¡Amigos!

This article is about the Arrested Development episode. For other uses, see Amigo (disambiguation).

"¡Amigos!"
Arrested Development episode
Mexico 1927: The "Chicken Dance" is much more inflammatory south of the border.
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 3
Directed by	Lee Shallat-Chemel
Written by	Brad Copeland
Production code	2AJD03
Original air date	November 21, 2004
Guest stars
Mae Whitman as Ann Veal Justin Lee as Annyong Bluth Judy Greer as Kitty Sanchez Mo Collins as Starla Martin Mull as Gene Parmesan Malik Yoba as Ice
Season 2 episodes
November 2004 – June 2005 The One Where Michael Leaves The One Where They Build a House ¡Amigos! Good Grief Sad Sack Afternoon Delight Switch Hitter Queen for a Day Burning Love Ready, Aim, Marry Me Out on a Limb Hand to God Motherboy XXX The Immaculate Election Sword of Destiny Meat the Veals Spring Breakout Righteous Brothers
All Arrested Development episodes

"¡Amigos!" is the 25th episode aired of TV comedy series Arrested Development.

Plot

Michael tells his brother Gob of his plans to take George Michael to Legoland for the weekend. Gob says he plans to hang out with some of his friends, though Michael doubts that he has any. Lucille finds Michael in his office and informs him that her private detective, Gene Parmesan, has found George Sr. Actually he has found the stair-car in Encanta, Mexico; Michael says he'll go to Mexico. Gob partially overhears; he thinks Michael is ditching the business and escaping to a foreign country. So he hires a bounty hunter. Lindsay and Maeby join the Mexico trip, as does George Michael and his girlfrend Ann.

Buster does not wish to follow through with the Army plan, so he hides in Michael's trunk. Instead of getting out in Mexico, however, he gets out in Santa Ana, where Lucille's housekeeper Lupe lives. Meanwhile, the bounty hunter, Ice, is following Michael's car.

Lucille distrusts Gob, so has her private eye follow him. Michael and company find the staircar and meet up with Ice, whom Michael hires to look for George Sr. They don't realize that George Sr.'s funeral is underway in a nearby church, with Kitty in attendance. They all depart for home, leaving Ann behind. When Michael realizes this, he and George Michael race back to Mexico. Gob, Ice, and the private eye all meet up with Michael in Mexico and work things out. Michael pays the other two to be Gob's friends for a week. And though he now knows Ann a little better, he still doesn't like her.

Episode notes

• This episode is titled "¡Amigos!" on the Season 2 DVD, though no press releases listed the exclamation marks in the title when the episode was broadcast.
• This is the first episode where the Bluths visit a different country, which later happens again in "Exit Strategy."
• As in the previous episode, Tobias is painted blue in every scene in which he is present.
• This is George Sr.'s smallest role in an episode to date, with just one, brief non-speaking appearance.

Cultural references

• Abu Ghraib - Lucille talks about Buster being in a "naked pyramid," a reference to the photos taken in the Iraqi prison.
• Blue Man Group - Tobias continues to color himself blue for a chance to work with the performance group. The Blue Man Group's performances start at 8:00pm, and Tobias paints himself blue and counts down to 8:01pm on his watch every night just in case they need him as an understudy.
• Star Wars - After Oscar goes back to unload his items, Lucille gives Annyong money and tells him to "go see a Star War."

Callbacks/running jokes

• Banner - The first of many of the Bluth family's suggestive banners, which says "You're killing me, Buster" can be seen at Buster's party. This banner later appears again in "Hand to God," and "Forget-Me-Now."
• "Blue myself" - Tobias mentions that he "blue [himself] early so he'd be nice and relaxed for a 9:00pm dinner reservation." Tobias first used the term "blue myself" in "The One Where Michael Leaves."
• Buster's real father - Oscar hints that he is Buster's father, saying that Lucille is not having an affair with Buster's "uncle." Overly dramatic music plays after this is said.
  • As Oscar is leaving prior to Lucille finding out Buster has gone to Mexico, his things can be seen packing in exactly the same manner as Buster would pack, with possessions wrapped in a blanket which is dragged on the ground.
• Charlie Brown - Lucille and Buster refer to testicles as "Charlie Browns." Buster first did this in "The One Where They Build a House." He later refers to Michael's penis as his "Linus" in "Out on a Limb."
• Chicken dance – Gob does his chicken dance for the first time since the season one episode "Staff Infection," and it's revealed in this episode that, in Mexican culture, the chicken dance is considered an offensive gesture.
• Circumvent - This is the first instance where Gob fails to pronounce the word "circumvent" properly. This later becomes a running gag, and eventually spreads to other words too.
• Ann - This episode continues the running gag of jokes made at the expense of George Michael's girlfriend, Ann.
  • When George Michael mentions wanting to spend time with Ann, Michael has no idea who he is talking about.
  • When George Michael calls Ann his girlfriend, Michael replies, "Her?"
  • Michael calls George Michael an "Ann-hog," in reference to him spending all his time with his girlfriend. This nickname transfers to Ann herself and is mentioned multiple times in the episode.
  • Lindsay says to Michael, "Check out who's on that hog in the rearview mirror." She means Ice, but thinks it's Ann.
  • Michael and Maeby's talk in the stair car, the narrator mentions how "there were only four people in their group," implying that the narrator forgot about Ann (there were five in their group).
  • After returning to Mexico to find Ann, Michael still doesn't recognize her.
  • Michael refers to Ann as "Plant" after George Michael says, "Way to plant, Ann!"
  • When Gob learns that Ann is George Michael's girlfriend, he asks, "What, is she funny or something?"
• Incest - Short mention is made of George Michael's feelings for his cousin, and the general theme of incest.
  • After Michael tells George Michael that his cousin (Maeby) is "one hell of a girl" and "it's too bad you can't date her," George Michael does a double take and asks Michael if he "would have a problem with that," and then tries to cover it up.
  • When talking with Maeby on the ride home from Mexico, Michael asks why people date, and states, "Isn't family enough?"
• "It'll be an adventure" - Michael promises George Michael they'll have one looking for George Sr. in Mexico. He promises this again to him later in "Hand to God."
• "Don't be Afraid to make a Mistake" - Gob's inspirational poster is in response to his denial of making mistakes in "The One Where Michael Leaves."
• Labeling - Gob's laptop bears his name, in similarity to his Segway.
• Legoland - Michael states that he is going to buy tickets to Legoland for him and his son; in season 3, Lucille tells Uncle Trevor that she thought she heard Michael saying he was taking Rita to Legoland.
• Michael the murderer - Michael's comment about putting people in the trunk and Lupe's facial expression is a reference to the misunderstanding in "Charity Drive."
• Stair car - Mexicans use the stair car to jump over the border, just like the prisoner tried to use the stair car to jump the prison fence in "Visiting Ours."
• Tracy - Another joke is made at the expense of Michael's dead wife Tracy, again proving how insensitive the Bluths are. However, unlike the other times, Tobias actually apologizes to Michael.
• "Who wants to go to the hospital?" - Tobias is again injured when Ice tackles him.
• Yawning - While Buster prepares a videotape telling Lucille of his escape to Mexico, he begans to yawn in the middle of his sentence. This is a reference to the Season 1 episode "Bringing Up Buster," in which Buster often did the same thing.
• Michael sees the truth - Even though he often is unable to see what's going on in front of his face, most notably with George Michael, Michael sometimes sees the simple truth through the convoluted behavior of the family. When Michael says he will help Buster get out of the Army after returning from Mexico and Buster says he thinks "it will be worked out by then," Michael realizes Buster intends to escape to Mexico.

