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« Curb Your Enthusiasm
Episode Recap: "The N Word"
I never knew being bald was such a burden. Look at our good friend Jeff: With a full head of hair, he's getting extra food and high-profile clients. As a baldie, well, he's just a fatter version of Larry, though, it must be said, without years of bitterness about his condition. Fortunately for him, his hair will, as he pointed out after cursing Larry, grow back. Larry's bald forever.
Larry's not just bald, though. Larry's bald and single. And the single part is what prompted one-half of tonight's debacle (though the baldness didn't help). Why did Auntie Rae have to hug for longer than five minutes? He never would have mentioned his groin problems to Doctor Flomm (played by braless wonder Sue Ellen Mischke's alter ego, Brenda Strong), he wouldn't have been "massaging" himself in the car. With but one strike to go against the Blacks, he just had to be caught saying the N word. One can only thank god that Jeff's doctor shaved his head instead of fixing his snoring problem ("that motherf--ker swallowed a kazoo!"), or the Blacks might never have moved back in with LD.
So Larry is bald and single, but the fact that he's a stall man contributed to his problems as well. If he'd been the urinal type, maybe that bigot in the bathroom wouldn't have used the N word, thus saving Larry a lot of grief and offense. But who, in repeating a story like that, would actually use the word?! I've changed my mind: Larry's totally to blame for Jeff's shaved head.
Discounting the whole N word thing for a moment, I have to admit that I was just as perplexed as Larry at Doctor Flomm's behavior; talk about someone whose work has taken over her life. Her sister sits at something rather like a receptionist's desk in her own house while elevator music plays, and the good doctor herself keeps a professional scale in her bedroom. Larry must have been really hard up for a date if these weird "decorations" as it were (not to mention the doctor-speak while setting up a date) didn't set off the warning bells, let's face it, nothing ever will. Larry needs Cheryl back, as that montage demonstrated. Whether his estrogen pills or his loneliness brought it on, it was still a treat to see that car-wash scene again.
I refuse to use the N word myself, so I rather carefully picked out the best lines of the night:
• "He was just a despicable bald man." "Bald? Did he by any chance wear glasses?"
• "You hugged my auntie, man, and you be stabbin' her in the stomach?"
• "F--k you, Larry, and your monkey ass!" (accompanied by Auntie Rae's middle finger)
• "I've got people in my house. They're black, but their name is Black. She's got… brothers and sisters!"
Larry's life could never be better without the Blacks, no matter what Doctor Flomm claims, but he's not the same without Cheryl either. Here's hoping that they get back together over the course of the remaining two(!) episodes this season.
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Oct 28, 2007 11:08 PM
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I wonder how many people caught that that dream sequence at the end with Cheryl was a reference to the Italian film 8 1/2, complete with the famous soundtrack music.
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Oct 28, 2007 11:45 PM
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I wonder how many people caught the umpteen references to Seinfeld that were already done 15 years ago (and much funnier I might add): the baldness being a hinderance, not being able to read a note and asking others who in turn couldn't decipher it either, Sue Ellen Mishkie, the rubbing his groin in the car only to have been "caught" doing something he socially shouldn't do, and the shaking of his head and refusing to talk. Real original.
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Oct 29, 2007 1:46 AM
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woodson21: Don't forget how Larry was moving his elbow when talking to Dr. Flomm over lunch.
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Oct 29, 2007 8:51 AM
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I just want to thank Larry David and everyone who works to put together such a wonderful show. I look forward to television again and i really appreciate your creativity and it simplistic stories.
Ron Callahan, Miami Fl
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Oct 29, 2007 7:35 PM
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I must say - I love the Blacks! They just add a whole new level of funny to the show. Poor Larry, he is just so clueless, but in a lovable way. So un-PC. I loved the scene where the pharmacist read the note. classic.
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Oct 30, 2007 1:59 PM
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One Trick Pony
It's become clear during this lackluster season why Larry wanted to call it quits after last season. He's a one-trick pony. His shows never vary from the same formula: socially awkward situation, feign outrage, pop that ghastly look a few times, take it on the chin from those he's offended. Same thing week after week. He knows it, I know it and that's why he wanted to quit, did quit, and needs to re-quit.
Yes, Larry, you can re-quit. Please just do it, you've milked this one for all it's worth. Just retire to a golf course somewhere, try Dubai, that's the new Florida for rich oldsters.
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Oct 30, 2007 11:57 PM
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Eludium...you're kidding!!?
Larry is hilarious!!! The only episode, I didn't like, was last week, when Cheryl "left" him.
Kind of a dark episode.
Other than that...This has been his best season yet !! BTW... I would like to see alot less Cheryl and alot more Susie Essman! She and Larry kind of have this comedic chemistry, they're hilarious together...
just my opinion
daveedt
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Oct 31, 2007 3:23 PM
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