Missing Kitty — arresteddevelopment

"Missing Kitty"
Directors: Joe Russo — Writer: Mitchell Hurwitz & John Levenstein — Aired: March 28, 2004 — ◄ ►

"Missing Kitty" is the eighteenth episode of Arrested Development's first season, although it was produced and written as the sixteenth episode.

G.O.B. attempts to make good on his promise to make the family yacht disappear. Meanwhile, Lindsay and Maeby try to track down Lindsay's grandmother, Tobias seeks George Sr.'s respect, and Michael attempts to fire Kitty, who claims to have information that could bring down the company.

Synopsis

G.O.B. vs. Y.O.M.

G.O.B. practices a card trick with George Michael in the model home. Michael urges his excited son to be wary of G.O.B.'s lifestyle. G.O.B. asks to borrow the family's yacht for an illusion at this year's Y.O.M. Spring Break: Newport Beach party. Michael declines.

Later, George Michael watches G.O.B. perform illusions for coeds on the yacht. Michael arrives and takes his son back to the Bluth Company offices. G.O.B. promises to keep away from George Michael if he can use the yacht in his magic show. Michael agrees.

During the Y.O.M. show, G.O.B. shows the crowd the yacht then entertains them with music and dancing. He drops the curtains and shows that the yacht has disappeared to a roaring crowd. Celebrating with Michael, his mother, and Annyong he reveals that he sunk the $700,000 yacht, but that it had $900,000 worth of insurance.

Michael vs. Kitty

Kitty returns to work at the Bluth Company after returning from a two-week medical leave. Michael is astonished to learn that her leave was to get breast implants. Before she can get any work done she tells Michael she is leaving for a two-week Spring Break holiday. Michael fires her but she laughs it off, telling him he doesn't have hiring and firing power.

Michael goes to prison where his father tells him he doesn't have hiring and firing power and that Kitty has information that could be used to keep him in prison. Michael finds her at a nice steakhouse and offers her the job back but her rude attitude makes him fire her again on the spot. She makes a scene, claiming that Michael is threatening her.

Later, Kitty sneaks onto the Bluth's yacht to steal coolers of evidence labeled "H. Maddas". The yacht is blown up by G.O.B. but Kitty survives, holding onto the cooler.

George vs. Tobias

In prison to prepare for the role of Frightened Inmate #2, Tobias has been traded by George to be bunkmates with White Power Bill. Tobias speaks with Warden Gentles who pressures Tobias to learn real fear from Bill. Tobias instead using his therapist skills into revealing the source of Bill's real hatred—his father. Bill jumps to his death and Tobias is heralded as "Dorothy" of the prison.

Tobias then asks to speak with George, who is reluctantly ushered in by "friends of Dorothy". George tells Tobias he hates him because he took Lindsay away and that he may never see her again as a free man. Tobias then realizes the true source of fear is anger.

Lindsay vs. Lucille

After a birthday card with money fails to arrive, Lindsay and Maeby hunt down their "Nana" (Lucille's mother). Lucille did not tell the family that Nana had died six months previous in order to keep the inheritance money to herself. After visiting with the incorrect elderly woman for ninety minutes, Lindsay and Maeby met with a banker who revealed Nana's death. Lucille had, by then, already hidden the money in a trust fund for Annyong.

Appearances

Recurring

Guest

Pat Crawford Brown as Old Woman
J. David Krassner as Bank Manager

Recurring themes

On the next... Arrested Development

"Lupe makes a startling discovery and Michael finds himself in the middle of the search for a missing Kitty."

References

Girls with Low Self-Esteem - This is a satirical reference to the real-life series of DVDs titled "Girls Gone Wild" in which a camera crew gets college-aged girls to expose themselves and sometimes perform sex acts on camera in exchange for a t-shirt. The "host" of A.D.'s fictitious Girls with Low Self Esteem (who doesn't appear in this episode) bears a striking resemblance to his real-life counterpart.
The Wizard of Oz / Oz - Tobias is called “Dorothy” after he "kills" White Power Bill, referring to The Wizard of Oz, when the character of Dorothy kills the Wicked Witch.
- The expression "friend of Dorothy" is also a slang term for homosexual.
- This is also a callback to the TV series about prison life called Oz which we learned in a flashback in an earlier episode traumatized young George Michael who thought it was the musical based on The Wizard of Oz.
- Tobias also sings "somewhere over the rainbow, there's another rainbow," an incorrect rendition of the song in the film The Wizard Of Oz. The fixation with rainbows being another homosexual reference.

