IGN gave the episode a 7.8 , saying that while it was nice to see the characters again after this amount of time , the episode , particularly the dorm storyline , felt overly long and lost steam toward the end of the episode . '' The Guardian '' s Hadley Freeman called the episode " a rather depressing kick-off " , referring to Michael Bluth 's desolate state throughout the episode , but noticed that it was " extraordinary how much Hurwitz packs into each 30 minute episode . " Noel Murray of '' The A.V. Club '' called the dorm vote sequence " the funniest in the whole of '' Arrested Development '' to date " , and opined that the relaunched show " is a sitcom that ’s still pretty much clicking . " For the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards , " Flight of the Phoenix " was honored with two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series . Additionally , Jason Bateman was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for this episode
65th Primetime Emmy Awards
65th Primetime Emmy Awards
Flight of the Phoenix (Arrested Development)