Beef Consommé
Template:Infobox Arrested Development episode
"Beef Consommé" is the thirteenth episode aired of TV comedy series Arrested Development.
Plot
Michael Bluth, Lucille, George Sr., and their attorney, Barry Zuckerkorn were meeting to discuss George Sr.'s arraignment the next day. Barry tells them that it would help if they all came and appeared loving and supportive for 10 minutes. Lucille asks if he can get it down to 5. Just then, G.O.B. called Michael, asking about his girlfriend Marta and the man he suspected she was seeing behind his back, Hermano. Michael was nervous, having found out he was actually the Hermano that she was speaking of, since "hermano" was the Spanish word for brother. So Michael tells G.O.B. to lie low while he talks to her again. At Marta's house, Michael apologizes for accusing her of cheating on G.O.B. Marta apologizes for disrespecting G.O.B., but Michael, who had been secretly infatuated with Marta for a long time, tells her it's not a big deal. Realizing that they both must remember to honor their family, they both decide to do the right thing, but soon begin doing the wrong thing anyway. But when they both see reminders of G.O.B. around the apartment, they realize they have to tell him first. Meanwhile, back at the model home, Maeby is tired of Tobias and Lindsay's constant fighting. George Michael, having heard a clue that might mean Maeby wasn't his blood relative, decides to do some investigating. G.O.B. drops by to ask Michael about the situation with Marta. Michael asks if he's spoken with Marta, but G.O.B. says he's ignoring her calls. He plans to keep lying low so that she can't break things off, and in the meantime, find Hermano and beat him up. Buster, overhearing his brother's plan, wonders what it would be like to get into a fight, having lived his entire life under his mother's wing. Lucille then calls to remind the family about their father's hearing the next afternoon, and to tell Buster that she doesn't miss him. Meanwhile, George Michael is beginning his investigation into Maeby's conception, and asks Tobias to elaborate what he meant when he said they had trouble conceiving. But Tobias becomes distracted when he learns that his role as "Frightened Inmate #2" is a shower scene that requires him to be naked. As a never-nude, this poses a problem for Tobias.
Back down in the kitchen, Buster asks if G.O.B. would mind if he asked Marta out, since he planned to break things off anyway. G.O.B. tells him to go ahead, not taking his baby brother seriously. But when he overhears Buster say "hermano" and learns that it is the Spanish word for brother, he assumes that it must be the actor who plays her character's brother Tio on El Amor Prohibido and goes off to get his revenge. Michael then gets off the phone with Lucille, and when Buster tells him where G.O.B. went, he realizes he's got to stop him before it's too late. At Lucille's apartment, George Michael stops by to ask a few questions about Maeby, and learns that she was a test-tube baby, which he takes to mean that he's not actually related to Maeby. G.O.B. finally reaches the El Amor Prohibido set, and takes a swing at the actor he's looking for, who proceeds to knock G.O.B. out cold. When G.O.B. wakes up, he's in the hospital room set of the soap opera, where Michael is waiting for him. Michael tells G.O.B. that he was the "hermano" that Marta was in love with, and G.O.B. tells Michael that if he'd known it was him, he wouldn't have minded. He gives Michael and Marta his blessing. Michael is happy and rushes over to tell Marta that they can finally be together. But they are interrupted when Michael receives a call from his mother, and remembers that he is late for his father's hearing. In fact, nearly all the Bluths were running late. Buster had rented a mariachi band to proclaim his love for Marta, but arrived just a few seconds after Michael did. And Tobias told Lindsay about the problem with his part. Lindsay tells him he has to get over it, but Tobias tells her that he can't. Seeing his vulnerability, she decides to help him finally face his fear. George Michael finds Maeby to tell her that they might not be related, but after realizing that her family was all she had, he decided he couldn't take that away from her.
At the courthouse, only Lucille and G.O.B. had shown up for the hearing on time. Barry arrived shortly after George Sr. was led in, and Buster soon came in with the mariachi band still in tow, and tells G.O.B. about seeing Michael kissing Marta just a few minutes ago, which makes G.O.B. jealous. As the judge reads the lengthy list of charges against George Sr., Michael finally arrives, and is immediately accosted by G.O.B., and the two brawl their way out of the courtroom, then out onto the courthouse steps. Buster, seeing an opportunity to finally know what it's like to take a punch, joins in the fracas. George Sr., who had never heard his charges listed in one sitting, used the chaotic situation to attempt his escape through the courthouse stairwell. Meanwhile, Tobias and Lindsay took their clothes off together, and Tobias was finally able to be fully nude. Having finally reconnected as a couple, the two made love for the first time in years. At the courthouse, the scene was getting even more chaotic. Michael, G.O.B. and Buster were fighting all around the courthouse lawn. Embarrassed by her family, Lucille takes off for home. George Sr. accidentally runs into the room containing his cell, and is locked back up by the guard, who didn't realize he had even tried to escape in the first place. G.O.B., Michael and Buster had fought their way out of the courthouse and into the adjoining park, where they were found by Marta. Seeing Michael and G.O.B. fighting, Marta realizes that she doesn't want to date either of them, and tells Buster she has no idea who he is. Michael and G.O.B. make up, realizing that they should never let a girl get in between them.
Cultural references
- Love is in the Air, this 1978 song by John Paul Young is referenced throughout the episode.
- G.O.B. has given Marta a homemade CD of himself performing the song.
- Buster hires his mariachi band to play this song for Marta.
- Oscar de la Hoya, the man who hits G.O.B. learned to fight by having once played this Mexican-American boxer.
Character Cameos
- This is the first time we see Michael Paul Chan as Judge Ping, who was the judge for George Sr.'s trial, and would preside over several legal proceedings over the span of the series.
- This was Patricia Velasquez's final appearance as Marta Estrella (aka Marta 2.0).
Foreshadowing/Future References
- This is the last time we would see Tobias struggle with his "Never-nude" problem until Sad Sack, when he would suffer a relapse.
Episode notes
- When Arrested Development was first picked up by FOX, it was for only 13 episodes, so this episode was intended to potentially serve as the series finale. As a result, many of the ongoing storylines from the first season reached some sort of resolution, including the brothers' rivalry over Marta, Tobias's never-nude disorder, and George Michael's crush on his cousin.
- In the scene where the definition of hermano is shown, the word above it is hermafrodita and the picture that accompanies is tobias with his cut-offs
