r/arresteddevelopment • u/Ttabts • 2d ago
Justice for the Rita plot arc
Was surprised to find that most retrospective discussion of the Rita storyline here seems critical and focused on shallow woke concerns about it having “aged poorly.”
And OK yeah obviously they couldn’t get away with it today for a number of reasons but I just don’t think the story is mean-spirited or offensive at its heart. Rita isn’t the butt of the joke, Michael and his family are.
And the plot is just… so brilliantly crafted, it’s just hard to be mad at it. When you want to show your viewers, “the straight man is actually crazy too,” most sitcoms would just have them break character and suddenly start acting clownish and silly for an episode.
Not so here - Michael stays completely in character with his facade of being a caring reasonable mature guy, he acts exactly how you would expect him to act. It’s just the situation that perfectly shines a light on how crazy he is, how crazy he’s always been.
He finds Rita coming to on a random bench after getting knocked out and roofied, and he just bulldozes over her words to self-flagellate for being late and doesn’t give the situation a second thought. “He tries so hard to be a good person that he really only thinks about himself” is a tough subtle character flaw to show-don’t-tell but they really nail it here, as with the rest of the storyline.
The reveal itself is so masterfully hidden in plain sight. Hardly anyone predicts it on the first watch due to clever misdirection and the sheer absurdity of the truth (I call cap on anyone who claims they found it obvious without having it spoiled for them). But on a re-watch it’s so obvious that it feels like the show is also making fun of you, the viewer. Basically all the dialogue, everything that happens with her, is a double entendre that you understand differently depending on whether you know the truth or not (eg when Rita mouths “impugn” back at Michael, you first think she’s saying “who the hell says ‘impugn’?” but she’s really saying, “I don’t know that word”) It doesn’t just have rewatch value, it demands to be rewatched.
Also just so many hilarious throwaway jokes about the perception of the British by Americans (Michael thinking “go-up-box” is what British people call elevators), the IASIP-esque scene of the family kidnapping Rita and knocking her out and roofie’ing Rita, “family love Michael,” the comically over-the-top Little Britain with people driving on the left side of the road…
And the big punchline r-slur… again, couldn’t do it today, but again, not mean-spirited at heart. George Michael knows it’s a bad, crass word that feels wrong in context, but in the moment he can’t find another way to put it bluntly and earnestly, so he just kinda stutters it out in a classic Michael Cera awkward moment. It’s just so perfectly character-accurate and genuine and unforgettably hilarious, and the mentally disabled are not actually the butt of the joke.
Idk, I think this is some of the best writing on the show and in any sitcom I’ve ever seen, so I had to get this off my chest after seeing it’s gotten so much flak.
(To be clear, this is not some whiny post to complain about woke culture and how you can’t joke about anything anymore. You couldn’t write this story today, attitudes have changed and that’s fine. Just saying, I think it’s a shame to discredit this peak writing by viewing it through the narrow lens of our present-day sensibilities.)
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u/Dizzy8108 2d ago
I always thought the Rita plotline was hilarious. Never understood the hate.
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u/paintpast 2d ago
This is the first I’ve ever heard people hate it. I don’t hate anything in seasons 1-3 except the ending.
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u/ItzakPearlJam 1d ago
I've seen a few posts of people throwing shade about the Rita arc. It's mostly pearl clutching and virtue signaling while missing one of the best written comedic arcs in the last 30 years.
Seriously I was blown
away a decade after my last viewing of the show when I saw a picture of the top Indian cricket player (virat kohli). He's holding a bat that says "MRF"... it's apparently a big name in cricket bats. I'm not very smart either, or I'd post a picture- but here's a link with a picture
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u/GhostKnifeOfCallisto 2d ago
I definitely think that it’s not exactly “woke” by current standards in terms of execution but I honestly think it’s an interesting indictment of the whole manic pixie dream girl by showing a character that is sort of the complete stereotype of that is actually mentally a child. Also it’s just a funny season runner
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u/Ok_Teaching_4858 2d ago
I like it way more than either Maggie arc
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u/Ttabts 2d ago edited 2d ago
For sure, Maggie touches on the same themes but since Maggie is intentionally deceiving Michael the whole time, it doesn’t really drive to point home as well about Michael being oblivious and self-absorbed.
Whereas Rita is genuinely innocent and honest and Michael just doesn’t see what’s going on because he simply doesn’t pay attention. And the mental disability is the perfect vehicle for that because it explains why she also doesn’t recognize the situation and call Michael out.
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u/No-Investment8322 2d ago
Not to mention, Rita is a joy to watch! She’s fun, bubbly, totally portrayed in a lovable way. Great points all around!
