Grid Effect

Well, god damn, that was pleasant. Has there ever been a more satisfying season finale to a comedy? My vote would be no, but my bias for JB Smoove as Leon being the highlight of the season is well documented. Even for all the mid-season blunders this year, that final montage essentially compensated for any perceived shortcomings. And, with a last quarter run, we still got about five quality episodes, two mediocre ones and three duds.

This finale, much like all Curb finales (sans season four, I couldn’t stand how much time they invested in showing us The Producers) ended a main storyline, but unlike past finales, this one could actually run into the following season. There stands a good chance The Blacks are still around in season seven, unlike Larry’s Broadway career or the restaurant or Larry’s search for his biological parents or “Aren’t You Evelyn?”, and that is considered around these parts as a high note.

Damn that Tivo guy.

The ending distracted from what was otherwise an entertaining finale. The movie theater experience, Larry’s flirting in the waiting room, the conversation with the administrator (”I’m not an inventor, so much as I am an improver”), the gargling bet with Jeff (”I would have gladly paid that fifty bucks because that was so enjoyable, but you ruined it”), the “Bin Laden” vs. “Ben Laden” and “Is Life too short?” conversations with Richard, “mopy” vs. “Moby” dick and Larry’s scaring off the potential neighbor were all comedy gems, and if these instances were spread out over three episodes we would consider all three episodes a success.

The gerbil rumor, however, was a little too far-fetched. It seems like someone as I’m sure intigrated in the Hollywood community as Larry is, would be above suspicion of such outrageousness. Also, the first thing that came to mind after Larry made up his affliction with the nurse was Mr. Slave and the Lemmingwinks episode. Which was far more unmerciful on our sensibilities, but its animated and prides itself on its outlandish storytelling. Curb prefers to ground itself in reality, or at least a version of it that represents Larry David’s charmed life. Everyone assuming he has a gerbil lodged in his colon doesn’t really hold up to that standard.

Still, I can’t believe this was a finale. The season seemed to come and go in the blink of an eye, and while I complained immensely about several of the episodes, it leaves me with nothing to write about on Mondays. This website might just might reflect a more typical blog for at least one day a week, with multiple, shorter posts throughout the course of the day. Kind of like an elongated version of the Wednesday links.

But not today, if this format is adopted then it will be reflected next week when everyone’s on vacation and unable to read it. Back with a Nip Tuck recap tomorrow.