Arrested Development Netflix: A .gif Journey Through Buster and Lucille Bluth's Relationship

The characters in Arrested Development are vain, childish, petty, foolish, naive, greedy, manipulative, and outwardly insane. No characters on the show embody these traits as well as mother-son duo Lucille and Buster Bluth. Lucille and Buster are the most extreme members of the Bluth clan. While Lucille and Buster may not have the quote-ability of the oft-hated in-law Tobias Funke, they are still huge fan favorites, and for good reason.

Lucille and Buster have a relationship with one another that would make Norman Bates jealous, and make George Michael's feelings for his (maybe) cousin Maeby seem normal in comparison. Here is the the three-step progression of the Lucille-Buster relationship. Enjoy! 

1. Things Begin to Look A Little Strange

At first glance, "No Mother, I can blow myself," would appear to be an unfortunate choice in wording, something that many characters on Arrested Development have an issue with.

However, Lucille and Buster take simple misunderstandings to new heights in Arrested Development. For instance, the time when Lucille forces Buster to bid on her at a Charity Auction and Buster accidentally ends up bidding on Lucille 2 (Liza Minnelli) leading to his long-running courtship of a woman his mother's age ... that shares her name.

That caused a Lucille vs. Lucille 2 war that Lucille 2 was unaware of that culminated in Lucille Bluth ordering contractors to move her bathroom three feet into Lucille 2's kitchen while Lucille 2 was being cured of vertigo. Lucille was very disapproving of all of Buster's consorts, with one choice word to describe them all. 

Lucille's over-protective attitude towards Buster may also have cause him to discover def-jam puppetry in the form of the original "Accidental Racist" Franklin Bluth

It's easy to see that Lucille and Buster have a complicated relationship, but just wait, it gets stranger.


2. Oedipus Much?

Buster has been Lucille's baby boy for all 32 years of his life and sometimes it's unclear whether Buster is more of a lapdog than a person.

It is revealed that Lucille has taken post-partum depression medication ever since she had Buster and it has been altering her mood ever since,  which is more than likely why she has been sheltering Buster for his entire life. 

When the Bluth family engaged in a redemption PR campaign after George Bluth was found to have done business with Saddam Hussein, Buster elected to join the Army (much to his mother's chagrin). Since Buster's toddler years, Lucille had entered the pair into the Motherboy XXX Mother-Son look-a-like contest. With Buster in the military Lucille had to turn to George Michael to fill the hole that Buster left.

George Michael was Buster's natural replacement. Michael would never agree to be in Motherboy and naturally distrusts his mother, Lindsey is a girl, (or Shemalé) and as Lucille puts it...

It seemed destined that George Michael would become the new Buster until the fateful day when Lu-Seal ate Buster's hand.

Buster's loss of his hand, and his subsequent discharge from the military, placed him right back into the clutches of his manipulative, "loving" mother Lucille. 

3. Maury, Who is the Father?

Buster is the black sheep of the family in more ways than one. He is the only member of the Bluth family that likes Lucille and may also be the son of Oscar Bluth (Jeffrey Tambor), George Bluth's identical twin brother (portrayed by Jeffrey Tambor in a wig). Oscar's drug use and random bouts of rage may have been the cause of Buster's eclectic behavior and poor decision making skills, not to mention Buster's frequent bouts of rage.

Buster never quite became too used to the idea of Oscar being his father, even when Oscar and Lucille began openly date. Buster was still more than a little uncomfortable about the idea of his uncle / father and his mother engaging in coitus.

For all intents and purposes, Buster is a child. He functions on the level of a very intelligent dachshund, and is prone to fits of jealousy over his mother's affections that Freud would be proud of. When Lucille adopted Annyong as part of her PR redemption, the 32-year-old Buster became more than a little competitive towards him. Buster managed to get Annyong sent to a boarding school to have his mother all to himself. However, Buster did feel a little bad about the affair. But his joy about being his mother's favorite soon outweighed the guilt.

Arrested Development was originally cancelled before Buster could make any real character growth away from being a momma's boy. Hopefully the upcoming season, starting May 28 on Netflix, will be able to push Buster away from his mother and possibly into some more ... manly endeavors. 

If you aren't the biggest fan of Buster or Lucille, I'm sorry. I do have a consolation .gif for you though ... a parting gift to get you over the hump: 

You are welcome.

All .gifs courtesy of