Much like the finale of that other show, this season's ending of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" was a bit underwhelming.

Yes, it was funny with many of the usual "Curb" hijinks to keep the show moving nicely (the respect for wood, the continual doing of favors, and the "having said that") but for the anticipation of more than six months approaching this moment, it, once again, just couldn't quite live up to the hype.

There were two aspects to this episode - the "Seinfeld" show and the "Curb" show. With "Curb" we got the usual interconnected storylines. The first featured Larry and the studio lot java slinger getting into a bit of a tiff over the latter's delivering some jumper cables for the former. Without a tip, the Mocha Joe found performing the favor something of an imposition, and tried to get Larry to perform some much larger favors to make amends.

One such favor found Larry missing an evening at Cheryl's house during which time they were to go over some lines. This would finally get Larry the one thing for which he'd been hoping: A bit of a date with Cheryl. The chance to win her back.

When he was unable to attend this meeting, Jason Alexander went instead, sending Larry into a bit of jealous screwball lunacy as he essentially torpedoed the production trying to get Jason and Cheryl apart. This included probably the funniest part of the episode when Larry took it upon himself to play the role of George after Jason left the show.

This bit of foul acting showed, once and for all, that even though Larry may have based the part of George on himself, it was definitely for the better that he decided not to actually act on the "Seinfeld" show.

Eventually, to nobody's surprise, Larry's hysterics send him away from the show, and onto the couch - where he, and the audience, watch bits of the "Seinfeld" reunion show.

The clips we see are mostly the finished product of bits of dialogue we'd already heard during the season, so there weren't a whole lot of new jokes there. Also, these parts we did get to see seemed like what could have been the worst parts of the episode - the bits on "Seinfeld" that often set up the truly memorable parts. Yes, this did serve as the first new "Seinfeld" in more than a decade, but just seeing the bare tease, and a mediocre tease at that, was very unfulfilling. Then again, perhaps that was the point.

Ultimately, Larry was able to achieve his goal with the "Seinfeld" reunion: he got Cheryl back. Half way through the show she showed up at his house with some Mocha Joe, ready to recommit. There was also a nice call back at this point - Larry paused the show via TiVo so he could answer the door, using the very device that ended his relationship to welcome it back in.

Also, seeing Larry and Cheryl back together showed something that this season was sorely missing. "Curb" was often at its best when Larry turned into an old-school sitcom dad and Cheryl the doting wife, just on a whole new level with this subversive series. It was nice to have them back together again. Especially as Larry interrupted his reunion when he noticed that Cheryl may be the perpetrator of an infamous ring-stain from her iced-coffee cup. Same old Larry.

In the end, we see that once again for Larry, the most minute is often the most important, and it always prevents his seeing the big picture. This is much like this episode, the small jokes were there, but overall there was something lacking.


Story by Andrew Payne

Starpulse contributing writer