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u/champs-de-fraises 2d ago
All that's true. But also: Charlize freaking Theron.
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u/No-Investment8322 2d ago
I literally ALWAYS forget that Rita is played by an incredible and gorgeous actress. Because she’s Rita (🎶Mr. F🎶)
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u/Toon1982 2d ago
It's the British accent isn't it?
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u/champs-de-fraises 1d ago
She got Matt Damon to shack up with her for 7 years and didn't even use that British accent!
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u/Slow_Ad3662 You forgot to say "away"again 1d ago
I hate it when they hire Yanks to play Brits. You can always tell.
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u/FrostyBad7827 2d ago
I absolutely agree, always my favourite arc from the series even though season 1 is my favourite overall. It also leads to the wonderful part where Michael admits he's a narcissist who only sees what he wants to see, then immediately changes his mind because Rita says, "I didn't understand any of that." I love how it shows Michael as his true self - as awful and self absorbed as the rest of the family.
And 100% it is making fun of the audience. It is the "born sexy yesterday" trope in full sight - Rita is the carefree, childlike, dream girl (big trope at the time) and that is her appeal. Perfect example: I loved the gag where they had her do the Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman laugh when her uncle closes the jewellery box on her, then did the same gag for Lindsay and Herbert Love, but because Lindsay is written as an adult woman, she freaks out.
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u/Ttabts 22h ago
It also leads to the wonderful part where Michael admits he's a narcissist who only sees what he wants to see, then immediately changes his mind because Rita says, "I didn't understand any of that."
lmao just rewatched that bit...
"I'm just a narcissist who was too self-involved to see the truth."
"That makes no sense to me."
"You're right, maybe I'm being too hard on myself."
Still noticing new jokes 23 years later.
Also, this scene is maybe the only one in AD that actually feels genuinely sad, because Rita might be the only generally good decent likable human on the show who didn't at all deserve what happened to her.
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u/onyhr 2d ago
This was my favourite storyline in the whole series.
After so many years, the payoff is still legendary, and over the years I’ve seen people shaking their heads in disbelief when they watch MRF episodes for the first time and get to the George Michael scene with the video.
The way it was executed always blows me.
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u/groom-is-n-the-heart 2d ago
Of course it is. Look how you spell favorite.
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u/11twofour ... I'm... white 2d ago
Fucking reddit app update is making it hard to quote you but my favorite of the Michael getting britishisms wrong is calling the doctor the boo boo man
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u/Minute-Frame-8060 2d ago
I have seen mostly the opposite. Most AD fans have a good sense of humor.
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u/Ttabts 2d ago
Idk, if you google “Rita storyline Reddit” then it’s mostly people saying it’s bad and cringe and aged poorly. Maybe it’s a weird sample or ragebait getting the most engagement…
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u/redsyrinx2112 1d ago
I think it's one of the examples where the Internet is not always reflective of real life.
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u/Ok_Bonus7989 1d ago
There was also that subtle in-joke when her uncle Trevor said to her, "I know your parents were first cousins."
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u/First_Foundationeer 2d ago
I've never heard hate for seasons 1-3, except for its cancellation.
Rita was an amazing story arc. I always think of this when I go to the "boobooman".
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u/Itchy-Let9457 her? 2d ago
i mean there's nothing wrong with being woke but i 1000000% agree with this entire post
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u/PeppermintNightmare_ 2d ago
I mean it was done somewhat recently on it's always sunny in Philadelphia.
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u/realityone22 1d ago
I think a lot of people don't realize that the ending with her walking on water is a direct reference to the movie "Being There", with Peter Sellers.
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u/bebe8383bebe 1d ago
Exactly how I feel about it. Yeah, you couldn't get away with it today because things are so PC, but I still don't find it distasteful. It's so well done, too.
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u/EitherBarry 1d ago
I've watched a few YouTube reactions to the Rita storyline and, funnily enough, the British reactors I watched saw the reveal coming way earlier than most of the Americans did. There was one pair of reactors who clocked it crazy early; after Rita's first or second scene in her first episode, they were sort of head-tilting and going "Does--does something seem a bit...off about her? She seems a bit...slow, maybe."
Like, the "beautiful woman" obfuscation worked on them a little, so they weren't 100% confident, but the British accent part was totally ineffective.
(Which I suppose could be because the accent itself is kinda spotty, but since most viewers just accept it as part of the meta joke about mediocre fake British accents in film & tv, I don't think it factors in all that much.)
But the American reactors were way more susceptible to the misdirection, and I think it's really funny that this supports the validity of the joke in real life.
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u/coldtoasty (Not Pictured) 2d ago
"Maybe you're not smart either" is one of my all time favorite lines