Michael's agreement with Barry Zuckerkorn to bail out Buster failed when Barry, who was in prison as well, bailed himself out instead.
The family agrees that the story of Buster being in jail is a potential media disaster and needs to keep things quiet. But, as Tobias is quick to point out, there's still the movie deal Michael made with Ron Howard that needs to be stopped. Michael tries to do so by manipulating Kitty with GOB's help, but the latter is clearly not into it.
George Michael is invited to a barbecue at Ron Howard's, and his and Maeby's plan to break up with Rebel by making a bad impression on her family backfires completely. And, in another plot line, so does the advice George gives to Buster about getting respect in prison.
Meanwhile, Tobias and Murph set out to find Lindsay, and Maeby, still living in Lucille 2's condo as an old woman, finds a paternal figure in Stan Sitwell.
The Arrested Development episode "Emotional Baggage" provides examples of:
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: Invoked my George Michael as he cannot bring himself to offend Ron Howard.No, I don't like hot dogs.
(awkward pause)
I love them. - The Cameo: Ron Howard's family, including Rance Howard in what turned out to be his final acting role.
- Overly Long Gag: The "Different/Same" misunderstanding between GOB and Tony on the phone.
- Parental Sexuality Squick: GOB is squicked out by having to listen to details of his mother's romance to "sand hobo".
- Springtime for Hitler: George Michael once again falls into this when he tries to get Rebel to break up with him by showing up to her family barbeque with his hair dyed pink. Maeby left it on to long and it ended up looking like he dyed it red to endear himself to the family.
- Vanity License Plate: We get a look at "A-N-U-S-T-A-R-T" - the license plate of Tobias' car.
