Whistler's Mother (Arrested Development)

"Whistler's Mother"
Arrested Development episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 20
Directed by Paul Feig
Written by John Levenstein
Jim Vallely
Production code 1AJD19
Original air date April 4, 2004
Guest stars
Season 1 episodes
All Arrested Development episodes

"Whistler's Mother" is the 20th episode of the first season of the Fox TV comedy series Arrested Development.

Contents

Synopsis

Michael is making plans for some Bluth company funds that recently became available. He is approached by successive family members, who each want some of that money. Lindsay wants it to start an affair; Michael suggests she take up charity work again. Lucille wants it to pay for Buster's operation on his clicking jaw; Michael suggests she stop coddling him. Tobias wants it for acting lessons and Gob just wants it; Michael suggests Gob and Tobias come up with a business idea to make money themselves. Meanwhile, George Michael spots a man who looks just like George Sr., except with hair. He tells Maeby, but she doesn't believe him.

George Sr.'s twin brother, Oscar, is in town; George calls Michael and asks him to give Oscar $10,000. Michael refuses. Maeby, working at the banana stand, spots the same man George Michael saw. Meanwhile, Lindsay finds out her hair stylist has been called up to serve in the Iraq War. She decides to protest the war as her charity work. Michael encounters Gob and Tobias at a coffee shop; Michael assumes they are planning to invest in such a shop and tells them to write a proposal. Uncle Oscar comes in after Gob and Tobias leave; he asks for money, then offers to sell some land to Michael, who doesn't realize the land is worthless because the government has an easement on it.

Maeby and George Michael discuss seeing the man they believe is their grandfather in a wig. They visit the prison to see if he is still there. Michael, now aware that the land he purchased is worthless, tries unsuccessfully to contact Oscar. Gob and Tobias approach Michael with their investment idea ("Gobias Industries"). Michael, embarrassed about his own poor investment, lies to them and says George Sr. made the deal and that no more investment money is available.

Lindsay joins a group of protesters at a military base; they are herded into a "free speech zone" (a large cage). But the media people are not there; they are confined somewhere else in a "free press zone." Meanwhile, Maeby and George Michael visit George Sr. in the prison and mention the lemon grove purchase. Michael tells the Bluth Company board that his father made a bad deal; Mr. Jordan, a potential whistleblower, points out that George Sr. cannot legally conduct business from jail. Then George Sr. then calls to discuss the deal with Michael. Lindsay and the protesters gets the attention of some local residents, who hose them down and play loud disco music. All the protesters except Lindsay run off. Defiantly shouting "no hair for oil," she does a triumphant pole dance; the enthusiastic response of the locals boosts her self-esteem.

Michael visits his mother to discuss the bad investment. Lucille comforts him and says she will "take care of it." She visits Oscar at his trailer in the lemon grove and makes him buy the land back, which he does because he loves her. She uses the money to buy Mr. Jordan off the board and puts herself in his place, solving the Bluth Company's problems but creating a problem for Michael.

Episode notes

Cultural references

Callbacks

Foreshadowing

Hidden/background jokes

Character cameos

External links