#214: The Immaculate Election

[matts]

Nice find!!

[Pastor Veal]

I just read this on the TWOP forums for AD... Rav Nadir, the Indian kid, has a name very similar to a candidate in the real election. Ralph Nader anyone?

[littlesquish89]

I just read this on the TWOP forums for AD... Rav Nadir, the Indian kid, has a name very similar to a candidate in the real election. Ralph Nader anyone?

Yeah, whenever I bring that up with my friends, they dismiss it. They also don't think that the "4 more years" chant is a take on the Republican National Convention, which it obviously is.

[GOB's Final Countdown]

Actually, it's a jab at that and the fact Steve Holt had been repeating the same grade for the last 4 years.

[littlesquish89]

Actually, it's a jab at that and the fact Steve Holt had been repeating the same grade for the last 4 years.

Yeah, I know that, but it also coincides with the Republican National Convention thing nicely, doesn't it?

[The Joker Magician]

Actually, it's a jab at that and the fact Steve Holt had been repeating the same grade for the last 4 years.

Yeah, I know that, but it also coincides with the Republican National Convention thing nicely, doesn't it?

I think it does. The obvious jab is the Steve Holt repeating the same grade for 4 years, but it is also refering to that.

[Trav]

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet and really don't want to go through 16 pages to find out but did anyone else notice the music that was played when Michael said to GOB, "The guy that he's running against is basically a young you", setting it up for the ending revealing that GOB is in fact Steve's father?

They used that same subtle bit of music type of thing in "Out On A Limb" when George Sr said to Michael, "What if I never get a chance to reach out and touch that hand of his again", also at the beach when you saw the seal in the background splashing around in the ocean.

Great, great stuff.


edit: Decided to read a little of this post and found out this was mentioned early on. Either way, my hand is off to the writers for that little stroke of genius.

[Stardork13]

While rewatching half of this season on dvd, I noticed that the picture of Michael in the campaign video is from Switch Hitter. I just always thought it was his lame excuse for a wink .

[Beamer]

Also, I think the mystery Bluth is Oscar. It WOULD explain why the lamp shade is covering his head - since they obviously can't have George Sr. and Oscar in the same shot. Not to mention that George Sr. mentions in Missing Kitty that Oscar used to work for him, so they were somewhat close at some point in the past... It might've been Oscar filming it, too. Would've explained why he was watching it with them.

Wait, I retract that statement. It can't POSSIBLY be Oscar - since George Michael's sitting right across from him, when he's 13. Yet, in Whistler's Mother, which takes place later, George Michael doesn't even know who Oscar is. So, yeah, definitely not Oscar.

[police!open_up!]

To me, this is one of the best episodes ever...just rewatched it, and a few things came to mind:

I loved the Bush reference with the students shouting 4 more years.

I thought it was a Nixon reference, if anything. Or any incumbent president, I guess. I believe the joke actually was about a kid having four MORE years in high school to serve as president.

Because of when the episode was first shown, I thought this was a Bush 2004 reference. But I do think there was a Nixon reference elsewhere: the whole thing about Michael not wanting a recount. In the 1960 election, Nixon declined to have a recount because he didn't want to put the nation through it--just like Michael says he didn't want to do. (Then again, it could be Kerry, but I know that Nixon said Michael's words almost verbatim).

I also think the writers missed an opportunity for some good jokes about the parallel to the Bush family: Michael loses an election (like George Bush Senior), and wants his son to become president. I know there are a lot of other Bush/Bluth comparisons--maybe this particular one was referenced in this episode, but if so, it was too subtle for me to catch.

Rav Nadir, the Indian kid, has a name very similar to a candidate in the real election. Ralph Nader anyone?

This is brilliant!


And with the benefit of information from season 3,

and- has anyone else noticed that when Steve Holt stands up at the assembly before his film, it sounds like he shouts "Evil!" instead of Steve Holt?

I am 99% sure he's calling out "Eve Holt!", the name of his mother! So he calls out his mother's name, when his father is standing on the other side of the auditorium!


And finally, my two cents on the "mystery Bluth": as other people have said on other boards, I don't think it's Oscar, because GM doesn't recognise Oscar the first time he sees him. I think it might be Barry or Uncle Jack--both of them are practically part of the family anyway (and Dragon could just be outside of the room...)

[pooter03]

Just saw this for the first time last night. Buster's Chicago Wars video made me laugh harder than any other gag in the show so far (previous record holder was GOB's ---king $6500 suit). For some reason, I was caught completely by surprise when he just knocks the manequin's head off. I had to stop the DVD until I calmed down.

I also lost it on GOB's dead chicken callback to the early episodes' dead dove gags.

Also, I'm starting to think that GM isn't human. He went through some incredible public humilation in front of his entire school and just acted his usual befuddled self.

[WhoamI]

and- has anyone else noticed that when Steve Holt stands up at the assembly before his film, it sounds like he shouts "Evil!" instead of Steve Holt? I am 99% sure he's calling out "Eve Holt!", the name of his mother! So he calls out his mother's name, when his father is standing on the other side of the auditorium!

That was GOB who screamed "EVIL"

[Ciara]

I like how the dvd has sparked all of these new conversations!

Good job with the whole Bush-Kerry-Nader comparisons, I definitely didn't notice any of that... and after thinking, I have another to add:

When Ann gets all of the Christians behind Steve Holt and he does the "Footsteps" video to appeal to the Christians, even though he doesn't seem to be one himself... that's very Bush-esque, right?

[Blendin Inc.]

It might be a bit of a stretch, but the names GOB and Rove sort of rhyme. Karl Rove was Dubya's political advisor/operative and some say he played a little dirty during both of Bush's election runs.

[Rivers]

That doesn't really work though because GM didn't win therefore he can't represent Bush.