Sword of Destiny
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Arrested Development episode | |
| "Sword of Destiny" | |
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| Episode No | 2AJD17 |
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| Airdate | March 27, 2005 |
| Writer(s) | Brad Copeland |
| Director | Peter Lauer |
| On the next: | “Michael gets a new roommate, and the FBI finds footage more troublesome than they originally thought.” |
| Guest star(s) | Ben Stiller as Tony Wonder Dan Castellaneta as Dr. Stein Mo Collins as Starla John Beard as himself |
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Arrested Development Season 2 |
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| All Arrested Development episodes | |
"Sword of Destiny" is the 37th episode aired of TV comedy series Arrested Development.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Michael Bluth had just been stunned to discover that a contract his company was counting on was being cut back. While on the phone trying to persuade the partner, Lindsay entered, hung up the phone and demanded that Michael give Tobias a job so Lindsay could get a break from Mrs. Featherbottom, Tobias’s new alter ego. Tobias then entered, overly eager to be Michael’s new assistant. Michael’s current assistant, Starla, was bothered by this, and quickly told the company the latest order was being cut back.
Tobias jumped into the new role and told Michael that if he didn’t begin to release some control, he would start to feel sick. Lindsay then recommended an herbal store called Ancient Chinese Secret that would help him. G.O.B., meanwhile, was at that exact same store looking for a tea that would prevent premature ejaculation. But he then took an interest in a sword on display, which the proprietor described as the Sword of Destiny, an ancient weapon. G.O.B. bought the sword to use in his act, ignoring the Chinese man’s warnings of the sword’s turbulent history.
G.O.B. caught up with Michael and complained that the magician’s alliance had banned him from the Gothic Castle. So G.O.B. needed Michael to register as the magician with G.O.B. as his assistant. But Michael had to teach his son how to drive. Which actually would only consist of George Michael observing as Michael drove and gave him pointers.
George Sr. was in the attic making a videotape when Michael found him. They discussed the reduced order and George Sr. told Michael to play the videotape for the company employees. He thought the staff needed to be reassured that a real authority figure was still overseeing everything. And, in a flashback, we learned that George Sr. was trying to plant Tobias inside Bluth Co. as a mole.
Michael was finally ready to make his son watch him drive. Michael once again felt pain in his side, and that’s when he decided that perhaps it was time for a sick day. After heading to the hospital and being admitted, Michael was reassured by Lucille, Tobias and Lindsay that they could all fill in for him; this was a prospect that did not comfort him.
Meanwhile, G.O.B. was still trying to arrange his comeback in magic, this time recruiting Buster to ram the Sword of Destiny through G.O.B.’s belly. A trick that G.O.B. thought would put him on a level with Tony Wonder. That night, George Sr. heard about Michael’s illness and gave Tobias the videotape he made. At the Gothic Castle, Buster had been outfitted with a Halloween hand, and was trying to prove that he was the magician. They quickly ran into Tony Wonder, whom both Buster and G.O.B. loved meeting.
The next morning, Tobias headed up a meeting at Bluth Co., assuring the staff that Michael was just fine and leaving the videotape for them to watch. Meanwhile, Lindsay had also violated Michael’s authority and was teaching George Michael how to drive. And Buster and G.O.B. were performing the Sword of Destiny illusion at the Gothic Castle. But while brandishing the sword for the audience’s enjoyment, G.O.B. accidentally cut off Buster’s fake hand, which, being a Halloween toy, wriggled around on the stage. G.O.B. quickly grabbed the hand and jammed it back on Buster’s stump. Backstage, Tony Wonder complimented Buster on his illusion and asked him and G.O.B. to be on his next DVD.
Michael had just awoken from his appendectomy and Lucille told him about Lindsay teaching George Michael how to drive. Then Dr. Stein told Michael that once he opened him up, his appendix wasn’t actually inflamed. So it was probably just stress. But he now had a bacterial infection from the operation that left an abscess on his abdominal wall. Dr. Stein recommended going in and cutting it out, which Michael agreed to despite Lucille’s protests. Then Michael saw a newsbreak. Starla had turned in the tape of George Sr., which contained Michael walking through the background. The FBI matched the design of the attic to one of Saddam’s houses and assumed George and son were in Iraq.
