Arrested Development: Meet Lucille Bluth
A guide to the heavy-drinking mother of the Bluths, played by Jessica Walter
There are terrible, greedy, manipulative mothers who drink a tad too much... and then there is Lucille Bluth.
Played by Jessica Walter, the Bluth’s matriarch is a narcissist with a taste for decadence - much to Michael’s dismay, given that her lifestyle of spa treatments and face lifts is funded entirely though misappropriated Bluth Company money.
All of her children, in some way or another, are emotionally damaged and Lucille seems to be a big reason why. This especially applies to Lindsay (who she constantly calls fat and lazy) and Buster, who she has smothered to the point of him being rendered socially inept and unstable.
In season three, it is revealed that she is, in fact, the mastermind behind the Bluth Company’s dodgy actions and makes a get-away on a boat.
She has never made eye contact with a waiter.
Sample quote:
Lucille: Get me a vodka rocks.
Michael: Mom, it’s breakfast.
Lucille: And a piece of toast.
Sample moment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rTJtVyQhN0
Authors
Stephen Kelly is a freelance culture and science journalist. He oversees BBC Science Focus's Popcorn Science feature, where every month we get an expert to weigh in on the plausibility of a newly released TV show or film. Beyond BBC Science Focus, he has written for such publications as The Guardian, The Telegraph, The I, BBC Culture, Wired, Total Film, Radio Times and Entertainment Weekly. He is a big fan of Studio Ghibli movies, the apparent football team Tottenham Hotspur and writing short biographies in the third person.