After severing his ties with the majority of the family, Michael Bluth finds himself in economic turmoil after completing the Sudden Valley housing development under his new company, only to face the 2007 housing bubble which results in Sudden Valley turning into a secluded ghost town. After unsuccessfully attempting to receive a loan from Lucille Austero, the primary shareholder in what is now the Austero-Bluth Company who is running for a congressional seat, Michael moves in with his son George Michael in his dorm at the UC Irvine, while himself enrolling in University of Phoenix. George Michael, who is working on 'Fakeblock' software with his other roommate Paul, which George Michael explains is a privacy software, is uncomfortable with Michael's presence. When Michael's scheme to kick Paul out of the dorm fails, George Michael, Paul, and a visiting Maeby vote Michael out of the dorm. A disappointed and confused Michael goes to the airport, where he attempts to buy an in-flight magazine which features an article about him, but is forced to buy a plane ticket. He is later saddened when he finds out the article portrays him as a failed businessman. He returns home to Newport Beach, planning to take up residence in his mother's vacant apartment, and is surprised to find the apartment has been trashed. He is then attacked by an ostrich.
Tropes:
- Accidental Pun: "No offense, Buster."
- Arc Words: It's easy to miss it, but Pete the Mailman's last words are "Love Each Other".
- Continuity Nod
- Contrived Coincidence: Just as Michael finishes the housing complex, the market goes down.
- Expospeak
- Flanderization: Michael smothers his son a lot more than usual this episode, which makes sense given his son is the only one he has left since he refuses to have anything to do with his family (again), his business is failing, and he's in debt.
- Flashback
- Loser Protagonist
- Pastiche: The narration of Lucille's hatred of Cinco de Mayo is made with rhymes that call back to How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
- Oh, Crap!
- Out-Gambitted
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: Michael. When George Michael tries to outright tell him that he should move out, Michael comes close to a full-out nervous breakdown, and George Michael feels bad and quickly changes the subject.
