Ten episodes in and Arrested Development had found its stride. Its tone was clear as a bell and any early skeptics who had kept with it surely had found themselves understanding the show’s sensibility and humor. Specifically, we began to trust that any detail or early gag featured in an episode or episodes previous could end up paying off enormous dividends later on, so attention was crucial.
“Pier Pressure” was the first episode where we met J. Walter Weatherman, the one-armed man George Sr. used to scare the living hell out of his children to make them learn these trivial little lessons. In this case, it’s Michael who recruits Gob to scare George Michael away from drugs, unaware that his son is just looking to get some marijuana for Buster. And Buster wants it to help his girlfriend and mother’s best friend Lucille Austero with her vertigo. You see what sort of tangled wad we have on our hands. Just when we think the payoff comes as Gob and Michael reveal themselves and their lesson to George Michael, a seemingly dramatic shootout takes place with a man having his arm shot off. The reveal that it’s George Sr. trying to teach his son to not teach his son a lesson is incredible, and solidified the show as reliably amazing. The layers of plot and character motivation and intricate weaving of plausible storylines for this big moment are kind of astounding, and we witnessed them really for the first time in this way in “Pier Pressure,” which is probably why it’s creator Mitchell Hurwitz’s favorite episode.
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