UPDATE: Apparently, Netflix has kept the original episodes after all, but they’re hidden, depending on how you view Netflix. The default season 4 is now the “Remix,” but the original episodes can be found under the “Trailers & More” section. The original story follows…
Just the other day, we excitedly reported that “Arrested Development” creator Mitch Hurwitz had created a “remix” of season 4 of the series for Netflix. The remix was supposed to solve some issues with the fourth iteration, which broke from the original format of the series to do something more experimental. However, at the time of reporting, we just assumed that Netflix would keep the original season 4 episodes as well. And we all know what happens when you assume.
With the “remix” being released today, many fans of “Arrested Development” hurried to watch the new versions of the episodes. While the actual remix doesn’t seem to solve many of the issues, one troubling thing was immediately noticed – the original season 4 was missing.
That’s right, if you were hoping to write a big, long thesis comparing and contrasting the remix to the original, you’re out of luck. As of now, it looks like Netflix has removed the original 15-episode season 4 and replaced it with the 22-episode remix. While there won’t be many that will miss the original episodes, it is odd that Netflix completely removed them. Perhaps it was just to lessen the confusion of viewers who don’t know the whole behind-the-scenes story, or just that Hurwitz felt as if the remix is the official version moving forward.
Either way, it appears that the much-maligned original season 4 is lost to time. Well, unless you go through less-official ways of viewing. Just saying, you can probably find the episodes if you really want to.
That being said, this whole season 4 situation is the result of Netflix and Hurwitz preparing for the release of the upcoming season 5. While we don’t know much about the plot, we can assume the structure of the show is similar to the original seasons and that all, if not most, of the cast will be returning. Even though one of the cast members has been the subject of some controversy.
Jeffrey Tambor, aka George Bluth Sr., will return to the series for season 5 amid multiple reports of sexual harassment claims. For those that aren’t aware of Tambor’s post-‘Arrested’ career, the actor was the star of the critically-acclaimed series “Transparent.” That is until he was fired from the series after multiple women came forward with stories of Tambor’s inappropriate activity. However, according to Netflix (via Deadline), the actor will be back, reprising his role(s) on “Arrested Development.”
We don’t know when season 5 of “Arrested Development” will return, other than a tweet from Hurwitz that said, “real soon.”