Episode guide
Essential Arrested Development Episodes
FOX, 2003 to 2019
Our 9 character guides for Arrested Development point to 32 key episodes across 4 seasons. Of those, 8 turn up in two or more guides, so they come first, followed by every episode in air order.
Season and episode numbers follow the original broadcast order.
The essentials(8)
Episodes that matter to more than one character, the most shared first.
- In 6 guides
Season 1, Episode 1
"Pilot"
- Michael Bluth: Michael is passed over for president just as his father is arrested, and reluctantly stays to save the company.
- George Bluth Sr.: George Sr. is arrested by the SEC, leaving his family and his company in chaos.
- George Michael Bluth: Maeby kisses George Michael to shock their parents, and his long, awkward crush on his cousin begins.
- Gob Bluth: Gob's magic career is derailed as the family's troubles begin.
- Lucille Bluth: Michael is passed over for the top job when Lucille is named head of the company, just before George Sr. is led away by the SEC.
- Maeby Funke: Maeby kisses George Michael to shock their parents, who fail to notice.
- In 6 guides
Season 2, Episode 1
"The One Where Michael Leaves"
- Michael Bluth: Michael tries to move to Phoenix with his son but is pulled back into the family mess.
- Buster Bluth: Lucille impulsively signs Buster up for the U.S. Army.
- Gob Bluth: Gob becomes president of the Bluth Company.
- Lindsay Bluth Funke: Lindsay pushes for an open marriage with Tobias.
- Lucille Bluth: Goaded by a man who looks like Michael Moore, Lucille enlists her youngest son in the Army without asking him.
- Tobias Funke: Tobias tries to join the Blue Man Group, believing it is a support group.
- In 5 guides
Season 1, Episode 2
"Top Banana"
- Michael Bluth: Michael lets George Michael burn down the banana stand, then learns it was hiding $250,000.
- George Bluth Sr.: Michael gives the go-ahead to torch the banana stand, then learns too late what George Sr. meant about the money inside it.
- George Michael Bluth: George Michael burns down the banana stand with his father's blessing, not knowing a fortune is hidden inside its walls.
- Lindsay Bluth Funke: Lindsay lands the commercial role Tobias auditioned for.
- Tobias Funke: Tobias auditions for a commercial, only for the part to go to Lindsay.
- In 5 guides
Season 3, Episode 13
"Development Arrested"
- Michael Bluth: The charges against George Sr. are dropped and Michael sails off, only to find his father on board.
- George Bluth Sr.: The case against George Sr. collapses, his wife is unmasked as the true mastermind, and he quietly heads for Cabo.
- George Michael Bluth: The news that Lindsay was adopted frees George Michael to admit his feelings for Maeby before he and Michael set off for Cabo.
- Lindsay Bluth Funke: The family's secrets come out, including the truth that Lindsay was adopted.
- Lucille Bluth: Lucille is exposed as the true mastermind behind the family company's crimes.
- In 2 guides
Season 1, Episode 4
"Key Decisions"
- Gob Bluth: Gob stages a prison break stunt to promote his act while Michael falls for his girlfriend, Marta.
- Lindsay Bluth Funke: Lindsay fights to save an old tree from being cut down by the Bluth Company.
- In 2 guides
Season 1, Episode 22
"Let 'Em Eat Cake"
- George Bluth Sr.: With a polygraph looming and Kitty threatening blackmail, George Sr. breaks out of prison in the season one finale.
- Tobias Funke: An old book Tobias wrote suddenly finds a following.
- In 2 guides
Season 2, Episode 13
"Motherboy XXX"
- George Michael Bluth: Lucille drafts George Michael as her new partner for the Motherboy event, and Michael scrambles to get his son out of it.
- Lucille Bluth: Embarrassed to bring a one-handed Buster to her favorite mother and son dance, Lucille lures George Michael there instead.
- In 2 guides
Season 2, Episode 18
"Righteous Brothers"
- George Michael Bluth: George Michael and Maeby finally kiss as season two comes to a close.
- Maeby Funke: Maeby and George Michael kiss as the second season ends.
Every key episode by season(32)
Season 1(9 episodes)
Season 1, Episode 1
"Pilot"
An essential, in the guides for Michael Bluth, George Bluth Sr., George Michael Bluth, Gob Bluth, Lucille Bluth, and Maeby Funke. Read the notes
Season 1, Episode 2
"Top Banana"
An essential, in the guides for Michael Bluth, George Bluth Sr., George Michael Bluth, Lindsay Bluth Funke, and Tobias Funke. Read the notes
Season 1, Episode 3
"Bringing Up Buster"
- Buster Bluth: Fed up with having him underfoot, Lucille makes Michael bring Buster along to the office for a day.
