On Curb Your Enthusiasm, Tracey Ullman pulls Larry into a high-stakes game of politics
Larry pursues that which repulses him as Curb's 11th season heads into its final stretch.
TV Reviews Curb Your Enthusiasm
It’s certainly not every day that the selfishness of Larry David impacts the future of an entire city. Maybe this is why Curb Your Enthusiasm doesn’t let Larry dabble too much in politics. The ramifications would be too chaotic.
This week’s episode, titled “Irma Kostroski,” sees at least 50% of the Santa Monica electorate pinning their hopes on the optimistic mayoral candidate Jimmy Mayhew (Terrell Clayton)—a number that seemingly includes Larry himself, who canvasses door-to-door for Mayhew for reasons that never really solidify by the end of the episode. (Maybe it’s an infatuation with repulsion? We’ll get to that.) Not that Larry’s sudden political blossoming really matters at all; he figures waiting in a long line to cast a vote for Mayhew is ultimately too much to ask and he decides to skip the election altogether.
To give him credit, not necessarily because it’s due, Larry does take an opposition vote with him just to even things out. That algebra makes perfect sense in Larry’s warped mind so naturally, in the equally warped setup-punchline Bizarro world of Curb, that means Mayhew’s election is destined to be the most historically significant squeaker of them all, with Mayhew’s inevitable loss being attributed to a single vote. Would things have worked out differently for Jimmy Mayhew (and all those prospective chicken coop owners in Santa Monica) had Larry and his presumably Republican counterpart stuck around to cast their ballots? The actual math doesn’t seem to support it, but election results were never going to stop Larry from ditching his civic duty.
The exploration of Larry’s screwy principles is a well-trod road for Curb Your Enthusiasm and it is certainly the thorniest sticking point of “Irma Kostroski,” at least in showing how lop-sided his principles always seem to be. On one hand, Larry can’t be bothered to vote. On the other, he makes a point to call out a mourning widow (okay, a widow-once-removed) in front of what looks like 60 people for what he feels is an abuse of her “widow privileges,” blaming both her and her purportedly overblown grief for taking away one of his precious golf lesson slots and also the opportunity to enjoy a lobster lunch. (Effectively thwarting Larry’s chance to make up for his underwhelming, anchovies-less Caesar salad last week.)
Richard Lewis, bless his tortured heart, points out Larry’s wonky sense of priorities. “You can sit here (‘here’ being Susie’s stump for Jimmy Mayhew), but you can’t go to Broadway when I’m selling out show after show for 10 weeks.” (Sidebar: I’d kill to see that show.) You’ll recall that Larry and Jeff spent some time off-screen in New York City this season, long enough to warrant the necessity for Larry’s three problematic pieces of luggage, yet he didn’t set one evening aside to support his long-suffering friend, Richie?
What’s important to Lewis isn’t important to Larry, a moral polarity that’s been plainly established throughout 11 seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Lewis is an artist and he wants to share his gifts with the people he loves. Larry doesn’t. He bristles at obligation and scoffs at people who openly refer to themselves as artists. “I don’t do things to invite you to, but you do things to invite me to,” he tells Lewis, which prompts Lewis to reveal his delightfully hyperbolic (and not entirely implausible) hypothesis: “You hate people.”
Does Larry hate people? He posits a response to this accusation later when it’s reiterated by Cheryl, someone who truly knows what’s lurking (shuffling?) around in Larry’s heart: “I hate people individually, but I love mankind.” That’s probably not all the way true, and even that assertion ends up getting put to the test before this week’s episode comes to a close; mankind, or a Santa Monica-based and politically motivated contingent of mankind, turns on Larry for being so selfish with his time and things get ugly.
Perhaps this is why Larry finds himself oddly intrigued by the eponymous Irma Kostroski (a dementedly unpleasant Tracey Ullman). He describes the city councilwoman as having “the worst aspects of 10 different people,” Frankensteined together into one “repugnant” human being. On her own, Larry finds her intolerable. But as the sum of 10 different awful people? By Larry’s own logic there’s something there that can be respected, maybe even admired. “For some reason, I’m inexplicably drawn to that which repels me,” he tells Susie as Irma chows down on quiche and gherkins just a few feet away. (Susie, quite rightfully, suspects an ulterior motive.)
