Episode 9
Title: “Storming the Castle”
Original Airdate: January 4, 2004
Tired of everybody walking all over him because he’s such a nice guy, Michael contrives to steal Gob’s girlfriend Marta, whom he’s fallen for, and sabotage Gob’s magic career at the same time. At the last minute, though, he can’t go through with it, and ends up helping Gob both get back together with Marta and get back in the Magician’s Alliance. Lucille tries to break up Buster and Lucille Austero, but then has a change of heart when she sees how much love means to both Gob (with Marta) and Buster (with Lucille Austero).
Episode 10
Title: “Pier Pressure”
Original Airdate: January 11, 2004
Buster asks George Michael to get him some pot to help Lucille Austero with her vertigo-induced nausea, and George Michael goes to Gob to buy some. Michael finds out and thinks his son is taking drugs, so he formulates an elaborate lesson of the kind his own father used to stage in order to teach George Michael not to smoke pot. Lindsay decides to be a tougher parent and punishes Maeby for getting a bad grade by making her spend the day with Lucille. Both Michael and Lindsay learn that their parenting styles didn’t need to change.
Episode 11
Title: “Public Relations”
Original Airdate: January 25, 2004
Fed up with his family’s bad behavior, Michael hires a publicist to improve their image. Her suggestions backfire, as Tobias gets acting lessons (from Carl Weathers) instead of renewing his medical license, and Gob loses a senior citizen at his charity magic show. Although he and Jessie the publicist have a mutual attraction, Michael fends off her advances for fear of traumatizing George Michael. Jessie retaliates by spreading bad publicity about the Bluths, ruining George Michael’s chances of getting into a prestigious private school, but it turns out he doesn’t want to go there anyway.
Episode 12
Title: “Marta Complex”
Original Airdate: February 8, 2004
Michael throws an anniversary party for Lindsay and Tobias, and gives a toast about being true to yourself that sets off a number of events: Lindsay decides to separate from Tobias, who is more focused on his acting lessons from Carl Weathers; Buster moves out of Lucille’s apartment and attempts to move in with Lucille Austero, who says their relationship is over; and Marta realizes she is in love with Michael, not Gob. Unfortunately for Michael, he blows his chances with Marta when he suspects her of having an affair with another man, although she’s really just preparing to be with Michael.
Episode 13
Title: “Beef Consomme”
Original Airdate: February 15, 2004
Michael tries to salvage his chances with Marta, but they both feel they must tell Gob before they can be together. Gob gives his approval, but when he hears that Michael and Marta have been making out, he attacks Michael and they get in a huge fight. Marta catches them fighting and says she can’t be with either of them. Lindsay and Tobias reconcile when Lindsay helps Tobias overcome his inability to ever be nude. George Michael tries to find out if Maeby isn’t really his biological cousin, but ends up deciding that it’s better to let her have the security of family.
Episode 14
Title: “Shock and Aww”
Original Airdate: March 7, 2004
Michael starts dating George Michael’s ethics teacher, Miss Baerly (Heather Graham), on whom George Michael has a crush, and tries to cover up the relationship. After sleeping with her, Michael decides to break things off. Then after coming clean with George Michael, he tries to win Miss Baerly back, but she rejects him. Lucille is left to care for Annyong, a Korean boy whom she and George agreed to adopt before George was arrested. At first she wants to get rid of him, but then she decides to keep him around to make Buster jealous.
Episode 15
Title: “Staff Infection”
Original Airdate: March 14, 2004
When Michael finds out that his siblings have been getting paychecks from the Bluth Company, he makes them work for their money, with typically disastrous results. Lindsay lets all of the office employees wander off, and Gob and Buster foment rebellion among the construction workers. But it all works out when Michael has a new idea for how to design the company’s latest development, and gets to spend time with George Michael instead of always working. Tobias checks himself into prison with George in order to research his upcoming bit part as an inmate.
Episode 16
Title: “Altar Egos”
Original Airdate: March 17, 2004
The prosecution presents a plea deal in George’s case, but Bluth family lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn is too lazy to read it, so Michael agrees to decide whether they should take the agreement. He gets distracted when he meets lawyer Maggie Lizer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) at the bar across from the courthouse, and sleeps with her. He then discovers that she’s blind, and that she’s also prosecuting George’s case. He means to break up with her, but ends up with a file of all the evidence against George. Gob has a one-night stand that accidentally leads to his getting married.
Episode 17
Title: “Justice Is Blind”
Original Airdate: March 21, 2004
Michael decides not to read the file that Maggie inadvertently gave to him, and returns it to her while coming clean about who he really is. They agree never to see each other again, but can’t resist falling into bed over and over again. Gob enlists Tobias to break in to Maggie’s house and destroy the evidence against George, but Tobias gets caught and the case moves forward. It goes on without Maggie, though, once Michael discovers that she was faking being blind and she gets taken off the case.
Episode 18
Title: “Missing Kitty”
Original Airdate: March 28, 2004
While George Michael is on spring break, he wants to hang out with Gob and learn about magic, but Michael wants his son to be more responsible, and has George Michael work as the Bluth Company secretary after Kitty is fired. Determined not to be humiliated on a spring break TV special, Gob promises to make the family yacht disappear, which he does by wiring it with explosives and sinking it. Kitty, however, is on the boat, and manages to save both herself and some incriminating evidence against George.
