Now that “Arrested Development” has officially been extended for another season and fans have had the chance to go crazy over that announcement for a while, things have calmed down a little and the more thought-provoking discussions have started to emerge. It’s clear that many people would be happy to see the show coming back, but on the other hand, not everyone seems to agree that it would be a good thing to continue extending it forever.
It’s the classic problem with TV productions, and the people running a show often have to make the decision between shutting it down while it’s still good, or continuing it at the risk of making it feel forced and boring. For what it’s worth, “Arrested Development” is probably still far from the stage where it would get boring, but even now some fans of the show have been expressing their hopes that season 5 is not going to be in the same style as season 4.
So it’s clear that there are some things that fans of “Arrested Development” certainly don’t want to see, mostly in terms of the storytelling style. On the other hand, the way the story was told in the first three seasons was a bit too hectic for some, and it required a careful, active following of the show in order to be aware of all the jokes that were constantly being thrown around, mostly referencing something internal to the show’s plot.
It is true that the first three seasons suffered from somewhat low ratings, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be related to the plot development style. There could be other explanations for the situation, such as a unique style of humor that might have been too niche for most people watching TV.
What kind of story could season 5 tell that would make fans happy and even have them wishing for another season? One thing that all fans seem to agree on is that they want to see a little more happiness in the plot, instead of focusing on depressing developments. Especially around Michael, who was shown in a very different light during season 4.
His character was originally supposed to be the voice of reason in the family, helping keep everyone together and calling his relatives out when they were acting inappropriate. And yet, we saw a new side of his personality in the last season, as it turned out that he wasn’t really that different from his family members in some ways.
Is this going to be continued in season 5, or was it more of a temporary change? Many fans seemed to dislike the new Michael, so the show’s writers should tread very carefully. On the other hand, some have been arguing that the previous version of his character was a bit too flat and didn’t have enough depth to be interesting.
And yet, people enjoyed him for three seasons, and he was actually a fan favorite among the show’s characters, so it’s obvious that this is just about a divide of opinions. And, as it turns out, it’s just a particularly great divide, and it looks like there are fans in both camps.
In the end though, it’s possible that the writers might decide to do something even more interesting, presenting an entirely new side of Michael’s character that they haven’t explored before. We don’t know what that could be, but he certainly has a complex personality with a lot of potential for more unique and diverse behavior.