Whatever Larry’s actually feeling for Irma, it’s meant to be ambiguous. (Tracey Ullman will be popping by next week, too, and it looks like Larry’s ready with a bouquet of flowers. Elucidation is forthcoming.) Less ambiguous is Larry’s feelings towards Asa (Jon Rudnitsky), the incorrigible rascal who’s been tapped to star in Larry’s semi-autobiographical Hulu-produced sitcom, Young Larry. Like Richard Lewis, Asa fancies himself an artist, which makes Larry sneer, and he insists upon being addressed by his peers as “Larry,” which is almost certainly a power move on his part. Other prima donna flexes by Asa include criticizing prop master Stan’s choice of eyeglasses and corn puff snacks. (Glenn Keogh’s tightly-wound performance left me in stitches. There’s murder in Stan’s heart, and Keogh put it there with merciless glee.)
What’s up with Asa? Larry believes his asshole-ish ways can be attributed to the time when Asa was abused by a 37 year-old Italian model-actress and he sued her for a $400,000 settlement. Of course, Larry doesn’t see Asa’s trauma as legitimate (nor does virtually any other guy in the episode, including a hilariously overeager 18 year-old voter), as he believes that any 17-year-old boy would be over the moon to even be touched by an older woman—or any woman, for that matter. Maybe Larry’s merely being insensitive to Asa’s troubles, maybe he’s taking an inappropriate leap in his attempt to grasp Asa’s issues with Stan, maybe Asa is exploiting his past for “darkly driven artiste” cred. Either way Larry and Asa’s line exchange in this scene—“What if you were in high school and you slept with an older, famous actress, how would people treat you?” “They would have named the high school after me.”—might be the funniest of the season so far.
As its eleventh season pulls into the final stretch it feels like Curb Your Enthusiasm is finally arriving at a point. The Young Larry arc hasn’t resonated in the same way that season four’s “The Producers” arc did, and (perhaps this is unfair) it hasn’t felt as engaging on a character level as season seven’s Seinfeld reunion arc. It doesn’t help that “Irma Kostroski” is the least self-contained episode of this season so far, deliberately staving off moments of catharsis between Asa and Larry, Larry and Irma, and, perhaps most crucially (for me, anyway), Asa and Stan. (With all due respect to the grieving Ruth Berman, did this episode really need that additional detour?) Will Young Larry be a success or will it flop? This week, that scarcely registered over Tracey Ullman absolutely shredding the scenery, or Stan’s righteous fury over Asa’s “too-vegan” corn puffs. This season, like Larry, would benefit from getting its priorities sorted.
Stray Observations
- Hello! I am not Danette Chavez but Jarrod Jones, filling in for Danette and counting my lucky stars that I was invited to recap an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm that included Richard Lewis.
- I’m guessing the ordinance Larry would like to see changed courtesy of Irma is the “low fence around your pool” rule that he’s been flouting since the Davids moved into the neighborhood all those years ago. I’m not sure why this episode buried Larry’s intent?
- Richie: “I confuse [Mussolini] with Mucinex. I take it for my coughs.”
- Doesn’t it seem like Ted Danson joining the cast of Young Larry ought to be a bigger deal than the show is treating it?
- I love how Cheryl can still make Larry squirm just by slightly interrogating his motives.
- Larry’s made-up policies for Jimmy Mayhew: no saying happy new year after January 7 (reasonable), no children under 10 allowed in restaurants, elimination of hand shaking, getting rid of the penny.
- Jeff’s casual mention of Lily Collins as a potential alternative for Maria Sofia might bear guest star fruit before the end of the season. It’s too random a name drop for it not to.
53 Comments
Sadly this is supposed to be the only time we see Richard Lewis this season, due to his injuries. But it’s great he got this at least.
It was my understanding he would be out entirely, so this was a wonderful surprise. He and Larry really seemed tickled by each other at the rally. He’s the greatest.
Every second with him was gold. He made it count.
Richard Lewis was obviously green-screened in or whatever they do. Not really sitting there with Larry. Watch it again and pay attention
What does it matter? At least he got in. Lewis said he had to bow out due to various injuries and surgeries. He said filming season 10 was physically painful, but he powered through it as much as he could. If he needed a green screen to take part, then great for him. At least he’s there.
Somehow Larry is the most annoying person and he is right half the time as well. The tapping on the shoulder and the talking I understand bothering people. But he is right (to me) about the Widow and the trama thing. I know not everybody would agree but being a close to 50 year old geezer myself I was with Larry on those two things!The ending of this show is why I have voted in every election in NYC outside of 2 since I was 18 years old (man that’s 28 out of 30 years). I thought Larry wasn’t making it out of that door!
