When I first started watching Arrested Development I wasn't sure how I felt about Buster. In a show full of borderline-cartoon characters, Buster is by far the silliest. Like most of the cast, Buster evolves beyond the simple gags that defined his early appearances. In a way, his character evolves more than any other on the show. He starts as a squeamish man-child and slowly manages to accrue all those experiences he missed thanks to his wildly over-protective mother.

Beef Consomme

While the center of this episode is the semi-consummation of Michael and Marta's love affair, I'm going to go ahead and give the glory to Buster. He gets a lot of choice lines in "Beef Consomme", including his shocked revelation that his romance with Lucille Austero isn't all its cracked up to be. After falling in love with Marta just like his two brothers, Buster mutters to himself, "Oh my God, I've been dating an old woman..." Tony Hale saves Buster from being a walking joke by perfecting a series of facial expressions and unique tonal deliveries that hint at a much deeper character.

Because it's a narrative impossibility for him to be happy, Michael ends up ruining his affair with Marta just shortly after it begins by fighting with GOB in front of her. I have to say that the brothers' reaction to Marta's exit is refreshingly gentle. They brush it off immediately with a "who does she think she is?" attitude that rescues the episode from being a total downer.

Shock and Aww

So much happening in this episode. First, another romance plot, this time involving George-Michael's ethics teacher played by the effortless Heather Graham. For a one-off character she's particularly interesting and I think the show could have gotten a lot more mileage out of Graham's talent. This is also the first episode to feature Annyong, Lucille Bluth's newly adopted Korean son. Aside from the surprisingly durable joke about his name (it means "hello" in Korean), I've never been thrilled with his character. He goes from a gentle Asian stereotype to an angry brat in short order, neither being all that funny or otherwise interesting.

But ya know who is both funny and interesting? Jane Lynch. This is her first appearance as Cindi Lightballoon, a government agent posing as a devotee of George Sr.'s "Caged Wisdom" self-help tapes. I've never seen Lynch in a role I didn't think she absolutely nailed, this one included. These days she's getting more exposure, which is long overdue.

Staff Infection

The idea of the incompetent, dysfunctional Bluth family working at their own company is a sort of comic trump card that had to come out at some point in the first couple seasons of Arrested Development. Naturally, things go to hell in record time, though they manage to resolve themselves in a roundabout sort of way by the end. Lindsay as acting manager is both terrifying and hilarious, as is Buster at the construction site.

I didn't need any more convincing that AD is a show that really knows how to turn a guest star into an immediate joke, but that doesn't mean I didn't love the sight of James Lipton as a new prison warden. Say what you will about Lipton's persona on Inside The Actors Studio, the guy has an amazing sense of humor about himself. Playing a ridiculous, theatrical warden is funny enough, but this episode puts him in the same realm of oblivious comedy as Tobias. This has an extra bite to it considering David Cross's merciless standup routine about Lipton.

It occurs to me that I have yet to see an episode of Arrested Development I didn't enjoy. Even some of the best shows I've ever seen have had weak moments. So far, AD has been aces throughout.