We learn a few things: first, why the Bluths always seem to want to “take to the sea!” and just how they came under the impression from the pilot episode that “Husband and wives can’t be tried for the same crime.” These notions, naturally, come from a young Barry Zuckercorn, played by Henry Winkler’s real-life son, Max Winkler. This episode is George Sr. centric and explains what he, Lucille, and Oscar have been up to. To compete with Stan Sitwell, George Sr. and Lucille came up with a plan to build a wall along the border of Mexico and America and then sell the land back to the government. The wall is part of the overall storyline and at the end of the episode, George Sr. sets off to convince a right-winged politician named Herbert Love to endorse building it.
The main plot of the episode is actually George Sr.’s get-rich-quick scheme that he develops while high on the maca root in the desert with Oscar. In a callback to his time as the Jewish guru in prison, George Sr. decides to open up a sweat lodge in the desert for CEO’s seeking spiritual enlightenment. He bought the land using stimulus money. We are introduced to three new characters: an Aura Specialist named Heartfire, a disgraced anesthesiologist named Dr. Norman, and Dr. Norman’s former prison pen pal/now lover, China Rose. Dr. Norman is played by Mad Men‘s John Slattery and given Roger’s newfound pendant for LSD, it’s pretty much like watching The Ghost of Roger Sterling’s Future, haha. 24‘s Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe) plays Heartfire, who only communicates (hilariously) through thought. With some help from Heartfire, who finds the perfect “sweat cave” on Craigslist and Oscar, who fills in as George Sr. during the actual sweating part, Father B. charges $1,000 a session. Finding himself stretched a little too thin, George Sr. has his twin brother pose as him during a meeting and love making session with Lucille. Oh, and did I mention that the land that the sweat lodge is on happens to be where George and Lucille want to build said wall? And so, the stage is set.
There are some fantastic callbacks to previous seasons, particularly with G.O.B.’s reaction to hearing about his parents making love (he saw them doing it twice before in the conjugal trailer) and Lucille’s declaration to George Sr. in the police station of “Look at what the homosexuals have done to me!”
Things to Note:
- A new running gag is established when we learn that oil drilling conglomerate Halliburton has two newly rebranded divisions: Hailliburton Teen and Hal & Burton’s Frozen Goat Cream.
- George Sr. says “I don’t want these…” in reference to Oscar’s friends. This is repeated by G.O.B. about not wanting Ann’s family as his own in “Colony Collapse.”
- The use of the phrase “hot mess” is used for the second straight episode.
- George Sr. makes the same Namaste hand pose in his WE12 photo that Michael does in Altitude photo.
- Here’s a screen grab of the Craigslist ad that Heartfire buys the sweat cave off of.
Timeline:
- It appears that Lucille and George Sr. announce their “divorce” around the end of February, thanks to Buster’s comment about them making love “7 weeks ago” when they say they haven’t been intimate since Christmas.
