My title refers to the fact that this show illustrates particularly well the "cynical indie" style. What defines this style? Overall quirkyness and, well, cynicism, which makes itself evident on how the family theme is ignored constantly (except for very brief and meaningless moments that get forgotten pretty soon). But still, it was the king of that. As I saw in another review, the laugh-per-minute ratio is pretty solid, and this speaking as a not-really-a-fan of the style I just described. The writers comfortably managed to spin the Bluths in constantly incredible and clever misunderstandings and unlikely scenarios. Props for the well selected cast: Bateman funny as the good guy, Arnett funny as the loser, both Alia Shawkat and Michael Cera funny as possibly incestuous cousins (in what is the most interesting and exciting subplot throughout the whole show), etc. etc. So why does constant laughs+good cast+an unexpected romantic subplot amount only to a 6? Because it's actually the highest the show aims. The philosophy of the writers seemed to be: "be funny above everything else". That sacrifices the whole ambition of the show as more than a comedy, as a family dramedy, were ultimately (and, as corny as it may sound) family is the most important thing. There are very few moments like this and, as I said before, they don't have that much impact, as everyone in the family is extremely selfish. The other aspect of the cynicism is that the characters never get what they want, and we end up with the characters not changing much from season to season. Yes, the laughs are there, but the emotional aspect which makes a comedic show something bigger than that is lacking. In the end, just a bit like a clever joke book and not much else.