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What's your opinion about season 5 of Arrested Development so far?
I've been binging the new season (well, half-season, as I think 8 more episodes will air later this year) over the weekend. What do you guys think of it so far?
Posting this in its own comment, to keep it separated: Personally, I felt... confused. It was all over the place, with many jokes that felt only funny because they were self-referential (the "MR F" bit felt forced, for example). I also still don't quite get why everyone was constantly going to Mexico. I've seen some reviews pop up that praise it for being more "consistent" than season 4, but in hindsight, season 4, to me, feels full of memorable scenes that were ultimately well-connected while season 5 (so far, maybe too much is kept for the later half?) hasn't really produced a single moment that made me go "oh wow, I'll quote this for years!".
I couldn't get into it. I almost feel like it's a case of "It's not you, it's me." The show feels like true Arrested Development, but something about the humor doesn't resonate with me anymore, even though I loved it to death back when it first came out.
One issue I see is that the show has turned inwards. What I mean is, it's way more self-referential than it used to be. The joy of the show used to be how these quirky characters revealed themselves in new and unexpected ways (best example being Tobias being a never-nude), but now it's all about callbacks to what we already know. There's nothing surprising anymore, just familiar callbacks.
That, plus Michael Cera looks old for the first time in his career.
So yeah. Arrested Development season 5 feels like it's coasting on nostalgia, and that was never what drew me to the show in the first place.
On an unrelated note, screw Netflix for releasing an entire season in two installments. That strategy sucked for The Tick, and it sucks here as well. It feels like a cheap ploy to milk a series for hype, and I don't feel that I, as a consumer, have anything to gain from it.
I guess it wasn't just me, then. It felt like literally every third joke was a joke about Arrested Development and not anything even remotely related to a real-life concept. Maeby asking George Michael to make out to "teach them a lesson", celebrating 4th of July at July 2nd (because, you know, they did that with Cinco de Cuatro), a random MR F reference that I still don't even get aside from it being related to season 3... It had a double-digit-season Simpsons vibe to it.
I started watching it after giving up on Kimmy Schmidt 3 episodes in to the new season, so it probably seemed much better in comparison. It's not the same as the original run, but it never could be.