Curb reflects the change in the media because it tackles subjects that the media would see as sensitive. For example the way Larry talks about religion and race and the stereotypes that go along with it. The show was challenging at times because sometimes I felt that Larry could never be serious about anything. But then that is what made the show the least challenging. The way he was able to poke fun at controversial subjects with ease. The only thing I would change about the show is to be able to see things from another character’s perspective. I understand that Larry was the main character, but it would have been interesting to see how the other characters felt in a certain situation rather than through Larry’s eyes. The character I connected the most with was Larry only because it was only through his view that I could really build any opinion. But the character that I least connected with was Suzie (Suzie Essman) who was Jeff’s (Jeff Garlin) wife. Suzie was a random character to me. I hardly saw her and when I did I felt as though she was always angry about something. I know that she and Jeff had a rocky marriage and relationship, so maybe that explains the reason why she was always so far and few between in the episodes.

I never watched the other seasons but from judging from what the viewers say I can tell that this was a good season but not Larry’s best season. For me personally I think that it was a good season because it left a good first impression on me and a lasting impression on me. Some viewers thought Larry was genius and other viewers felt that Larry has done better seasons. The show is still a success because I heard about season 7 of Curb being a good season already. This show is a product of its time. During the Curb season 5, it was 2005. Passion of the Christ had been released in 2004. The show pulled most of their themes from the movie and also 2005 was a year that many controversial films were being released worldwide. Films such as Brokeback Mountain and Crash were huge influences on the public because they were tackling heavy subjects: race and sexuality. I think it defined the season’s choice of what was going to be the main focus.

An example of the way Larry alludes to current events is Season 5, episode 43 “The Christ Nail”. He was showing his audience how some people can be really extreme about their religious beliefs. He pokes a lot of fun at religion and I think that from watching his kind of comedy I understand why he would. We all want to believe in someone or something. For example the tooth fairy incident was a reminder that as a child you are taught to believe in something and the incident with the “Christ nail” proves to me that people will buy into anything you tell them. Cheryl’s father easily believed that this nail he had around his neck was special and that it was a part of Jesus.

After watching this episode again I realized and learned new things that Larry wanted his audience to see. When I re-read my blog I learned that this episode was purely about belief in something. People are driven by beliefs. Society would not feel comfortable if they did not have something to believe in. People do not stop believing in things such as the tooth fairy or Santa until they come to terms with themselves and see for themselves that what they thought existed does not. So it made me think whether or not Larry’s message was if we all have this belief in Christ because we haven’t seen him yet, but if we did we would no longer have that belief or idea if he does or does not exist.

The entire season was about Larry trying to figure out whether he had been adopted after a revelation from his father, a near death experience, and learning about his friend Richard Lewis being in a near death experience also because of a kidney transplant operation. Larry hires a private investigator (Mekhi Phifer) to look into whether or not he had been adopted. At first the investigator tells him that he is adopted so Larry goes on a quest to find his long lost family. His family was the complete opposite from him. His mother and father were Christians form the mid-west or Arizona. He begins to practice the new lifestyle of going to church and spending time with his new family. After talking to a priest Larry gets a revelation about the benefits of being a good friend. After hearing all of this Larry’s new faith in Christianity inspired him to help his friend Richard by being the kidney donor. Right before the operation the investigator runs in and informs Larry that it was a mistake and tells him that he had not really been adopted. At that moment Larry changes back into his old selfish ways and begin to protest the surgery but it is too late. Two months pass, and while Richard Lewis is sitting in paradise, sipping on a mixed drink with a beautiful woman, Larry is dying. After some final words to his friends and family, Larry passes away. In heaven, he meets his two guardian angels. He immediately starts hounding them with questions, and while they’re able to answer them all for the most part, they quickly realize they’ve got their hands full. His guides have a quick pow-wow and decide to send Larry back.