Season 1, Episode 4
"Key Decisions"
An essential, in the guides for Gob Bluth and Lindsay Bluth Funke. Read the notes
Season 1, Episode 7
"My Mother, the Car"
- Buster Bluth: Buster starts dating Lucille Austero, the neighbor his mother cannot stand.
Season 1, Episode 8
"In God We Trust"
- Tobias Funke: Tobias competes for the role of Adam in a living art pageant despite being a never-nude.
Season 1, Episode 17
"Altar Egos"
- Gob Bluth: Gob marries a woman he has just met.
Season 1, Episode 18
"Justice Is Blind"
- Maeby Funke: George Michael confronts Maeby about Surely, the terminally ill twin sister she invented.
Season 1, Episode 22
"Let 'Em Eat Cake"
An essential, in the guides for George Bluth Sr. and Tobias Funke. Read the notes
Season 2(9 episodes)
Season 2, Episode 1
"The One Where Michael Leaves"
An essential, in the guides for Michael Bluth, Buster Bluth, Gob Bluth, Lindsay Bluth Funke, Lucille Bluth, and Tobias Funke. Read the notes
Season 2, Episode 4
"Good Grief"
- George Bluth Sr.: The family holds a wake for George Sr., and George Michael discovers he is still alive.
Season 2, Episode 7
"Switch Hitter"
- Maeby Funke: While Tobias auditions for a film, Maeby bluffs her way into a job at the production company and starts a secret career.
Season 2, Episode 11
"Out on a Limb"
- Buster Bluth: Buster finally works up the courage to swim in the ocean, and a loose seal takes his left hand.
Season 2, Episode 12
"Hand to God"
- Buster Bluth: Freshly fitted with a hook, Buster has a hard time adjusting to life without his left hand.
Season 2, Episode 13
"Motherboy XXX"
An essential, in the guides for George Michael Bluth and Lucille Bluth. Read the notes
Season 2, Episode 14
"The Immaculate Election"
- Tobias Funke: Kicked out by Lindsay, Tobias returns as the housekeeper Mrs. Featherbottom.
Season 2, Episode 17
"Spring Breakout"
- Lucille Bluth: Sent to rehab by Michael, Lucille ends up in a drinking showdown with Kitty over George Sr.
Season 2, Episode 18
"Righteous Brothers"
An essential, in the guides for George Michael Bluth and Maeby Funke. Read the notes
Season 3(4 episodes)
Season 3, Episode 1
"The Cabin Show"
- Gob Bluth: Gob learns he has a son.
Season 3, Episode 6
"The Ocean Walker"
- Michael Bluth: Michael decides to marry Rita, whose secret leaves him with serious second thoughts.
Season 3, Episode 12
"Exit Strategy"
- Maeby Funke: A surprise sixteenth birthday party from George Michael tells the whole studio how old Maeby really is.
Season 3, Episode 13
"Development Arrested"
An essential, in the guides for Michael Bluth, George Bluth Sr., George Michael Bluth, Lindsay Bluth Funke, and Lucille Bluth. Read the notes
Season 4(10 episodes)
Season 4, Episode 1
"Flight of the Phoenix"
- Michael Bluth: Broke after Sudden Valley fails, Michael moves into George Michael's dorm.
Season 4, Episode 2
"Borderline Personalities"
- George Bluth Sr.: George Sr. runs a sham sweat lodge scheme with Oscar on the Mexican border.
Season 4, Episode 3
"Indian Takers"
- Lindsay Bluth Funke: Lindsay leaves Tobias and heads to India in search of spiritual meaning.
Season 4, Episode 5
"A New Start"
- Tobias Funke: Tobias follows Lindsay's path to India, then returns to chase acting and meets DeBrie.
Season 4, Episode 8
"Red Hairing"
- Lindsay Bluth Funke: Lindsay begins an affair with politician Herbert Love while dating activist Marky Bark.
Season 4, Episode 10
"Queen B."
- Lucille Bluth: When not one Bluth shows up for her trial, Lucille is convicted and sent to a women's prison.
Season 4, Episode 11
"A New Attitude"
- Gob Bluth: Gob's plan for revenge on Tony Wonder turns into an unexpected romance.
Season 4, Episode 12
"Señoritis"
- Maeby Funke: In her season four spotlight, Maeby, still stuck in high school years later, launches a company built on Fakeblock and gets in over her head.
Season 4, Episode 13
"It Gets Better"
- George Michael Bluth: In his season four spotlight, a college-age George Michael lets a white lie turn his woodblock app into Fakeblock and starts seeing Rebel Alley.
Season 4, Episode 14
"Off the Hook"
- Buster Bluth: Disowned by Lucille, Buster reenlists, flies drones he thinks are a video game, and comes home with a giant robotic hand.
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