Netflix announces that part two of Arrested Development season 5 will premiere on March 15. The legendary sitcom, starring Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat, Tony Hale, David Cross, Jeffrey Tambor, and Jessica Walter originally launched in 2003. Despite practically universal critical acclaim, it was cancelled by Fox after three seasons due to low ratings. When Netflix revived the show in 2013, responses were mixed, chiefly because the show’s format was changed to follow one family member per episode rather than multiple plot lines. Series creator Mitchell Hurwitz eventually re-cut and re-released season 4 in chronological order, under the title Arrested Development Season 4 Remix: Fateful Consequences. In 2018, it was announced that season 5 would be divided into two parts.
Season 5 picks up shortly after season 4, with the Bluth family spiraling further into political scandal. Lindsay (de Rossi) began her congressional campaign, but after at long last attaining her mother Lucille (Walter)’s approval, disappeared from the campaign altogether. De Rossi had reportedly quit acting altogether, but promised Hurwitz that she would return for season 5. Meanwhile, Lucille and George Sr. (Tambor) struggle with their plans to build a wall at the Mexican border, as Buster is imprisoned for Lucille 2 (Liza Minnelli)’s disappearance, but ends up making a break for it.
Part two of season 5 sees Buster on the run with his father Oscar, while the Bluth family contends with securing funding for the wall, and tracking down Lucille 2. Eight episodes will be released on March 15. Check out the official synopsis, poster and first official images below:
The poster indicates that despite her retirement from acting, de Rossi may reappear in the latter half of season 5. Lucille 2’s disappearance appears to be taking center stage in the episodes ahead, while Maeby remains disguised as an elderly retiree, along with her father Tobias, who may finally come out considering the previewed involvement of the so-called gay mafia.
In the second half of Arrested Development’s fifth season, pressures mount on the Bluth family as Buster heads toward a murder trial. The Bluth company is on the hook to build a ’smart’ border wall that puts them in debt and risks exposing a software hoax perpetrated by George-Michael. Soon the gay mafia is involved and it appears that even Michael can’t save the family this time. And Tobias becomes a Golden Girl.
As indicated by Netflix, a sixth season of the show seems unlikely, and controversy regarding the main cast may result in the lower interest in supporting the series. In 2018, Walter professed in an interview that Tambor, who was fired from Transparent for sexual harassment allegations, had verbally harassed her on set. While she’d accepted his apology and was openly supported by Shawkat during the interview, some of her male cast mates were quick to defend Tambor’s behavior during the discussion. Bateman, in particular, was criticized for being tone deaf to Walter’s ordeal, and later apologized to her via Twitter.
If season 5 does indeed mark the end of the series, long-time viewers can only hope that the cast and writers will bring the incomparably hilarious and dysfunctional family some of their very best fights, one-liners, and huge mistakes.
MORE: Netflix Casts Doubt On Arrested Development Season 6 Happening
Arrested Development season 5 returns March 15 on Netflix.
Source: Netflix
