‘Arrested Development’ Finally Lets Maeby Shine

Picking a favorite Bluth can sometimes feel like Buster picking a favorite juice flavor. They’re all wonderful and addicting in their own toxic way. But in the unspoken competition of best Bluths, one character emerges the undisputed champion of the reboot. Season 5 of Arrested Development is all about Maeby, baby.

Maeby Fünke (Alia Shawkat) has been one of the most tragically overlooked characters in this cult comedy. Most of Arrested Development‘s first three seasons revolved around the tension between Michael (Jason Bateman), his siblings, and his parents. When plots about George Michael (Michael Cera) or Maeby were introduced, they were typically used to highlight or counter a toxic relationship between an adult character and their much older parents. Even when George Michael and Maeby were allowed to roam free, like when Maeby convinced her cousin to kiss her to teach her parents a lesson or during the never-ending high school love triangle between the duo and their other cousin Steve Holt, these subplots winkingly play out on the sidelines. Lindsay (Portia de Rossi), Tobias (David Cross), or Michael would often willfully misinterpret their children’s actions and force them back into their own narrative. Sometimes Arrested Development was allowed to be about George Michael, but it was almost never Maeby’s show.

That’s one thing Netflix’s reboot of Mitch Hurwitz’s comedy has done extraordinarily well: it’s allowed the two younger members of the Bluth/Fünke family to come into their own. Between his constant awkwardness, propensity of being misidentified, and his history of winding up in love triangles with his family, George Michael has all but blossomed into a fourth Bluth brother. Instead it’s Maeby who has been given Arrested Development‘s most interesting arc. Throughout Season 4 and 5, Maeby has transformed into her own deceptive mastermind while channeling the bad habits of her grandmother Lucille (Jessica Walter).

Whereas most of the Bluth family’s adventures have taken place within the claustrophobic confines of the penthouse or office, Maeby’s successes and failures have always been a bit more complicated. The original run of the show devoted a significant amount of time to the teen’s dominance of a movie studio, even giving this arc’s one of the show’s best catch phrases (“Marry me” and later “Babysit me”). Season 4 capitalized on Maeby’s slickness even more, following her as she pretended to be a high schooler to spite her parents, continued her showbiz ruse, hustled money for George Michael’s new app, and became her mother’s pimp. Though these side hustles typically involved other members of the Bluth family, they were only marginally connected — another annoying familial cog in the young woman’s latest scheme.

Season 5 still sees Maeby running her own schemes. She becomes her mother’s campaign manager in an attempt to overthrow Lindsay’s political campaign and pretends to be Lucille Austero’s (Liza Minelli) sister so she can live in a senior community. But this season also sees Maeby involved with her family like never before. Several times throughout Season 5’s first eight episodes, George Michael asks Maeby what he should do to repair his fractured relationship with his dad. Lucille is also dependent on Maeby, yelling at her granddaughter over campaign and speech specifics. Maeby also often admits to telling Michael a secret or bluntly lying to another member of her family. This season, Maeby isn’t just more connected to her family than ever before. She’s the Bluth family’s conscience, and she gives terrible advice.

Shawkat sells Maeby’s world-altering sense of extreme confidence perfectly. Telling George Michael he should aggressively pursue the woman he and his father have been fighting over is objectively bad advice. It’s even worse when it comes from a 20-something sex offender dressed as a 60-year-old lady trying to lie her way out of a relationship with an old man. But Maeby’s snark and self-assured nature makes her horrible plans seem like a good idea almost every time. She’s terrible, but she’s also terribly charming.

That command of manipulation is eerily similar to another leading Bluth lady — Lucille. Both women are skilled liars capable of getting almost anything they want from the people around them. But whereas Lucille uses cruelty and guilt to bend people to her will, Maeby uses a combination of her mother’s misguided stubbornness and her own more self-aware wit. Lucille doesn’t have to hand over her puppet master strings just yet, but Maeby may be unconsciously eyeing the reins.

Alia Shawkat has always been one of Arrested Development‘s most interesting secondary players, able to deliver a scathing quip in the same breath as a ridiculously stupid statement. But in Season 5, she’s finally made it to the front lines. This latest season has embraced the indie-leaning nuances Shawkat has perfected with her role on Search Party while still making her character as manipulative and misguided as ever. Welcome the the Maeby era of the Bluth family. There’s a good chance we’re all going to die.

Stream Arrested Development on Netflix