Fakin' IT (Arrested Development) - Synopsis

Synopsis

Michael had received a witness list for his father's upcoming trial. The list included G.O.B.'s puppet, Franklin. The entire family was also on the list. Buster said he didn’t know anything about the business, which was untrue because nightly, Lucille got drunk and told him everything. The list also included an N. Bluth, money having been found in an account under that name. Michael asked his father if he knew an N. Bluth.

George Sr. denied it, and then told Michael that Jan Eagleman from Justice TV had agreed to help the family. And she wanted to put the family through a mock trial to prepare. Michael agreed, with an emphasis that nobody was going to lie on the stand. George Sr. then emphasized that nobody was going to betray the family. Buster was nervous.

Michael met with Jan Eagleman, who was preparing for her new show, Judge Reinhold, a reality courtroom show starring Judge Reinhold. She wanted to conduct the mock trial on the set, which would give Reinhold some practice too. Jan told Michael that families that stick together fare the best in court, and suggested he handle the family's defense. Then Michael got a call that Buster was in a coma.

At the hospital, Lucille hoped Buster would coincidentally stay in a coma throughout the trial. Michael asked Lucille if she was responsible for Buster's coma, but Bust had actually gotten into G.O.B.'s forget-me-now pills. Coincidentally, Buster's hospital roommate was a woman who had been in a coma for two years now, according to her son Brian. Lindsay, hearing Brian say he had the resources to support a long hospital stay, saw a potential boyfriend.

In the lobby, Michael scolded his parents for putting Buster under this stress and informed them he’d play their defense lawyer in the mock trial. Hearing the name Judge Reinhold, Lucille opened one of the talking magazine ads promoting the show, a technology G.O.B. wanted to use for Franklin. Just then a doctor told the family that Buster was in a very light, possibly fake coma, but since he was fully insured, the doctor was willing to see how it played out. He then invited George Michael to volunteer at the hospital, suggesting that he join a group that put on fake weddings for Alzheimer's patients. He’d have to find a girl co-star, perhaps a cousin, although it meant they had to kiss. George-Michael was intrigued.

Michael was preparing for the mock trial when Lindsay entered, announcing that she had a date with Brian—joining him on a picket line demanding the right to pull the plug on loved ones. Then G.O.B. came down with Franklin 2.0, who had the talking magazine chip inserted in his body, although he could only say “My name is Judge.”

Michael investigated the prosecution's one bombshell: an undated blueprint of an Iraqi model home that matched their own model home. Unfurling the blueprint, Michael noticed that the Iraqi home had a secret room—did their own home have the same? While he searched for it, G.O.B. took Franklin back to the hospital to swipe more talking magazines.

Michael did find a secret room where his father had stored the family mementos, including a birth certificate for "Nichael Bluth." Michael worried that he was "N. Bluth" and was being set up to go to prison. Tobias stumbled into the secret room...which, judging from all the bodybuilding magazines there, he had already known about.

In another room, George Michael tried to convince Maeby to join his plan. She thought the kiss part was a little weird considering what they had been through, but soon realized it would be a good twist on a wedding movie. At the penthouse, Michael showed his father "Nichael"'s birth certificate. George Sr. claimed it was all a coincidence, then accused Michael of not being able to handle the family's defense.

Back at the hospital, Lindsay and Brian were protesting for the right to die. Tobias showed up and introduced Lindsay to his new friend from the gym, a Franciscan priest named Ben. Tobias and Ben were protesting for the right to live on total medical support. George Michael and Maeby were inside having their first mock wedding...until Maeby did the very thing she thought was so corny: she ran away.

Michael returned to his office to find G.O.B. with Franklin. Michael's desk was overturned; G.O.B. explained that he was practicing his "outraged" testimony. He had a new routine for Franklin: Hearing a doctor speak instructions into a tape recorder, G.O.B. stole the tape recorder and put it inside Franklin. Michael took Franklin and returned to the hospital, where Wayne Jarvis, the real prosecutor, approached him and warned him that, thanks to the Patriot Act, anything said in the mock trial was legally binding. Also, if Michael didn't get his father on the stand, the government would go after "N. Bluth," whom they suspected was Michael.

George Michael found Maeby hiding in the "secret room" and tried to cajole her into the kiss. Just as he made some headway, Michael barged in looking for evidence. At the hospital, Lindsay and Tobias argued over their marriage. Buster sat upright, yelled at them to fake it, and fell back into his coma.

The next day, the mock trial began on the renamed Mock Trial with J. Reinhold. The Bluths pretended to be a family that sticks together. Michael called a surprise witness to the stand: Franklin Delano Bluth. Touched, G.O.B. eagerly took the stand with his puppet friend. Michael announced to the court that he was approached by the prosecution and asked to implicate his family, then instructed G.O.B. to press play on the recorder inside Franklin. When he did, a tape of Wayne Jarvis telling Michael they would go after N. Bluth played. Judge Reinhold declared a mistrial. George Sr. asked Michael why he didn’t save it for the grand jury, and Michael said he was going to. Although he actually didn't know that was what you’re supposed to do. Jan Eagleman complimented the family on their cohesiveness.

George Michael and Maeby actually went through with the fake wedding, not knowing that the doctor had been called out and Father Ben, a real priest, had stepped in.

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