Elsewhere, Buster and G.O.B. were waiting to meet with Tony Wonder about the DVD. Tony quickly got down to business and pointed out that Buster probably didn’t need his assistant, G.O.B. G.O.B. angrily jumped up, ripped off his mask and proclaimed that he was the actual magician and that the real Sword of Destiny trick hadn’t even been performed yet.
Michael awoke from his second surgery and Lucille told him the pressure was off because the FBI thought George Sr. was in Iraq. And that Tobias was handling things with the business. But at the office, Michael found that his worst fears had come true. The entire office had emptied out. Michael had never felt worse. Until he went down a floor, where the Bluth Co. was setting up. An employee named Ted told Michael that they had leased out the expensive top floor to another company and were moving in one floor below, a move that would save the company enough money to stay afloat despite the order cutback. The employees were jubilant. Incidentally, this was a strategy that Ted had suggested earlier, only to be rejected by Michael.
Back at the Gothic Castle, Buster and G.O.B. were again onstage. G.O.B. whispers to Buster to swap out the real sword for the fake one, then announced to the crowd that he was the real magician and Buster was only his assistant. Buster took the real sword and cut off G.O.B.’s fingers, which blew the audience away.
And Michael came to a decision. He was going let go of some control and, for starters, let George Michael drive home. But George Michael had learned to drive on the stair car, which required the driver to stomp the gas pedal to go anywhere. So when he got behind the wheel of the family Mercedes-Benz, he gunned it and hit his father, breaking Michael’s leg.
[edit] Episode Notes
- This is one of the most debated episodes in the show's catalogue. Due the episode order cutback, there are a few continuity problems that arose in the last few episodes, and most occur in this episode. See Goofs for more information.
- This episode is notorious for its self-references and digs at Fox, most notably over the fact that Fox reduced the episode order for Season 2 from 22 to 18.
[edit] References
- Booyah! - The catchphrase popularized by Sportscenter anchor Stuart Scott and Mad Money host Jim Cramer is used by three different people.
- David Blaine - Tony Wonder pulling food out of his body is a parody of the illusionist pulling organs out of his body.
- Episode reduction - The entire plotline involving the Bluth company is a metaphor for Fox cutting the show's episode order from 22 to 18.
- The company has an order for houses reduced from 22 to 18.
- Michael says that they had finished the blueprints (referring to the scripts of the cut episodes), to which the Narrator says "Actually, they didn't. But they would have."
- Ted says that a lot of their overhead is tied up in being on the top floor of an expensive building, a reference to the show's prime time slot and large budget. Michael says that they don't need to move, referring to creator Mitch Hurwitz, who refused to cut the show's budget for a better deal when asked by Fox.
- The company stays in business without building the additional houses by moving down another floor, or "dropping a story," referring to the fact that the writers had to scrap one of the planned stories to compensate for the cutbacks.
- Tobias is turned down for the position of Michael's assistant because of the cutbacks. Many fans theorize that he would have been Michael's assistant for a few episodes if the order was not cut back. A reference to Tobias possibly working for the company is also made in The Righteous Brothers.
- Another possible storyline fans theorize is Tobias working as a mole against the Bluth company. George Sr. asks Tobias if he can be his mole, and Tobias says he can't due to the episode cutbacks. However, this storyline was later used (with Tobias being a mole for the government instead) in the Season 3 episode Mr. F.
- Family Guy - Tony Wonder's website is plagued with pop-up ads for the popular Fox show. They also played during Arrested Development broadcasts around this time.
- Homer Simpson - Dan Castellaneta, known for voicing the character on The Simpsons, plays Dr. Stein in this episode. He uses Homer's signature phrase, "D'oh", when informing Michael that his appendix was not actually inflamed.
- Osama bin Laden - George Sr. wears a towel on his head to protect it from the attic rafters, and makes a video recording to send to his employees.
- The Prince of Tides - Tobias takes on Barbra Streisand's role in the 1991 movie when giving Michael psychiatric advice.
- Subway - Tony Wonder produces a Subway Sub Club card from his ear. The sandwich chain used to award stamps for the card with every purchase, and then award a free sandwich once the card was filled up.
- Use Your Illusion - Tony Wonder's preferred title for his magic DVD is already taken by "some band," referring to the 1991 Guns N' Roses album. (His second choice, Use Your Illusion II was also owned by Guns N' Roses.)
- This joke could also be a reference to the band The Offspring, who were threatened with legal action by Guns N' Roses when attempting to use one of their upcoming album titles in 2003.
- It could also be a reference to the show's court battle with the band Arrested Development, over the use of their name.
