Not Without My Daughter (Arrested Development)

Did You Know?

• It was the twentieth and penultimate episode of the season to be filmed after the pilot.
• It was the eighth of Fox's second episode order for the season.

Plot

Michael is reminded by George Michael that it's "Take Your Daughter to Work Day" as he's leaving for the office. Years ago, Michael brought George Michael along as a joke, and the tradition stuck, but now he wants to stop it. Maeby intends to watch entertainment news with Tobias. Gob shows up with a new Girls with Low Self-Esteem tape, which he recorded when he made the family yacht vanish.

Michael notices Lindsay's new outfit; she claims she stole it, but she actually works at the store and feels too ashamed to admit that. To give Maeby a positive role model, Michael brings her to work. Lucille has Oscar impersonate George Sr. at Annyong's soccer game. Feeling upset that Maeby has taken his spot, and with Gob insecure because Lindsay seems better at sleight-of-hand, and Tobias wanting a job that proves his masculinity and impresses his daughter, the three head to the mall.

Tobias lands a job as a security guard, while Gob and George Michael buy mice from the pet store. Michael bets Maeby fifty dollars that she can't go a full day without lying, and he agrees to do the same. Two police officers show up to investigate Kitty's disappearance; she was last seen flashing Michael at a restaurant. However, Kitty is visible on the yacht that Gob blew up, as shown on the Girls with Low Self-Esteem tape.

In prison, Buster visits George Sr. and mentions that Oscar accompanied Lucille to the soccer game, so George Sr. orders Buster to get rid of Oscar. At the police station, Michael and Maeby answer questions about Kitty, meeting Barry Zuckerkorn, who advises Michael to lie about the tape showing Kitty on the yacht.

Reception

When it first aired in the United States, 5.66 million viewers tuned in. Noel Murray of The A.V. Club commended the episode for taking advantage of the largely overlooked and trivial occasion of Take Your Daughter To Work Day. Conversely, Brian Tallerico of Vulture placed it 69th out of the entire series in 2019, describing it as the first season's most forgettable installment and a rare early episode that seems to be simply marking time, possibly conserving its best material for the season finale.