Arrested Development has finally come to a close after five seasons following the corrupt Bluth family. Over this time we've gotten to know each member of this estranged group and their relationships with one another. The series is well regarded as one of the greatest US comedy series, but its characters certainly have a lot of flaws.
Buster Bluth is the most immature of the Bluth family and perhaps the member that's also treated the worst. The other Bluth's seem to have very little regard for the emotions of Buster and he's usually an afterthought in one of their grand schemes. We're taking a look at 10 of the worst things that the Bluth family have done to Buster over the course of Arrested Development.
MOTHER HIM
Buster is always going to be a mother's boy. His relationship with Lucille is nothing short of inappropriate and unhealthy. He has lived with his mother for the vast amount of his life, with Lucille often manipulating events so that he stays with her longer.
It's this unhealthy situation and the tasks that Lucille asks of Buster, that has messed him up so badly. He still acts like a little boy and has developed an even worse relationship with Lucille 2, who becomes more of a motherly figure herself, rather than the lover she wished to be. By continuing on like this, Lucille has allowed Buster to become very damaged.
HIDE HIS REAL FATHER
Not only does he have mom issues, he also has dad issues. George Bluth's identical brother, Oscar, is actually the biological father to Buster. Lucille and Oscar have had an on and off again affair for many years, but these details are hidden from Buster.
For some time he wasn't aware that his real father wasn't George at all and while Oscar stood by on the sidelines giving more emotional support than George ever would, Buster was none the wiser. Eventually the news came to light which only made Buster feel bitter towards his mother for hiding such a secret from him. It was a cruel move to make to ensure she kept Buster to herself.
JOINING THE ARMY
Lucille's manipulation and the family's almost resentment of Buster drove him to do something completely out of his comfort zone. To prove everyone wrong and to defy his mother's many rules, Buster decided to sign up to join the army. This was of course a terrible choice.
Buster is not fit for the army at all, but his family allowed it to happen anyway. Not once but twice in fact. The second time around he started flying drones thinking that they were a video game. The emotional and psychological impact was pretty big when he found out. All of this could have been avoided if his family were more supportive.
SENDING HIM TO MILFORD SCHOOL
Every child of the Bluth family have made their way to the Milford School, until George Michael that is. Buster is no exception to that rule, although it's possibly one of the worst things they could have ever done to him. The school essentially set him up for failure, especially with his confidence.
The motto of the institution was that children shouldn't be seen or heard and Buster was an expert at that. In fact, he actually won the most unseen kid of the year multiple times and stayed in education years afterwards to help with research projects, becoming a rat to experiment on. The school only negatively impacted his mental state, worsening the situation.
ADOPTING ANNYONG
Lucille took Buster leaving home as him not needing his mother anymore and in part that was correct. Buster tried to get away from the toxic environment he had been brought up in. But this created a lot of jealousy within the elder Bluth and she exacted her revenge.
She adopted a young Korean boy named Hel-loh although the family nicknamed him Annyong because of the frequency he said the word. This was to make Buster jealous so that he would return home after he felt like he had been replaced. It worked in some ways and eventually Lucille sent Annyong to Milford School to teach him a lesson, although she both forgot the lesson and about Annyong.
GIVING HIM A DEAD BODY
G.O.B. has gotten into some difficult situations because of his stupidity and dangerous friends in the magic industry. After pretending to be gay as part of an act, he was was taken by the gay mafia. They supposedly killed his friend and lover and wanted him to dispose of the body.
G.O.B. couldn't bring himself to do it so he gave the body to Buster to get rid of instead. This of course all coincided with the murder investigation for Lucille 2, of which Buster was a prime suspect. G.O.B. therefore not only gave his brother a corpse to get rid of, but also helped to incriminate him for a separate crime!
RELEASING THE SEAL
G.O.B. has had a number of other unfortunate incidents due to his magic tricks, many of which have put Buster in harms way. Buster is usually the magician's assistant meaning that G.O.B. can experiment on him however he likes. He also has a variety of animals to use in his shows, like rabbits or a seal.
The seal in question had developed a lust for blood after being used in G.O.B.s acts and he eventually released it into the ocean to be free. This literally came back to bite the Bluth's, though it was Buster who suffered the consequences of his brother's animal cruelty. It was this seal that gnawed off the hand of Buster, forcing him to wear prosthetics for the rest of the show.
J. WALTER WEATHERMAN
The situation was made more unfortunate by the childhood of the Bluths. One of George's friends, J. Walter Weatherman, used to assist in teaching the kids a lesson. He had a missing hand that could be used to scare the Bluth children into following the many rules set out for them.
This had scared the Bluth's for life, so when Buster returned with a hook for a hand it caused many memories to resurface. Buster himself was unhappy with his new limb, but the rest of the family treated him like a monster and were often visibly disturbed by the fake hand that now sat on Buster's arm.
FRAMING HIM FOR MURDER
The son of Oscar and Lucille also had a troubled past thanks to an accident that cost a life. During the second half of season 5 Buster was on trial for the murder of Lucille. This was a situation that was not helped by the rest of the family. Michael's part in blaming himself eventually placed more blame onto Buster after he realized he was innocent.
George Michael's fake block meant that Buster had tried to erase evidence of the incident. Oscar travelling with him across America made him look like a fugitive. G.O.B.s role has already been mentioned in all of this. What's worse, Buster had killed his nan in his younger days, pushing her down the stairs. Lucille had him blame himself for the death to protect her, but it really was him in a very confusing twist.
8 DAYS LEFT
Buster's many crimes eventually meant he had to spend some time in prison; although this is before the finale revealed that he was responsible for Lucille 2's death after all. His time spent in jail was cut short by a big parade where he made his escape with the help of his father.
They were constantly on the move, hiding out in the loft and in the display tents of department stores. The family failed to mention to Buster that he was actually free to go anyway as he only had eight days left on his sentence. They continued to allow him to live in such a terrible condition just because they couldn't be bothered to tell him the truth!