"Key Decisions" is the fourth episode aired of the TV comedy series Arrested Development.
Plot
When G.O.B. abandons his girlfriend, Marta Estrella, to stage a publicity stunt at the penitentiary that holds his father, Michael is left to accompany her to the Desi Awards. Meanwhile, Lindsay attempts to persuade activist Johnny Bark out of a tree on Bluth property so that it can be cut down. Having swallowed the key and ready for his dramatic escape, G.O.B. finds himself unable to pass the key without a private bathroom, spurring him to utter for the first time, "I've made a huge mistake." Trapped in prison with his father, we begin to learn G.O.B. is a man desperate for his father's approval and attention, noting that George Sr. has never even played catch with him. Michael, meanwhile, is finding himself quite attracted to Marta. Also at the Desi Awards, Buster, while not wearing his glasses, mistakenly flirts with his mother's friend and social rival, Lucille Austero.
Lindsay, too, is making a connection of her own. Forced to spend the evening in the tree with Johnny Bark, she begins to recollect on her activist roots. However, Johnny Bark mistakes this nostalgia for attraction and leaves the tree he is protecting to profess his feelings for Lindsay. As he learns that she actually finds him disgusting, the tree is cut down. At the prison, G.O.B.'s first game of catch with his father is ended when a fellow inmate, White Power Bill, stabs the brash magician. Michael visits Marta to reveal his feelings for her, only to be interrupted when the hospital calls with the news that G.O.B. has been stabbed in the back. His near death experience has led G.O.B. to finally commit to Marta, much to Michael's chagrin. However, G.O.B. immediately regrets his commitment to Marta, once again admitting that he has "made a huge mistake."
Episode notes
- The title refers to both making an important choice (which all the characters must go through at some point in this episode) and G.O.B.'s key.
- This is the only Season 1 episode other than the Pilot to have a cold opening, rather than opening with the show's usual intro.
- Tobias does not appear in this episode.
- The song played at the end the hospital scene is "Cry Love" by John Hiatt
- The song played with scenes between Marta and Michael bonding is "You Here With Me" by Gabrielle Mann, it's an original song produced for the series
- The "stair car", formerly used to service the Bluth Company jet, is based on a 1979 Ford F-150 pickup.
Callbacks/Running Jokes
- Brownish area with points - Buster refers to Lucille Austero (who he was looking at without his glasses) as a "Brownish area with points." Later on, when he discovers her true identity, he removes his glasses again, and asks her if her hair has always "been that pointy."
- Documentary - The caution "Professional magician. Do not attempt" is added at the bottom of the screen during G.O.B.'s swallowing of the key, as if to make the scene look like it's been censored by the networks.
- A huge mistake - This episode marks the first use of G.O.B.'s catch phrase. Throughout the series, it is uttered by multiple characters, including George Sr., Michael and Lucille.
- "Good talk" - Michael ends two awkward conversations in this episode by saying "Good talk." There is also a deleted scene on the DVD with Michael and George Michael that ends with this phrase.
- Ice cream sandwich - G.O.B. distracts the guards by unplugging the ice cream sandwich vendor; George Sr. has a continuing love affair with ice cream sandwiches throughout the series. Also, while watching G.O.B.'s attempted escape from prison on the television monitors, the guards are enjoying ice cream sandwiches.
- Mini-mansions - Reporter Trisha Thoon refers to the Bluth homes as "Mini-mansions" for the first time in this episode.
- Stealing food - G.O.B. grabs Michael's sandwich when Lucille comes in. This is the beginning of a subtle running gag in which G.O.B. will enter the model home and immediately try to grab any food that Michael's eating. This later happens again in Pier Pressure and Exit Strategy.
- Swallow a key - This is the first time G.O.B. swallows a key as part of a magic trick. He later does so again in Spring Breakout and Notapusy.
- Hop-ons - "Hop-ons" to the Stair Car are a running gag throughout the show. Although the term is never officially explained on the show, it is meant to mean a person who hops on the stairs and rides it.
- The scene in which Michael presents Lindsay with the company Stair Car is mirrored in For British Eyes Only, when Michael gives his sister the keys to the Cabin vehicle, cautioning her about "live-ins."
- "You're gross" - Lindsay tells Johnny Bark, “I think you’re gross.” She later tells Tom Jane the same thing in The One Where They Build a House.