Hidden/background jokes

• When the Narrator says "At no point were Maeby and Michael talking about the same person and there were only four people in their group" there were actually five people in their group. The narrator is forgetting about Ann just like all the characters.
• Blue paint - Blue hand-prints can be seen in various places in the model home.
  • When Ice tackles Tobias we see a long smear of blue paint on the floor, and a section of Tobias' face has no blue paint, indicating his face was rubbed along the floor for several feet.
  • Tobias makes an off-hand remark to Michael that he wears the blue paint all the time because it takes an extremely long time to get the paint off. This is a subtle reference to the fact that David Cross had to constantly apply and reapply the makeup throughout Season 2.
• Cloudmir - A Cloudmir sign is seen in Mexico.
• Gob's Kleptomania - In reference to Gob frequently using sleight of hand to commit theft, at the beginning of the episode he takes a coffee cup off of Michael's desk.
• "Keep An Open Mind" - The poster in the background when Michael is talking to Ann on the phone.
• Maeby - Lindsay comments that she has "sensed [Maeby] feeling a little left out lately," in reference to the small role Maeby played in the first two episodes of the season.
• Mentally challenged - Lupe thinks Buster may be mentally retarded.
• Quincy Jones - Starla is wearing a "Q" necklace, in reference to her love of Quincy Jones (it should be noted that Quincy Jones is one of the producers of the FOX sketch show MADtv and the actress who plays Starla is Mo Collins, who was a castmember on the show from 1998 to 2004).
• Spanish translations: There are four instances of Spanish sentences being translated into English:
  • In the silent film-style flashback of how the chicken dance came to be offensive in Mexico, there's a title card that reads, "Usted baila como un hombre que vive como mujer", which the subtitle translates to "You dance like a homosexual." Literally, it means, "You dance like a man who lives like a woman."
  • When Lupe finds Buster on her front lawn, she remarks "Ahora tengo que cuidar para retardo," which the subtitle translates to, "So now I must take care of Buster" but actually means "Now I have to take care of the retard." The sentence in Spanish however is wrong and should be "Ahora tengo que cuidar al retrasado."
  • The Cloudmir sign in Mexico is in broken Spanish, reading "La feliz beber: hay Cloudmir si tienes sed" Translated, it means, "The happy drink: There's Cloudmir if you're thirsty."
  • When George Sr.'s phone call gets cut short, the teller says, "Gracias por usar Tijuana Bell." Translated, it means, "Thank you for using Tijuana Bell." This may be a reference to Jessica Walter who once was the voice of Southwest Bell.
• The Cornballer - The Cornballer, the Cornballer box, and a box of Cornballer mix can be seen in Michael's office.
  • A Cornballer advertisement can be seen in Mexico (even though it was stated that the Cornballer was illegal in every country).

Foreshadowing/future references

• Blue Man Group - The blue picture of George Sr., and Ice confusing him with Blue Man-wannabe Tobias, foreshadows him joining the Blue Man Group in "Righteous Brothers."
• Buster's Hand - Upon seeing his former "hand chair," Buster comments, "I'd never thought I'd miss a hand so much." He then touches the chair with the hand he later loses in "Out on a Limb."

Character cameos

• The angered Mexican, the chicken-dancer and the piano player who ends up getting shot in the black-and-white video are played by Jason Bateman (Michael), Will Arnett (Gob), and Tony Hale (Buster), respectively. Portia de Rossi plays the dancer sitting on the piano.
• Gene Parmesan makes his first and only appearance in the show with this episode, though is mentioned again several times throughout the series.
• Ice makes his first appearance in this episode, making a brief cameo later in the next episode, "Good Grief."
• This is the first episode where Mae Whitman has a speaking role as Ann.

Sources

• The-OP.com
• FOX
• Quotes for this episode on WikiQuote