Meat the Veals

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Arrested Development episode
"Meat the Veals"
Episode No 2AJD15
Airdate April 3, 2005
Writer(s) Barbara Feldman and Richard Rosenstock
Director Anthony Russo
On the next: "Buster finds someone else interested in kissing his hook, so Buster gets a hook replacement."
Guest star(s) Mae Whitman as Ann
Alan Tudyk as Pastor Veal
Ione Skye as Mrs. Veal

Arrested Development Season 2
November 2004 - April 2005
  1. The One Where Michael Leaves
  2. The One Where They Build a House
  3. ¡Amigos!
  4. Good Grief
  5. Sad Sack
  6. Afternoon Delight
  7. Switch Hitter
  8. Queen for a Day
  9. Burning Love
  10. Ready, Aim, Marry Me
  11. Out on a Limb
  12. Hand to God
  13. Motherboy XXX
  14. The Immaculate Election
  15. Sword of Destiny
  16. Meat the Veals
  17. Spring Breakout
  18. Righteous Brothers
All Arrested Development episodes

"Meat the Veals" is the thirty-eighth episode aired of the TV comedy series Arrested Development.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Oscar wants to throw Lucille a party to celebrate her wedding anniversary. He got the idea from Buster, who said that it would show how Oscar has been there for Lucille while George Sr. has been a fugitive. Upon hearing of the party, George Sr. concocts a plan to win back Lucille by renewing his vows. He enlists G.O.B. to abduct her and take her to Church of the Good Shepard. Tobias continues to disguise himself as Mrs. Featherbottom, unaware that everyone knows that it is him. The others are taking advantage of this; Maeby is getting her ironing done, and Lucille uses him for catering. George Michael has decided to ask Ann if she will get pre-engaged to him. Michael is against the idea, and meets with Ann's parents, thinking that they will feel the same way. It turns out that they support the pre-engagement, so Michael invites the Veals to the party, thinking that they will see how dysfunctional the Bluths are.

However, at the party, the family is surprisingly normal, to Michael's annoyance. He convinces George Michael not to go through with the pre-engagement. However, after Ann's mother starts kissing Michael on the balcony and George Michael sees this, he goes ahead with it. G.O.B. and George Sr. abduct Lucille (knocking her out with ether) and take her to the church in which Ann's father, a pastor, is presiding. The whole family arrives at the church, and two fights ensue — one between Oscar and George Sr. over Lucille and the other between Michael and Pastor Veal over Mrs. Veal. When the police arrive, George Sr. escapes wearing Tobias's Mrs. Featherbottom wig.

[edit] Notes

[edit] Cultural references

  • The narrator refers to Lindsay's middle toe as "Roast Beef", a reference to This Little Piggy.
  • When George Michael asks Ann to pre-engage, he says, "And it would be great to hear back on this before the real hard AP stuff kicks in, you know?" referring to Advance Placement high school classes.

[edit] Callbacks/running jokes

  • Big Yellow Joint The song playing while Oscar smokes pot is a Banana Stand reference introduced in Season 1.
  • Bleeps - Much of Franklin's speech is censored.
  • Dolls - George Sr. says to himself in Franklin's voice, "Hey, man, you're gonna get your sorry white ass thrown in jail," to which he responds, "I said enough!" Later, he yells, "Get your loser hand out of my ass!" when G.O.B. picks up Franklin.
  • Church of the Good Shepherd - This is the church bus boarded by Bluth Company employees during "Staff Infection".
  • Franklin - G.O.B.'s African-American puppet appears for the first time.
  • Forced kiss - G.O.B. uses Franklin dipped in ether to knock out Lucille, Buster, and then accidentally himself.
  • G.O.B. witnesses - While driving his parents to the church, G.O.B. is worried that he might witness them having sex, as he did in "Visiting Ours".
  • Her? - George Sr. says the phrase as he is eavesdropping from the attic while George Michael and Lindsay discuss Ann. G.O.B. uses it when George Sr. says that he needs to recommit to Lucille. Maeby says it when she finds out that the attractive woman at the party is Ann's mom.
  • Hey... - Buster says "Hey, brother" to G.O.B., who responds in Franklin's voice, "Who you callin' 'brother', you hook-ass-" and Buster immediately finishes with "Mother!" upon seeing Lucille unconscious on the floor.
  • Hook - Upon seeing Buster's hook, George Sr. remarks, "What the hell kind of puppet does Buster have on his hand?" Buster later uses Franklin as a hook substitute.
  • Maeby's job - Previously she is seen reading the script for "Operation: Hot Mother". Later when she meets Ann's mom, she asks, "Who's the hottie? ... Does she look old enough to play Topher Grace's mom?"
  • Mary Poppins - Tobias as Mrs. Featherbottom attempts to float under an umbrella like Mary Poppins.
  • "Maybe he still is..."
    • Oscar tells Buster that Lucille is throwing an anniversary party for George Sr. Buster asks, "My father?" and Oscar responds, "Yes?... I mean, yes."
    • Oscar once again mentions that maybe Buster's father still is there, but Michael interrupts with "Shut up!" Oscar responds (rather slowly), "Oh, you shut up!"
  • "Marry me!" - Maeby uses her standard deflection, though regrets it after someone actually accepts. She also says "babysit me!" while trying to convince a security guard that she is younger than 15.
  • Mrs. Featherbottom - Tobias appears several times disguised as a British nanny.
  • Peanuts - Franklin was the name of the African-American character in the cartoon strip.
  • Outdated shirt - As Mrs. Featherbottom, Tobias wears a "Bush/Cheney 2000" sweatshirt. This is a reference to Lupe, as well as Lucille's other housekeepers, wearing outdated shirts.
  • Tobias is gay
    • As Mrs. Featherbottom, he asks if anyone would like a "banger in the mouth", referring to sausages. He then quickly corrects himself, saying that he forgot that he was in the states, where it is referred to as a "sausage in the mouth".
    • Also as Mrs. Featherbottom, he mentions that he's "stuffing the mushrooms".
  • "The mere fact that..." - Michael uses this line when he is trying to convince George Michael not to get pre-engaged to Ann.
  • "What you're tryin' to say to me" - The music that plays while Ann begs George Michael to teach her "the ways of the secular flesh" is the same as that played when he learned that he would be sharing a room with Maeby in the pilot, complete with a zoom-in on his worried reaction.

[edit] Hidden/background jokes

  • Come on! - The song that plays when Franklin is introduced and subsequently appears has the lyrics "Come on!", which is G.O.B.'s catchphrase.
  • "He's aggressive!" - Franklin is handcuffed on top of the limo soon after the cops mistake him for an aggressive suspect.
  • Mrs. Featherbottom
    • When Maeby mentions that she needs Mrs. Featherbottom to iron her blouse, Tobias defends the housekeeper and accidentally slips into character, saying that Maeby should have mentioned it to her before she changed out of her "bloody work clothes".
    • Tobias races upstairs and comes back down dressed as Mrs. Featherbottom. He had been previously shown changing outfits in the attic in "Sword of Destiny".
    • When changing into Mrs. Featherbottom, Tobias loses his mustache, yet when he changes back into Tobias again his mustache has mysteriously grown back. This implies that Tobias' mustache has been fake all along.
  • Operation: Hot Mother - Maeby is reading a script for a film entitled Operation: Hot Mother, the same name used by Buster in "Motherboy XXX".

[edit] References