Let 'Em Eat Cake (Arrested Development episode)

Infobox Arrested Development episode
episode_name = Let ’Em Eat Cake
episode_no = 1AJD21
airdate = June 6, 2004
writer = Mitchell Hurwitz & Jim Vallely
director = Paul Feig
on_the_next = “The family grapples with the news they had just heard, Maeby’s life gets a little more complicated, and Kitty helps George, Sr. escape.” | guest_star =
Justin Lee as Annyong Bluth Henry Winkler as Barry Zuckerkorn Ian Roberts as Dr. Fishman John Beard as Himself Judy Greer as Kitty Sanchez Stacey Grenrock-Woods as Trisha Thoon


season = 1

“Let ‘Em Eat Cake” was the twenty-second episode of the TV comedy series "Arrested Development".

ynopsis

The Bluth businesses are in trouble. Because of the low-carb diet fad, the banana stand has been struggling. Meanwhile, the model home is falling apart because of shoddy workmanship. Lindsay thinks she has a solution, and excitedly tells Michael about her new bead business. All she needs is some startup money from Michael. G.O.B. thinks Lindsay is starting a bee business, and when she refuses to include him as a partner, he vows to start his own superior bee business. Michael is reluctant to give Lindsay any money, since her many previous businesses were failures, but ultimately agrees to help her out.

Michael goes to prison to prepare for the polygraph test he has to take. There, he sees Buster and Annyong, who make a bet with each other to see who can get a girlfriend first. George Sr., Lucille, Barry Zuckerkorn, and G.O.B. are waiting for Michael. He tells them he has just received a call from Kitty Sanchez, who is threatening to bring the company down unless they meet her demands. George Sr. tells Michael to give Kitty what she wants, but not to find out what she knows so he can pass the polygraph.

At the banana stand, George Michael makes a new friend, Ann. Ann wants to know if bananas are high in carbs. George Michael tells Ann he will be on TV talking about bananas and the low-carb diet, so Ann invites him over to her house to watch. As George Michael tries to impress Ann, Maeby watches with disgust.

Michael meets with Kitty, who wants to be in charge of the Bluth Company. She tells Michael that George Sr. built houses overseas without paying taxes. Michael decides that paying the back taxes is easier than dealing with Kitty, and leaves.

Michael returns home just as George Michael is leaving to meet Ann. In the kitchen, Lindsay and Tobias excitedly announce that a book Tobias had written years earlier had suddenly caught fire, but only in the gay community. With the influx of money, Lindsay abandons her bead business to support her husband.

Michael calls his son so the two can watch George Michael’s interview on the news. Maeby informs him that George Michael is on a date with Ann, and jealously insults her plain appearance. When the news starts, however, George Michael’s piece has been bumped for a story about American-made homes built in Iraq. Michael notices that the house in Iraq is identical to the model home.

With this new information, Michael tries to get back in touch with Kitty. However, she is meeting with G.O.B. and trying to get his help to take over the Bluth Company. The next day, Michael went to Lucille to ask about the Iraqi model homes. Lucille claims ignorance, but seems to support his suspicions. G.O.B. arrives, and inspired with a sense of conviction from his meeting with Kitty, demands to be put in charge of the Bluth Company. After Michael explains to G.O.B. exactly what the company president has to do, he backs off his demands.

Tobias is hosting his first book reading of his book, The Man Inside Me. Lindsay arrives to support her husband. She realizes that the book is only popular in the gay community, and that Tobias is just as oblivious as she had always thought. With this realization, she tells Tobias she does not think their relationship can work.

Armed with his knowledge about the model homes in Iraq, Michael meets with George Sr. at the prison. George Sr. tells Michael again that he should just give Kitty what she wants, in case she gives the evidence to someone else. In fact, Kitty was trying once again to take over the company, this time meeting with Buster. Buster thinks it is a date, meaning he has won his contest with Annyong. George Sr. accidentally mentions that Lucille knew about the Iraq model homes the whole time. Fed up, Michael says he is leaving, and Kitty can have the company.

