How Relatable is Arrested Development?

As I watched the first episode of season four of Arrested Development, I immediatley tried to take note of what was going on.  Each episode focuses on one character in the show and gives the audience the scenario and background for him or her.  As this was my first time watching Arrested Development, it was a little difficult to get my bearings about each character.  So to make things easier for me on how relatable a character is, I will be discussing only Episode 1, Flight of the Phoenix.

Plot

In the first episode, the son of once-wealthy and not-so-loving parents, Michael Bluth, is the main character followed.  He seemingly wants little to do with his family after some illegal dealings in the business and money vanishing.  Michael feels he can do better and leaves to California where he uses all of the money available to him to finish a housing complex named Sudden Valley started by his father.  Unfortunately for him, the housing market crashes as soon as it's finished and there is no road from the city to the neighborhood. With no money and no were left to turn, he ends up staying with his son, George Michael, in his dorm room in college.  After some other events that take a turn for the worse (such as his son voting him out of the dorm room), Michael is left with little hope and tries to start over.

Michael being voted out by his son

How Relatable is it?

In terms of how relatable the characters, especially Michael Bluth, are, I would say they are very relatable. They are not relatable in the "I seem act just like him" kind of way though.  Arrested Development seems to play with peoples monetary fears, college fears, and what the worst possible outcome could happen.  In the first episode, all of this was nicely wrapped up with out a boring moment or skip.  I certainly have tried to do something and have failed miserably at it in the process.  Sadly, this seems to be a part of Michael Bluth's personality.  I can that somethings I have done did not turn out well, nothing comes close to Michael's life.  I mean, he spent all oh his money building homes in a complex, only for the housing market to crash.  I think we can all relate to that feeling of how nothing is going your way. So in this since, Michael does a good job in relating to the audience member who has had down times in their life.

That bird is the only one living there

Another notable character seen throughout the episode is George Michael Bluth.  He is Michael Bluth's son who is attending college and is also very relatable, especially for college viewers.  Being in college, I can personally see some of the problems George Michael has to deal with. First being having two names.  This is a classic fear of teenagers thinking their parents set them up for embarrassment with their name.  Even though it is fine, I feel most people have thought about changing their name, just like George Michael did.  Another college student fear would also definitely be their parents visiting and staying for too long.  This fear is taken to the extreme as George Michael's dad has stayed in his room for six months.

George Michael at college...

As a viewer, we can't help but laugh at the absurdity of problems taken to the upmost extreme.  James Poniewozik, a critic for Time, notes, "So many of its great scenes and stories involve things literally falling apart."  We can relate to these problems though. Since our fears can relate to these problems, we know what the character is going though and draws us further into the story of Arrested Development.

Relatable? Yes!

Critic Article
http://entertainment.time.com/2013/05/29/the-new-arrested-development-is-dark-uneven-and-frustrating-can-we-have-another/