It feels like just as this season was getting going, it has ended. Because Curb seasons are only 10 episodes long, they definitely never overstay their welcome, but its also a little frustrating that the show ends just when you’re getting into a rhythm. However, that’s pretty much my only complaint with last night’s extra long finale in which Larry David pulled off the difficult feat of making a satisfying conclusion to this season while also providing some closure for Seinfeld fans left cold by that show’s finale. It wasn’t the non-stop riot last week’s episode was, but it was a nice wrap-up that featured one of the greatest gags in the show’s history.
At the beginning of the episode, things are looking great for Larry. The reunion is going great and he and Cheryl are closer than ever. But things start to unravel and, as always, its Mocha Joe’s fault. Before we get into specifics, I just have to say how much I loved the repetition of Mocha Joe throughout this episode. He was never just Joe, always Mocha Joe. Anyway, Larry asks Mocha Joe to carry some jumper cables to the office where he’s delivering the coffee. Mocha Joe agrees to, expecting a tip. Larry doesn’t tip him, assuming its a favor, so, instead Larry has to agree to pick up coffee beans all the way down in Hollywood. Larry drives all the way down there, but the store is closed and, even worse, it causes Cheryl to cancel on their semi-date. Larry doesn’t even get credit for the favor since the store was closed.
But things start to heat up with successful pampheteer author Jason Alexander (how priceless was Seinfeld’s passive-aggressive comments towards Jason Alexander on the topic of Acting Without Acting). Larry starts to notice how close Jason and Cheryl are getting and he starts to worry that she may be falling for him. Actually, though, Cheryl seems to be falling for George, who is really just a fictionalized version of Larry (who, in the Seinfeld reunion, wins back his ex-wife, who is really just a fictionalized version of Cheryl). A lot of really funny escalation leads to Larry rewriting the whole finale so that George doesn’t get his wife back, which causes Jason to walk off the set and gives us the moment that this entire season has been building towards, perhaps the spark that gave Larry David the idea to do this entire season: Larry David plays “Larry David” playing “George Costanza,” a fictionalized version of Larry David. The comic agility that it took to get the season to this point and make it feel totally natural is pretty amazing, even for someone as skilled at crafting Rube Goldbergesque comic scenarios like Larry David. And its a testament to his ability as a performer that the bit didn’t just feel like a gimmick; instead he knocked it out of the park. It was a truly ingenious moment and a great climax for the season.
And the ending was also spot-on. Larry quits the reunion and watches it at home, laughing along with the show’s happy ending. Then he seems to get his own as Cheryl shows up, having also quit. It seems like the season is going to end on a positive note but, as Larry said when pitching the new ending to the cast, “that’s not what we do.” Thus reemerges Larry David: Wood Detective, who clearly has greater respect for wood than Cheryl.
Before I wrap this up, I wanted to mention how satisfying the Seinfeld portions of the episode were. While all four actors have done a long series of not-very-good projects in the ten years after Seinfeld’s demise, they clearly still have a great feel for the rhythms and intricacies of their characters and it was great to see them back in it again. Additionally, by using the format they did, the reunion got to feel like a long string of jokes without the need to actually tie them together with any sort of plot.
With that, another season of Curb ends and I must say I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. I think this has been a step up over the last two seasons and added a lot of classics to the Curb Hall of Fame. As usual, its hard to tell whether there will be more episodes or when that might be, but for now, we can be satisfied that Larry David has put together another round of top-notch comedy.
Jonah’s Score: 91
Tangled Up In Wires Grade: A
Michael
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