I am a huge fan of Curb, and was excited to see the show come back for a final season. But this was a true disappointment.
To me, Larry is the master of having multiple plot lines happening throughout the show, and then having them all converge for a satisfying ending. But the ending of this episode, where he brings water to Auntie Rae while she's waiting in line to vote, and then gets arrested was extremely unsatisfying. Why? The setup was so flimsy. There was one mention of Auntie Rae going to vote earlier in the episode and that was it. There's no stakes at all. We are not at all invested in that story line.
The other big problem: writing 101 tells you that the protagonist has to have a goal. And what makes a show interesting is seeing all the obstacles the protagonist encounters as he/she attempts to reach that goal. Only after confronting all these obstacles do we then feel satisfied with seeing the character achieve or fail to achieve that goal. We are invested. Think about the entire season 10. Larry's goal (which is setup in episode 1 of season 10), is to get revenge against Mocha Joe, and as the season goes on, we get more and more invested in Larry's quest to take down Mocha Joe.
There were some funny jokes and moments, but the show felt like a bunch of separate skits that didn't relate to an overarching plot line.
Small details:
I'm hoping the season gets better, because I know Larry is a great writer, and I would hate to see the show go out on a low note.
To me, Larry is the master of having multiple plot lines happening throughout the show, and then having them all converge for a satisfying ending. But the ending of this episode, where he brings water to Auntie Rae while she's waiting in line to vote, and then gets arrested was extremely unsatisfying. Why? The setup was so flimsy. There was one mention of Auntie Rae going to vote earlier in the episode and that was it. There's no stakes at all. We are not at all invested in that story line.
The other big problem: writing 101 tells you that the protagonist has to have a goal. And what makes a show interesting is seeing all the obstacles the protagonist encounters as he/she attempts to reach that goal. Only after confronting all these obstacles do we then feel satisfied with seeing the character achieve or fail to achieve that goal. We are invested. Think about the entire season 10. Larry's goal (which is setup in episode 1 of season 10), is to get revenge against Mocha Joe, and as the season goes on, we get more and more invested in Larry's quest to take down Mocha Joe.
There were some funny jokes and moments, but the show felt like a bunch of separate skits that didn't relate to an overarching plot line.
Small details:
- Why did Maria Sofia go on the trip to Atlanta? Larry was the one being paid to appear there. And she served no purpose from a plot perspective (except her dog sat on the phone and butt dials Michael at the end). Other than that, she just walks around taking selfies and acting more annoying than in season 11 (I wouldn't have thought that even possible).
- Larry gets mad at the maid when she rolls her eyes after seeing what a mess his room is. He literally follows her through the hotel suite getting angry with her, while she doesn't engage at all. It felt forced and unfunny. You need the other person to engage to make it funny. And it's even funnier when it gets physical (Remember Larry and Lin Manuel-Miranda physically fighting over who gets to sit in the office chair in episode 9 of season 9? Hilarious!)
- When Leon says, "You know what I mean?" And Larry makes a joke, saying, "Why do you keep asking me if I know what you mean? " This exact same joke was used in season 8, episode 2, when Larry and Leon are talking about Richard Lewis' girlfriend getting a breast reduction. Leon says, "You know what I'm saying?" And Larry replies, "Why do you keep asking me that? I know what you're saying?" (Come on, this is just lazy).
I'm hoping the season gets better, because I know Larry is a great writer, and I would hate to see the show go out on a low note.