With Michael gone, George Sr. volunteers to take the polygraph. The test does not go well, and he suffers a heart attack just as the test gets underway. The family gathers at the hospital. When Tobias comes, Lindsay realizes that perhaps they may still have a connection. With George Sr. incapacitated, Buster sees a chance to put Kitty’s coup d’etat in action. However, he decides that he is not up to the challenge. G.O.B. announces he will speak for the family, but immediately changes his mind, demanding that Michael should be there to handle the responsibilities. They realize that nobody has called Michael.

At the model home, Michael tells George Michael they are leaving. The family can fend for itself. George Michael says he wants to stay because he likes the family. Michael complains that his son has been acting strange lately, growing distant from him. The phone rings, and Michael tells George Michael not to pick up, since it will only be the family asking for something. George Michael answers anyway, and they rush to the hospital.

At the hospital, Maeby, still upset that George Michael has been spending time with Ann, decides that she could use her uncle to make her cousin jealous, and kisses Annyong. However, George Michael did not notice.

Michael changes his mind, and announces that he would never leave the family. Just then, a doctor comes and tells the family they have lost George Sr. Shocked, the family goes to see the body. There, they discover an empty bed, realizing that the doctor meant George Sr. has escaped to flee the country. Michael quickly reverses course again, and tells George Michael they are leaving.

Episode notes

*This episode is the finale for Season 1.
*The series had not yet been picked up for a second season, so introducing the ending sequence with “On the next season of Arrested Development” was a gamble. Similarly, the "On the next Arrested Development" segment was included in "Pilot" before the show had been picked up.
**Season 2's finale would also follow this running joke and end with "On the next season of Arrested Development," too.
*On the DVD set, this episode is titled "Let Them Eat Cake", because the whole family is on the Atkins diet and is not eating carbohydrates.

References

*"20/20" The news program that Michael wants to watch with his son is called "Hindsight". And, as the old saying goes, hindsight is 20/20.
*Atkins diet The whole family, even George Sr. in prison, is on the Atkins diet in the episode, and many jokes are made about potatoes, bread, bananas, the glucose IV drip, as they are all carbohydrate foods. In the next episode preview, the family is eating waffles, cake, toast, bagels, muffins, and an array of carbohydrates after Lucille orders them all off the diet. Except Lindsay...
*"Liberty Leading the People" During the report on American troops making themselves at home in one of Saddam’s palaces, an American soldier is seen examining the censored Eugène Delacroix painting Liberty Leading the People (a black bar is painted over Liberty’s breasts).
*"Malcolm in the Middle" Maeby says Ann “barely had a face,” and calls her Annie McNoface. Alessandra Toreson, who plays Ann in this episode, played Malcolm’s girlfriend in an episode of "Malcolm in the Middle" where her face was never shown.
*"High Anxiety / One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" According to a sign in the hospital, the resident nurse's name is 'Ratchet.' Cloris Leachman played a nurse named "Nurse Ratchet" in Mel Brooks' movie "High Anxiety", a spoof of Hitchcock's "Vertigo". This is a reference to the character of Nurse Ratched in Ken Kesey's novel.

Callbacks/Running Jokes

*"And a whole lot of love." Lucille uses love as an excuse for committing a horrible deed, which she later uses again in "Development Arrested".
*Attorneys George Sr. replicates his despondency from "Pilot", by putting his face in hand and stating that he has the "the worst (bleep)ing attorneys."
*Barry's secretary Barry's gay secretary is seen at Tobias' book reading.
*Barry’s secret life In this episode, it is revealed that Barry frequents rest areas for an unspecified reason. He also lies saying he has Lakers tickets in order to leave early to get back to the rest areas.
*Freedom sign The gay protester, first seen in the pilot episode, holding the “Freedom” sign is seen at Tobias’ book reading.
*Incest Maeby kissing Annyong to make George Michael jealous mirrors "Pilot", when she kissed George Michael to get her parents’ attention.
**Neither attempt is successful, as Lindsay and then George Michael both walk by her without noticing.
**Annyong suggests they should kiss again, to teach everyone a lesson, just as George Michael did earlier.
**Maeby’s jealousy over Ann suggests she may have feelings for George Michael.
*"Is that a shot at me?" Lindsay asks when Michael complains about nobody working, the same way Barry asks in "Altar Egos".
*"I've made a huge mistake" G.O.B. says this signature line after realizing how many problems Michael has to deal with as CEO of the company.
*Shoddy Workmanship The video from Iraq that shows a house remarkably similar to the Bluth's house shows a piece of handrail falling. In the opening scene of the episode in the Bluth's house the same piece of railing fell too.
*Tobias is gay More jokes are made at the expense of Tobias’ sexuality.
**Tobias has replaced all the gender-related pronouns in his book reading with the masculine form only, including the "her" that refers to Lindsay in the dedication.
**Tobias is oblivious to the fact that his book appeals only to the gay community.
*After George, Sr. fakes his heart attack during the polygraph, there is a cut to the same clip of an ambulance as in the earlier episode "Visiting Ours", after White Power Bill stabs G.O.B. with a shiv.