[edit] Callbacks/Running Jokes
- Boiled into a bisque - G.O.B. tells Tony Wonder about the trick he first proposed in Good Grief.
- The Final Countdown - G.O.B.'s signature song plays when he and Buster perform the Sword of Destiny trick.
- Gobias Industries - Tobias lists the company that he and G.O.B. briefly started in Whistler's Mother on his resumé.
- The Gothic Castle - G.O.B. performs at the same premier magic venue that he did in Storming the Castle.
- Graham crackers - Buster's affinity for the snack is shown when he is disappointed that Tony Wonder fails to pull one from his body.
- Lighter fluid - After botching his fireball trick again, G.O.B. lamely covers it up by asking where the lighter fluid came from, as he did in Burning Love.
- Mission Accomplished - The banner that first appeared in The One Where They Build a House returns when the Bluth company is celebrating staying in business.
- Mrs. Featherbottom - Tobias makes a brief appearance in flashback disguised as a British nanny.
- Quincy Jones - Starla continues to claim to have had a relationship with the music legend, contracting rabies from his guard dogs.
- Star Wars Kid - George Michael's embarrassing video from The Immaculate Election is mistaken for a terrorist training video.
- Tobias is gay - Tobias continues to drop inadvertent hints to his sexuality.
- When analyzing Michael, he talks of taking off his assistant's skirt and donning a pantsuit.
- When reassuring the Bluth company employees that Michael is in good health, he remarks that his buttocks looked as fresh and firm as a Georgia peach.
- In the hospital, he speculates about Michael's illness, saying it could be his colon, and he'd want to get in there and find some answers.
- Maeby's job - Maeby drives a company car, which she received from the studio where she works.
[edit] Hidden/Background Jokes
- Fake mustache - Tobias is wearing an obviously fake mustache, since he had to shave it off to be Mrs. Featherbottom. This parallels the fact that, in reality, David Cross must wear a fake mustache in order to play Tobias.
- G.O.B.'s computer - The laptop showing TonyWonder.com is labelled "GOB GOB" under the screen, and the key to the left of the spacebar is labelled "GOB."
- Magazine - Maeby is reading a "Working World" magazine in her room, due to her secret job as a movie studio executive. The headlines all apply to the show in some way.
- "Working World" Headlines: "How to work with a MOODY BOSS," "Another Meeting? 10 ways to keep them from being a complete WASTE OF TIME," "Will the Company Pay for Jury Duty?" and "Handling Interruptions."
- Newspaper - The article on Tony Wonder, "Born and Bread in the USA," includes the following: "Tony Wonder wows his audience as he emerges from a giant sandwich... with the flair and fanfare of Liberace.... Despite the oohs and ahs of the mean audience there was one disgruntled ex-magician who was seen doing some sort of chicken-type dance at fevered pitch. He was carted off by the police before this reporter was able to interview him but it is the view of the by-standers that it was some sort of protest regarding the use of chicken used by Tony Wonder’s staff."
- Ted is visibly uncomfortable when he sees Tobias at the company meeting, after Tobias yelled and kicked a chair at him earlier in the episode.
[edit] Character Cameos
- Tony Wonder, played by Ben Stiller, makes his second appearance, and first speaking role. He appeared in a still photo in Good Grief and again in S.O.B.s without speaking.
- Dr. Fishman, the literal doctor, makes his fourth appearance and manages to make the family think Michael is dying in his one line.
- Dr. Stein makes his only appearance of the series.
[edit] Foreshadowing/Future References
- Buster's attaining of a more realistic fake hand plays an important part in the season finale.
[edit] Goofs
- Continuity - This was the 17th episode of the season to be produced but the 15th to air (and 15th on the Season 2 DVD), however, the episode doesn't seem to properly fit in anywhere in this season. While Tobias's Mrs. Featherbottom arc works fine in broadcast order, there is a joke at the end of the episode where G.O.B.'s index finger and middle finger are switched around. Although his fingers are fine in the two episodes aired after this, they are switched again in The Righteous Brothers. However, the episode doesn't fit in before there either, as it must air before Meat the Veals since Mrs. Featherbottom's storyline is resolved in that episode.
- Even though the banner reads "TonyWonder.com," the URL in the browser’s location bar reads "razzledazzle.org."
- When George Michael runs Michael over, Michael clearly jumps onto the hood of the car rather than the car running into him.