Early Curb was often cathartic to watch because Larry came off more relatable, at least to introverts like myself who find social mores and obligations irritating and ridiculous.In later Curb, Larry comes off more curmudgeonly and unreasonable (it doesn’t help that he’s recycling a LOT of bits from both earlier seasons and Seinfeld), and I think that has hurt the show. The improv, which once made the show feel fresh and unpredictable, can especially be grating since a lot of guests and day players tend to just repeat or parrot back whatever Larry says. (DAMN I miss Jon Hamm. Bring him back again!)But even having said all that… when he’s right, he’s right. And about the widow, he’s right.
I didn’t see the show when it started and haven’t gone back to season 1-5 and really need to but as I get older I can relate to a lot of what Larry feels.I’m very outgoing but I can also want to sit alone and not be bothered so I much rather be Larry than say Suzie. But yeah he was 100% right about the widow and everyone being mad at him when he pointed out the last fact was so great!
Jon Hamm is an excellent over-actor.
“Whatever Larry’s actually feeling for Irma, it’s meant to be ambiguous.“They don’t outright say but heavily imply he’s only interested because she is part of City Council which can repeal laws, including a pesky pool fence ordinance.
Yeah, this wasn’t ambiguous at all, it was clear, coming right off the table read scene.
Yes. They didn’t literally put it into words, but the chain of events and Larry’s thought process was quite clear.
Indeed, the dialog comes right out with “…they can change any local ordinance?”
That’s what I got as well, that he clearly is just using her.
He even later links getting rid of the terrible actress to Irma. Which didn’t really make sense to me because even if the law was removed it wouldn’t be retroactive. Larry still violated it when it was law.
Whoever plays that awful actress is an amazing actress.
It’s been an uneven but fun season but she has been the bright spot for sure. Absolutely hysterical.
I bet he tries to get the health permit for the taco shop revoked. It’s gotta all tie into the terrible young actress.
The taco shop isn’t in Santa Monica.
come ON this was A minus tier
Susie snarling “What’s wrong with Faulkner?!” Priceless.
Only 7 eps in, and we have the *second* “underage teen boys are LUCKY to be sexually assaulted by hot older women” joke premise of the season.Just another of many repeated situations this strained, Schaffer-reverse-engineered-from-the-ending, extraneous season – but notable because it repeats it from TWO EPISODES AGO.
Yeah, it’s getting weird. I enjoyed every other aspect of this episode, but that storyline was so distracting and unenjoyable, in part because they just did it, and in part because the “Actually, any guy would be thrilled” punchline feels like it belongs on mid-aughts SNL at the latest.
I have no idea what your second paragraph means but I’m curious.
The show is a shadow of its former self
1) It’s specifically supposed to be about the pool fence rule, that would be obvious for anyone who’s been watching this season from the start.2) The “abuse” storyline is explicitly a parody of the Asia Argento scandal. The ages line up (37/17) and the unseen actress here is described as Italian and with an alliterative name of A___ A____.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to pick up the parallel between Asa’s “sexual abuse” with the “total smoke show” older Italian actress when he was seventeen and she some twenty years older and that she had to pay him some $400K with that of real-life Italian actress Asia Argento and teenage actor Jimmy Bennett. Bennett, also some twenty years younger than Argento, received about the same sum from Argento; money which was paid by Argento’s lover, Anthony Bourdain) as her and Bennett’s sexual liaison came to light and she was accused of sexual abuse of a minor. I would say this plot twist was Larry David’s commentary on the idea of a horny teenager being bedded by any older woman as being considered a sexual abuse or “traumatic.” It’s great to see after all these years, Larry hasn’t lost his edge and still delights in poking the PC bear.
I had to look up the actor playing Asa to make sure he wasn’t the guy in the Asia Argento scandal.
It’s time for Larry to put the “prettyyyy good” thing to bed. It was funny the first time. Now, he’s too aware that it was funny, and every time he does it, I cringe.
