his trailer in the lemon grove and makes him buy the land back, which he does because he loves her. She uses the money to buy Mr. Jordan off the board and puts herself in his place, solving the Bluth Company's problems but creating a problem for Michael.
Episode notes
- This is Oscar's first appearance.
- Buster never appears in this episode (it is explained that he is getting surgery in Canada).
- When Lindsay is getting off the bus to join the protesters, we can see a man holding the same freedom sign used in the pilot; also the "Freedom" song is again played in the background.
Callbacks
- Lindsay telling Tobias that she wants to be a cage dancer, and specifically her gleeful squeal afterward, parallels when Tobias told her his dream to become an actor in the Pilot.
Foreshadowing
- Gob says that "people love to carbo-load," possibly foreshadowing the upcoming episode "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 which the Bluth family goes on the AtkinsAtkins Nutritional ApproachThe Atkins diet, officially called the Atkins Nutritional Approach, is a low-carbohydrate diet created by Robert Atkins from a research paper he read in the Journal of the American Medical Association published by Gordon Azar and Walter Lyons Bloom. Atkins stated that he used the study to resolve...
diet. - Oscar greets Michael with a shoulder rub and "Hey, nephew," much like Buster does.
- In a flashback, Lucille comforts a high-school age Michael, stating that she will "have a little chat with Mr. Vandenbosch," his algebra teacher. Mr. Vandenbosch disappears the following day. In "Development ArrestedDevelopment Arrested"Development Arrested" is the 53rd episode aired of the TV comedy series Arrested Development. It is the season finale for Season 3, as well as the series finale before the announcement of Season 4 over five years later.-Episode:...
," Michael discovers that Lucille was the criminal mastermind behind all the crimes committed by the Bluth Company, including the deportation of Annyong's grandfather, the original creator of the frozen banana. - When Lucille confronts Oscar in the lemon grove, he is seen wearing a pin in the shape of a hand.
Hidden/Background Jokes
- When speaking in the coffee shop with Michael, Oscar passes gas frequently. When the two are in Oscar's lemon grove, Michael is seen stepping away from Oscar slowly, implying that he has passed gas again.
- Maeby tells George Michael that she has seen the secret hair no one is supposed to know about. Maeby is referring to Oscar's hair, but George Michael at first thinks she means pubic hair.
- Tobias is referred to as "just laid there" several times in the episode. Once by Lindsay and twice by himself.
Character cameos
- Amy PoehlerAmy PoehlerAmy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...
makes her last appearance as Gob's wife until a cameo in Season 2's "Motherboy XXXMotherboy XXX"Motherboy XXX" is the thirty-fifth episode aired of TV comedy series Arrested Development.-Plot:"Michael Bluth got up early in the hopes of avoiding his family. His mother, however, was already dressed, made up and waiting for him...
." - Dave "Gruber" Allen appears as "activist."