Arrested Development: Queen B, Review
“Ryan Seacrest is straight!” “And I’m 40” and other fun Lucille moments.
Time doesn’t stop for anyone. Our lives are hatched from the Vlasic Pickles stork that dropped us off on our parent’s doorstep, we grow up, move away from the dull suburban towns we spent our early years nagging about and eventually we age. Some age gracefully, others awake to find that they’ve aged hurriedly, like the universe is exacting revenge for some senseless forgotten deed they committed years earlier against the will of God.There are moments, and they don’t come often, when time slows. The clock ticks so slowly that it actually feels like time has halted. I imagine that’s the feeling that came over Jessica Walter when she stepped back on the set of Arrested Development and sunk into the cozy white couch that was the center of the cult-comedy universe for three fleeting years.In “Queen B.” Walter channels the bone-chillingly frank Lucille as if no time had passed from 2006 to now. A polarizing character to every family member in the series’ first incarnation, Lucille is played as a monster when her story picks up in an episode of “The Real Asian Prison Housewives of the Orange County White Collar Prison System”. It’s an amusing introduction but the gag wears thin as the “Jade Dragon Triad” receive more face time than necessary. The beginning of the episode serves to re-establish Lucille’s controlling, bossy behavior as she delivers some sassy lines: “Their bark is louder than the dogs they eat back home.” Her time in prison is every bit of what we thought it would be. She pushes buttons until she eventually has to accept a stint in rehab to avoid the wrath of the Jade Dragon Triad. This is where Lucille puts on a drunk act “as good as anything you’d see at the method one clinic” and the episode starts to take off. Even when Tobias and Lucille aren’t providing a spark in the dialogue of the episode, they are having an entertaining stare-down. Lucille gets a starring role in the Fantastic Four musical and we get to hear her shriek “GEEEENNNE!” one more time, but maybe the most surprising development is her decision to split with not one, but two Bluth brothers.With her unnerving laugh, soul-piercing stare and cunning antics, Lucille gives as notable an individual performance as Gob and Tobias do in their first episodes…by far the gold standards of season four. After spending nearly half a century chasing her Hollywood dream, Walter is one of the lucky ones. She’s aged gracefully, and hung around well past the ages where female actresses begin to see a steady drop off in their workload. At age 72, Walter’s role as Lucille could be her final curtain call and no one would fault her for it. With her performance in “Queen B.” it wouldn’t be the worst way to end an incredible career. But if Arrested Development does make another return, we can expect Walter to be there, judging, scheming and being the Bluth that the entire cast revolves around.
Prison Chatter:
“This would be more exciting if you jump cut it.”“That’s a gang? I thought they were tech support.”“I got Olive Garden to offer us unlimited bread.”“Ryan Seacrest is straight!” “And I’m 40; sign the forms.”Den Of Geek Score: 3.5 Out Of 5 Stars
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Chris Longo is the Director of Editorial and Partnerships for Den of Geek. He produces special live events and screenings, and oversees production of the Den…