Arrested Development is one of the best sitcoms that TV has produced. It's still beloved to this day, and while the series is seemingly over, that hasn't stopped fans from talking about it. One of the strengths of the series is how flawed these characters really are.
Lucille Bluth is perhaps one of the most flawed characters in the whole series. It's difficult to talk about just 5 terrible things she's done, as throughout the series everything she does is manipulative or cruel. A number of awful things have also happened to her though and so we're taking those 10 items and exploring the character of Lucille Bluth.
DONE TO OTHERS: INFLICTING MOTHERBOY
Nothing is more sickly than the relationship between Buster and Lucille. She has mothered him far too much throughout his life and manipulated him to stay with her for a long period of time. He even acts out by dating another Lucille who was very similar to his mother.
The treatment of Buster by Lucille is pretty much summarized by their yearly competition known as Motherboy. Despite being far too old to take part, Lucille still takes Buster to this event, where they dress up and perform to be the ultimate mother son combo. We really feel sorry for Buster.
HAPPEN TO HER: LOSING HER SON TO THE ARMY
As we previously mentioned, Buster acted out because of the way his mother treated him. Apart from dating one of her friends, he also decided to join the army. This was a big blow to Lucille but she didn't want to act like she missed her son.
She eventually found someone to replace him, adopting a young Korean boy named Annyong and parading him around as her new favorite child. The pain of Buster leaving cut deep though and even Annyong wasn't enough to fill the void that Buster had left.
DONE TO OTHERS: NEGLECTING HER KIDS
Despite being so controlling over Buster, Lucille was actually quite savage and unloving to the rest of her children. During their childhood she made them compete against one another and really showed no affection for any of them, which badly affected their mental state.
Once they were older she still continued to neglect them. She thought Gob was an idiot and constantly reminded him of it. She felt like Michael was too interfering, although she may have had a little affection for him. She abused Lindsay most of all, even into adulthood, often ridiculing and insulting her.
HAPPEN TO HER: HATEFUL CHILDREN
As you can imagine, this kind of behavior eventually turned her own kids against her. This caused their relationship to break down further, with Lucille usually lashing out. It's fair to say that at many points in their lives, the Bluth kids felt hateful towards their mother.
For Lucille this meant she had to deal with a lot of unwanted change. Lindsay married a man that Lucille hated and then ran away barely to be seen again. Michael also ditched the family eventually, although he'd said he would so many times before that, it seemed less likely each time.
DONE TO OTHERS: FRAMING BUSTER FOR MURDER
A young Buster was just as dangerous as an older one, although we'll get to that later. Unfortunately, he pushed his grandma down the stairs, killing her. Lucille then convinced him that she had committed the murder, then told him to take the blame for it.
In this way, Lucille manipulated events to protect her son from feeling guilty, but also from going to prison herself. This was cruel and although it seemed to be done in good faith, ultimately it mentally affected Buster for the rest of his life.
HAPPEN TO HER: MURDEROUS SON
This all resulted in her son Buster becoming murderous in nature. He'd already committed a few crimes so one more wouldn't hurt. During a big celebration for Cinco De Cuartro, a fictional event, Buster pushed Lucille Austero down another flight of stairs.
The final season of the show was all about investigating who murdered Lucille. It wasn't until the final part of the show, where a body was removed from a fake wall used for a magic trick, that it was revealed that actually Buster had killed Austero. Lucille's son was a killer once more.
DONE TO OTHERS: FRAUD
Unfortunately Lucille has been involved in some criminal behavior. The Bluth company has been tied up in various criminal activity for some time now and it is actually what launched the series in the first place. Her husband George was arrested because of their business.
Lucille has been the mastermind behind many of their choices. Whether it's the dodgy deal with the Chinese, creating houses for terrorists or committing other forms of fraud through their sales, Lucille is very much a dangerous person to have behind a big company.
HAPPEN TO HER: GETTING ARRESTED
Lucille did briefly pay for her crimes by going to jail. Ironically the only thing she went to jail for was sinking a ship. She could have been saved by some key witnesses but her family never showed up to save her, especially Buster who broke her heart.
She was sentenced for 3 to 5 years in the prison and made some interesting friends there. She befriended a gang and managed to fit in but it wasn't quite the luxury she is used to. She was eventually released from jail but it seemed to only harden her.
DONE TO OTHERS: HAVING AN AFFAIR
George Bluth, Lucille's husband, isn't very faithful when it comes to their marriage. It's not that surprising therefore that neither is Lucille. However, perhaps her affair was an even bigger betrayal because of who she had it with.
Lucille had an affair with George's brother, Oscar, in the past. This resulted in a child, Buster in fact. Not only did she have an affair with her Husband's twin brother, but she also had his kid. She later had another affair, although George and Lucille had kind of separated by that point.
HAPPEN TO HER: RELATIONSHIP BREAKDOWNS
Lucille's behavior and choices in life have led to the breakdown of most of her relationships. While she is partially to blame, it's still a series of unfortunate events that have occurred to her. Her husband going to prison and the issues between them led to the destruction of their marriage.
Her relationship with his twin Oscar also came to an end after he'd been mistreated by the family too many times. Even her boyfriend later on in the series, had an unhealthy relationship with her, causing it to breakdown like all her other romances.