This was a lame episode. The “losing the election by one vote” plot was too stupid to be believable. And didn’t Larry convince people on his canvassing to vote for the guy? So he would have lost by a larger deficit anyway.Larry’s troubles with his lead actor were unintentionally timely with the Jeremy Strong New Yorker profile dropping yesterday. I was going to say Young Larry’s actor’s trauma was based on an Asia Argento sexual misconduct incident she had with a young man; if the character’s name was Asa (I missed it while watching), then definitely that was the inspiration.I kinda hope Larry actually falls for Irma in classic rom-com fashion. For one thing, it would be an age-appropriate relationship (few and far between for Larry on the show, I think, ). For another, Tracy Ullman as part of the regular cast is a good idea. But even Larry’s scheme to get her to reverse the ordinance felt implausible since wouldn’t he have still been responsible under the law at the time of the accident?
know what’s interesting? do you recall when Larry hosted SNL and played Bernie Sanders in a Curb-themed sketch?The sketch ended the exact same way (pretty much) except Bernie lost by 5 votes (the 5 people BernieLarry pissed off earlier in the sketch).As an SNL sketch where you can forgive unrealistic plotting so that a five minute story can have its resolution. But to your point – this is a full length legitimate episode and had an even more ridiculous outcome while treading verrrrry similar territory.
Holy shit, how did I never see that sketch? Fucking brilliant.
it’s pretty damn perfect!
The IRMA plotline is rehash of George dating Keith Hernandez fan’s unattractive daughter. the call me Larry plotline is rehash from last season when Jon Hamm was going to play a Larry character.
I watched that at the time, but it’s still a wonderful surprise when Jay Pharoah comes in as Leon. Too funny.
But were Larry’s actor troubles “unintentionally timely”? I bet HBO has as much office gossip as any workplace. They knew that profile was being published and I think it was absolutely intentional. And hilarious And I snorted at the sexual misconduct story. I said to my husband “they’re talking about Asia Argento.” And yes that character’s name is Asa. Pretty blatant. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought that. Great minds yada yada yada
I honestly thought it was going to turn out that Larry’s visit to the book club wound up costing Mayhew votes, but obviously not.
Oh wild. The Asia Argento thing was exactly what I thought of too.
I know this is not only nitpicking but nitpicking over math (which is even worse) but if Larry had cast his vote for Mayhew, the result would not have been a victory for Mayhew but a tie. (Of course, the guy in the line who supported the opposing candidate who Larry got to drop out could’ve reneged on his promise and voted later.) Also, doesn’t California have mail-in ballots?
Also surely there would be a recount, I’d be shocked if there wasn’t a provision for that.
Sure, it has mail-in ballots, but it doesn’t ONLY have mail-in ballots.
I think the point is that Larry only didn’t vote because the other guy didn’t vote. They were cancelling each other out anyway. So if Larry didn’t propose them both skipping out, and then both voted, it would be one more vote to each candidate, but Mayhew still down one.Your scenario, that Larry convinces the other guy to ditch voting, but stays to vote himself, wasn’t suggestd by the show as an option, but it would have resulted in a tie.
Yes that’s how I voted since this pandemic.
“Pairing” is an actual parlimentary and senate practice: Live pairs are agreements which members make to nullify the effect of absences on the outcome of recorded votes. If a member expects to be absent for a vote, he or she may “pair off” with another member who will be present and who would vote on the other side of the question, but who agrees not to vote.
Tracy Ullman was kind of wasted here. I hope she has more to do next week.
Yeah, this is maybe the most restrained I’ve ever seen her be in a crazy wig. I almost didn’t realize it was her at first.
The elitist fucking asshole in me brayed laughter at “I don’t need a club to read.”
Congrats.
Larry corpsing after saying “when are you going to die already!” to Richard was the funniest part.
This running gag with the Sofia character hired despite being such a bad actress could’ve been prevented if Larry had just gone ahead and built a fence around his pool. It’s a flimsy storyline that would never happen in real life. For me, the laughs have been few and far between this season.
certainly a weaker episode. I’ve loved many this season but this one had me wanting to bail.
Even a ‘weaker’ episode of Curb is better than 80% of everything else that’s on.
The funniest moment of this weeks episode (and arguably the season so far) is hands down the scene between Larry and Richard at the Mayhew press conference. What we got there wasn’t Larry and Richard simply playing the Curb versions of themselves in television series it was a glimpse into their enduring friendship and knowledge they could get away with saying just about anything to one another without causing genuine offence. The look of absolute glee on Larry’s face (with barely controlled laughter) as he worked up to the moment he planned to ask an ill Richard “when are you going to die” had me in stitches.