- The Spanish Language - Many of the episodes detail several instances in which the Bluth family is unfamiliar with the Spanish language. In this episode, Buster, not wearing his glasses, turns to a large sombrero stand, thinking it to be another person, and greets it by saying, 'Como estoy?', which, when translated, means 'How am I?'
- Lindsay tells John Bark that Tobias is in a stage combat class with Carl Weathers. This is referenced later in Public Relations when Carl and Tobias talk about this particular event.
- That's why you never... - Johnny Bark, when the tree is felled, says "That's why you never get out of the tree", a foreshadowing of the lessons taught by George Senior and J. Walter Weatherman in 'Pier Pressure'
Hidden/Background Jokes
- Buster's note - The note Lucille 2 leaves for Buster reads: “Call me maybe we could [covered by Buster’s thumb] some fun together xoxo.”
- G.O.B. overlooked as a child - G.O.B. says that George Sr. told him he could get accuracy by throwing a ball against a garage door, implying that George Sr. told him this just to avoid playing catch with him as a child.
- M. Sabino - The moustached guard at the penitentiary gate has a uniform labelled “M. Sabino.”
- Origami - During the in memoriam segment for Ramon Villalobos, Michael can be seen folding a program into an origami crane, which he later gives to Marta to cheer her up.
- Sign - The flavors of soda listed on the soda machine in the hospital are: “Spew,” “Squirm,” “Clear,” “Blue,” “Stuff,” “Cola,” “Orange Soda,” “Ice tea,” and “Rootbeer.”
- Spanish soap opera - The clips for the Best Actor award at the Desis take place in two-thirds of a hospital room (later seen in Beef Consommé), the hallway outside Dr. Gunty’s (later seen in Visiting Ours), and George Michael and Maeby’s bedroom.
- There is a running gag with Spanish soap operas, in which adults can be seen with dyed hair and painted-on freckles. This is a parody of Mexican television shows such as El Chavo del Ocho in which grown men and women play the roles of kids in costume with freckles painted on their faces.
- During the Desi Awards, there is an in memoriam segment for Ramon Villalobos, credited as an artista del maquillaje de la peca, which translates as makeup artist for freckles.
- Stabbed in the back - After answering the phone, Marta tells Michael that G.O.B. has been 'stabbed in the back'. This refers to both the literal stabbing as well as Michael's attempts at seducing his brother's girlfriend.
- Johnny Bark is portrayed by Ron Howard's brother Clint Howard, who has had a role in nearly every project Ron has been associated with.
- In the scene that takes place in the prison cell with G.O.B. and George Sr. - where G.O.B. states that he is "a complete failure" - the phrase "Goo Goo Goo Joob" can be seen written on the wall behind them. This is from the song "I Am The Walrus" by The Beatles.
- Michael can be seen holding a paper cup from In-N-Out Burger when he and Marta are on top of the stair car after the Desi awards.
Character cameos
- This is one of the two episodes featuring the original Marta (nicknamed by the fans as "Marta 1.0") played by Leonor Varela. She would be replaced by Patricia Velásquez later in the first season. It is one of multiple instances in Arrested Development in which the actor/actress portraying a character changes.
- This episode marks the introduction of Lucille Austero (more commonly known as "Lucille 2"), played by Liza Minnelli. She is a frequently recurring character throughout the first half of Season 1, and the middle of Season 2.
- This is the first appearance of the short-lived Prison tormentor White Power Bill.
Foreshadowing/Future References
- J. Walter Weatherman- Johnny Bark's last line, "That's why you never get out of the tree." resembles Weatherman's lessons to the Bluth children as shown in later episodes such as Pier Pressure.
Goofs
- Both G.O.B.'s never having played catch with his father and his seeming lack of experience throwing a ball at the episode's end seems to be contradicted by season 2's Switch Hitter, in which not only is he the Bluth softball team's best player, but his father recognizes him as such.
- When Gob is on the phone with Michael explaining his new escape plan, a guard can be seen picking up and unwrapping an ice cream sandwich. When the camera cuts to a close up of Gob, the guard is no longer holding the sandwich.
- During the Desi Awards, when Michael is comforting Marta, the audio and video are not synchronized when she says "you know, commitment." This may only be visible on the wide screen version as Marta's lips are on the very left edge of the screen.
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