Hidden/Background Jokes

*Amazon.com Amazon.com sells Tobias’ book, "The Man Inside Me", for $14.97. The site indicates that customers who bought the book also bought: "Families with Low Self-Esteem, Caged Wisdom: Musings From Prison, Girls with Low Self-Esteem" on VHS, and "The Low-Carb Gay, Bi, and Transgender Diet" by B. J. Zuckerkorn.
*Mommy, What Will I Look Like? According to the sign: “Easy one step process. Simply put your baby on our patented bed and snap, it’s done! In just moments you will receive a print of what [your] beautiful child will look like when he or she [...] Disclaimer: Not responsible for end results. For complaints, contact God at 800-555- [...] ”
*"Visiting Ours" The hospital sign with “Visiting Hours” has the “H” missing. "Visiting Ours" was the title of an earlier episode.
*"Livres Aux Folles" The bookshop's name is "Livres Aux Folles", which translates roughly from French as 'Books for the birds'. ” This is probably a reference to "The Birdcage", based on a French play and film, "La Cage aux Folles (film)".

Character Cameos

*This episode marks the only appearance of Alessandra Toreson as Ann. In all future episodes, Ann is played by Mae Whitman. As with Marta, Toreson is referred to by fans as “Ann 1.0.” Ann would become George Michael's girlfriend in Season 2, and G.O.B.'s in season 3.
*Ian Roberts makes his first appearance as "The Literal Doctor" Doctor Wordsman, a doctor whose choice of words often gives the family false hope or, as in this episode, unnecessary grief.
*Barry Zuckerkorn's gay secretary, first seen in "In God We Trust" can be both seen and heard standing in front of the audience that attends Tobias's book reading at the bookstore.

Foreshadowing/Future References

*For the first time, Maeby appears not only to be aware of George Michael’s crush on her, but also to have feelings of her own toward her cousin. This would become a major theme toward the end of Season 2 and in Season 3.
*Michael tells George Michael, “Pack your bags,” and the two are absent from the tag. We find out in "The One Where Michael Leaves" that they are absent because they are going to Arizona, although the rest of the family think they have only gone home.
*George Sr. admits that Lucille convinced him into the model home deal with Saddam Hussein, a possible hint into the revelation that Lucille was secretly the one controlling George Sr. and the business, as revealed in "Development Arrested".

Goofs

*In the opening scene when Michael uses the remote to turn the TV off, the trim work of the entertainment center comes loose and swings into a speaker, knocking it from the wall onto the floor. A moment later Lindsay enters the room and as the camera pans back to Michael we can see over his shoulder that the speaker is back on the wall.
*George Michael has a sandwich and a soda despite being on the Atkins diet when Michael approaches him to leave. (According to the DVD commentary, this was a mistake.)
*When Tobias is walking down the street eating a corndog, the man behind him (to the camera's right) turns around to look at Tobias. In the next camera cut, the man is suddenly facing forward, only to turn around and look at Tobias again.
*After Lindsay arrives at the hospital and embraces her mother, a boom mic pole can be seen briefly in the upper left corner of the screen.

ources

* [http://the-op.com/episode/122 The-OP.com]
* [http://www.fox.com/arresteddev FOX]
*imdb title|0515224|Let 'Em Eat Cake