Arrested Development hasn’t had the smoothest journey to its fifth season, but the famed sitcom has finally returned to Netflix. Five years after the show’s fourth season premiered on the leading SVOD platform, a new batch of episodes is available, though their arrival has been overshadowed by a recent controversy related to allegations against Arrested Development co-star Jeffrey Tambor.
The fifth season of Arrested Development follows the Bluth family as its members campaign to cement their clan as the “Family of the Year.” All of the show’s primary cast members returned for the new season, including Tambor, who vacated his Emmy-winning role on the Amazon-distributed dramedy Transparent after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct.
Tambor’s impropriety is hanging over Arrested Development, too. Earlier in May, it was announced that Tambor would return to his role as Bluth family patriarch George Bluth in spite of the allegations against him. Then, in a New York Times interview with the Arrested Development cast, which was published on May 23, Jessica Walter (who portrays Tambor’s on-screen wife, Lucille) became teary-eyed as she recalled a time when Tambor yelled at her on the sitcom’s set. Some of her male castmates, especially series lead Jason Bateman, were criticized for appearing to minimize her distress while defending Tambor.
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I wrote about why the Arrested Development interview cut so deep, even in an environment full of painful stories. https://t.co/JrAjVE0Whg
— Linda Holmes (@lindaholmes) May 24, 2018
Six days later, it’s clear that some critics aren’t quite ready to forgive Tambor and his male castmates. Some others, however, have offered positive reviews of the Bluths’ return. At the time of this post, the new season has received an average score of 69 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating “generally favorable reviews.”
If you’re curious to check out the next chapter of one of America’s most famed TV shows, you can find eight new Arrested Development episodes on Netflix. Eight more will become available “at a later date.”
