"For British Eyes Only" is the second episode of the third season of the American television
satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...
sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
''
Arrested Development
''Arrested Development'' is an American satire, satirical television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz. It follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family and is presented in a Serial (radio and television), serialized format, inco ...
''. It is the 42nd overall episode of the series, and was written by series creator
Mitchell Hurwitz
Mitchell Donald "Mitch" Hurwitz (born May 29, 1963) is an American television writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the television sitcom ''Arrested Development'' as well as the co-creator of '' The Ellen Show''. He is ...
and co-executive producer Richard Day, and directed by
John Fortenberry
John Fortenberry is an American film and television director.
Fox
Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush").
Twelve species ...
on September 26, 2005.
The series, narrated by
Ron Howard
Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...
, follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy,
dysfunctional family
In psychology, abnormality (also dysfunctional behavior, maladaptive behavior, or deviant behavior) is a behavioral characteristic assigned to those with conditions that are regarded as dysfunctional. Behavior is considered to be abnormal when i ...
, who made their money from property development. The Bluth family consists of
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* he He ..., a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name
* Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
, his twin sister Lindsay, his older brother Gob, his younger brother Buster, their mother Lucille and father George Sr., as well as Michael's son
George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...
, and Lindsay and her husband
Tobias
Tobias is the transliteration of the , which is a Graecisation of the Hebrew biblical name . With the biblical Book of Tobit being present in the Deuterocanonical books and Biblical apocrypha, Tobias is a popular male given name for both Chri ...
' daughter Maeby. In the episode, Michael falls for a British woman named Rita while investigating a claim by George Sr. that a British construction firm tricked him into doing business with the Iraqis.
Jeffrey Tambor
Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American retired actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom ''The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank ...
) pleads to not be sent back to prison,
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* he He ..., a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name
* Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
(
Jason Bateman
Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox / Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama s ...
) has him placed under house arrest. Michael then tries to get Gob (
Will Arnett
William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian and American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix sitcom '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and the titular ch ...
) to spend more time with his newly discovered son Steve Holt (Justin Grant Wade), while
Tobias
Tobias is the transliteration of the , which is a Graecisation of the Hebrew biblical name . With the biblical Book of Tobit being present in the Deuterocanonical books and Biblical apocrypha, Tobias is a popular male given name for both Chri ...
(
David Cross
David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director. Cross is best known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show with Bob and David'' (1995–1998), his role as Ian Hawk ...
) has painted Gob-like hair on his head with permanent pen to convince Gob that he should be the look-alike for the performance of the illusion. Lindsay (
Portia de Rossi
Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi, is an Australian-American former actress. She played Nelle Porter on the American drama series ''Ally McBeal'' (1998–2002), for wh ...
) tries convince Michael to buy her a
Lexus
is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota, Toyota Motor Corporation. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked amon ...
, and George Sr. explains his plans for his trial to Michael, to which Michael says that he should plead guilty. George Sr. claims that he was set up by British builders in his involvement with building houses in Iraq, and Michael sets off to find evidence.
Michael drives to the British district of Orange County, named 'Wee Britain', to check the records, but is turned down because he is American. Michael enters a pub across the street and meets Rita (
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron ( ; ; born 7 August 1975) is a South African and American actress and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actresses, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 201 ...
). Upon finding out that she is British, he tries to employ her in order to access the files that would shed light upon his father's involvement in Iraq. He misses gaining access to the files, as the records office works on
Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being ...
, but does arrange a date with Rita. As Michael drives away from Wee Britain, he calls Lindsay to gloat that he has a date but is interrupted by
Trevor
Trevor ( Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', meaning "large, big". The Cornish langu ...
( Dave Thomas) swerving in a convertible car into the stair car and threatening him. Michael misinterprets the threat, thinking it has to do with the search for information regarding his father instead of it regarding his interaction with Rita.
Back at the Bluth Company office, Gob is conflicted over his feelings about Steve Holt, and Michael starts to believe that he is being set up by George Sr. Michael visits him, who denies doing so, and then goes to cancel his date with Rita at her school. George Sr. tries to convince Gob to include him in his illusion to escape before the trial, while Tobias has had hair plugs implanted in his head to look more like Gob for possible use as his double in the illusion, but his scalp is bleeding horribly from the treatment. As the family arrive at the courthouse for George Sr.'s trial, Gob performs his illusion, where he bonds with Steve Holt over their mutual love for magic. During the confusion, George Sr. tries to escape, but Lucille (
Jessica Walter
Jessica Ann Walter (January 31, 1941 – March 24, 2021) was an American actress who appeared in more than 170 film, stage, and television productions.
In films, she was best known for her role as a psychotic and obsessed fan of a local disc ...
) uses a stun gun to stop him. In court, Michael pleads not guilty on behalf of his father, and Rita turns up at the courthouse. Michael decides to be brave and ask Rita out on another date, even going back for a kiss; however, she then leaves with Trevor.
Production
"For British Eyes Only" was directed by
John Fortenberry
John Fortenberry is an American film and television director.
Mitchell Hurwitz
Mitchell Donald "Mitch" Hurwitz (born May 29, 1963) is an American television writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the television sitcom ''Arrested Development'' as well as the co-creator of '' The Ellen Show''. He is ...
and Richard Day. It was Fortenberry's second directing credit, Hurwitz's 16th writing credit and Day's first writing credit. It was the second episode of the
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
to be filmed.
Reception
Viewers
In the United States, the episode was watched by 4.02 million viewers on its original broadcast.
Critical reception
''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' writer Noel Murray said about the episode that his "biggest complaint about "For British Eyes Only" is that is so overstuffed." Brian Tallerico from ''
Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...
'' ranked the episode 38th out of the whole series, saying that "The parody of British manners is very funny".