Callbacks/running jokes

Cloudmir – Cloudmir is a type of vodka Lindsay was paid to promote in "Public Relations".
- Kitty is wearing a Cloudmir T-shirt.
- Y.O.M.'s spring break is sponsored by Cloudmir.
Hole in his Heart – Buster's perforated heart, which we first heard of in "Storming the Castle", is mentioned again.
Bad at math - Maeby once again displays her poor math skills when she haggles with Lindsay about how to split Nana's checks. Maeby demands "55/55", to which Lindsay readily agrees, perhaps indicating where Maeby got her lack of booksmarts. Lindsay also says they should leave before Tobias gets back to avoid going "halvsies" with him too.
Cheating/incest - When George Michael answers the phone at the Bluth Company, he says "Talk you off what, Pop pop?" - George Sr. had thought George Michael was Kitty and had asked her to "Talk him off" a reference to phone-sex.
Nipple Tweaking – George Sr. does it to Cindi in "Altar Egos" and "Shock and Aww". And in the very beginning of this episode, when he takes off his shirt, G.O.B. says "I'm still kind of tweaking my nipples," referring to his new magic trick.
"Take a good look" – Kitty flashes her new breasts as she tells Michael she's taking spring break off, then flashes them again as she boards the elevator and says, “Take a good look, 'cause it's the last time.” She does this almost every time she subsequently meets Michael. G.O.B. also says the same thing later on in the episode to George Michael.
The Final Countdown - G.O.B.'s signature song plays again at the start of his magic act.
G.O.B.'s magic - In the opening to his act, as G.O.B. produces scarves one is held plastered to his face by an offscreen fan. This happened first in the episode titled "Storming the Castle".
Is Tobias gay? - More jokes are made at the expense of Tobias' sexuality.
- While talking with White Power Bill, Tobias calmly refers to having "very little time before this four o'clock pounding you promised me," using air quotes at "pounding" -- a play on the two meanings of a physical beating, or sexual penetration.
- Little Justice dubs Tobias "Dorothy" and calls himself a "friend of Dorothy." Both terms refer to homosexuals.
- Tobias tells George Sr. he wants to talk “man on man,” instead of saying "man to man."
- Tobias sings “Somewhere over the rainbow / There's another rainbow.”

Hidden/background jokes

Breasts - After getting breast implants, Kitty's nipples no longer align. Cross-eyed, you might say, much like her eyes when she removes her glasses.
John Beard - The FOX 6 news anchor who usually covers the Bluth's developments is seen exiting the restaurant when Michael threatens Kitty, mumbling, "Can't be a part of the story." In the next scene he reports, "A woman shows all during a fracas at a local restaurant," and not so subtly adds, "sources say." The caption even reads, "'I' witness."
G.O.B.'s Magic - An extra standing in front of Michael, Lucille, and Annyong can be heard yelling "We Love You!" during G.O.B.'s magic act.
- G.O.B. has to take a second look though the smoke to check that he has, indeed, made the yacht disappear, since, as we learn in future episodes, his tricks always seem to fail during his Spring Break performances.
- The sign on the stage reads "Mr. Magician", perhaps a reference to "Mr. Manager"
Yacht - Before panning to Kitty in the final clip, a floating piece of debris branded with Lucille can readily be seen. This implies that the ship was christened "The Lucille." In subsequent episodes it is revealed that the new Bluth yacht is named The C-Word. Lucille is indirectly referred to as the C-Word in "The One Where They Build a House".
Breasts - When Kitty gets into the elevator at the Bluth Company, a man in the elevator is carrying a large water jug. This could be a possible reference to Kitty's boobjob, which makes her have "big jugs."

Foreshadowing/Future References

Disappearing Yacht - Before making the yacht disappear, we can see G.O.B. subtly wiring the boat with explosives.
- At the beginning of the illusion, G.O.B. says, "Anyone can make the Queen of Diamonds disappear..." and then proceeds to sink the yacht. In the series finale, Lucille tries to flee on the RMS Queen Mary
Light Treason - When seen at the end of the episode with Kitty, the chest with confidential files is labeled "H. MADDAS," which is Saddam H. backwards. However, it can been seen earlier behind George Sr. and Kitty in bed as "H. MADDAZ," where the Z looks like an S in the mirror in the room. This would later make sense after the revelations in "Let 'Em Eat Cake".
Michael's Shirt - G.O.B. accidently soils Michael's shirt with red paint forcing him to change just as Tobias would with blue paint in "The One Where Michael Leaves".
Señor Tadpole's - Señor Tadpole's is the restaurant Kitty mentions she enjoys having margaritas made in her mouth. Kitty is wearing a Señor Tadpole's shirt in "The One Where They Build a House".
Mole - In the "On the Next" tease it is revealed that Annyong is, in fact, 18. This foreshadows the fact that there is more to him than meets the eye, as he was supposed to have been an orphan in need of adoption. It also references the fact that Lucille has put a significant sum of money in a trust fund for him that she controls "until he is 18".
Annyong's reflex reaction - During G.O.B.'s magic show, Annyong visibly cringes at every explosion. This may be a reference to traumas in his mysterious past.

Quotes

→ See more quotes from "Missing Kitty" at Transcript of Missing Kitty.

Notes

This was originally intended to be episode 16, instead of "Altar Egos", which aired the week before it. This is because in this episode Tobias is still practicing for his role as "Frightened Inmate #2," and there are no references to G.O.B.'s wife, or Maggie Lizer.
The titular “kitty” refers to both money and Ms. Sanchez.
Like a true Milford man, in this episode, Buster is neither seen nor heard.
This episode is rated TV-PG-DLS.

Goofs

Tobias complains to George Sr. that he's been in the Bluth family for 16 years; however in "Marta Complex", Tobias and Lindsay had just celebrated their 14th anniversary, we must assume he is referring to an unmentioned 2 year relationship with Lindsay before they got married.
The cooler of evidence stencil changes from "H. MADDAZ" to "H. MADDAS" when Kitty is shown floating with it in the closing sequence.