The reviews of this season of Curb were mixed reviews. Amazon.com said that Curb was “Somewhat of an amalgam of the Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer characters he co-created for Seinfeld, yet so uniquely Larry, his socially inept behavior is the basis for and the best part of the show. This fifth season holds no exceptions to the world oblivious to social graces that is Larry David’s.” Another reviewer named Judge David Johnson said “David, miraculously, has found even more social situations to wring laughs out of, and more often than not, his machinations yield ripe, comedic fruit. I still consider the fourth season to be the show’s strongest—overlong finale aside—but this batch of episodes is more than good enough, and far better than the show’s clunkiest stretch, Season Two. The season finale did tie up all the loose ends in the plot. He found out he wasn’t adopted, the new parents were not really his parents and he eventually had to help out his friend Richard even though he had been trying to avoid it. There was a huge development in Larry’s character for a while because when Larry went into his new environment, he was different and much calmer. He was more willing to open up to the idea of religion and being a good person, which are the two things that he always tries to be the opposite of. In ways I felt like his main goal was to show people that no one changes overnight. Any and every change takes time. Even for him when he changed and accepted his faith, as soon as he realized that he could possibly die, he reverted back to his old ways. I think it is a metaphor for religion, sexuality and all the other issues he addressed.

If I had to convince someone to watch an episode of this show I would tell them to watch an episode called The Seder. This was my favorite episode because it really changed the way I think about someone after a first impression. The episode was about a sex offender named Rick in Larry’s neighborhood. After Larry and the sex offender bumped into each other on different occasions, Larry awkwardly decides to invite him to his family seder. What makes the situation so funny was that Larry also invited the old couple Mac (Pat Harrington) and Ethel (Jennie Ventriss) who live across the street from him. Ethel was the one that informed Larry about this sex offender in the first place. As soon as Ethel comes over for the seder, Larry tells her to look around the room to see if she recognizes anyone, and of course she recognizes the sex offender and passes out. He spends the rest of the party trying to wake her up and defending the sex offender at dinner. Everyone is scolding him for inviting the sex offender but Larry’s only defense is when Jeff’s brother-in-law saw where Larry hid the matzvah and told his son. Larry only knew this because Rick told him this information. Jeff’s brother-in-law is convincing everyone to think why would they believe a sex offender over him. Its obvious that Rick was capable of telling the truth. Just because he is a sex offender doesn’t mean he doesn’t tell the truth. When someone is labeled as a sex offender, it is very hard to trust them because you are not aware of what they are capable of. But at the same time people who are not sex offenders lie also. The moral of this episode is do not judge a book by its cover. You do not know what someone is capable of or what they can do so it’s always best to leave room for error.

My favorite quote from the season was Larry’s infamous “pretty pretty good” quote. It is all in his delivery. He really says in a weird kind of way. He lets you know that he likes your idea and at the same time he is being sarcastic about it. Also it is the facial expression that he does with it. It is like this unsure pause and then reassurance in himself that he thinks you have a good idea. The show’s theme song is actually from “Frolic” by Italian composer Luciano Michelini. Larry heard the music used in a bank commercial years before the show was created and thought it was perfect for the show. It represents the show as whole because it is has this happy-go-lucky sound but yet the show has a lot of sarcasm. The issues in this show are really not that realistic but the themes are. The issues are always exaggerated but it is a good way to show viewers how ridiculous some things look or sound.

The moment I fell in love with the show was after watching The Seder because it was at that moment I really looked deeper than the comedy and understood the issue that Larry was trying to address. I can tell that he is very conscience of what is going on around him and what is going on in the world but he uses humor and comedy to get his point across. The reoccurring theme is identity. Most of the episodes revolved around identity and who a person is, where they are from, what their values are. Basically everything that would define someone’s identity. I think he wanted people to understand what it means to be who you are and why. This is a show that I never thought about watching and I definitely stepped out of my norm by watching this show. I realized that I can really appreciate Larry’s sense of humor and I am definitely more open minded to more show that are like Curb. I would definitely recommend this season to my friends.

Episode 50- “The End”

This whole season was about Larry’s investigations into whether or not he was adopted, and he hires a private detective to try and find out. Another issue relates to Richard Lewis, who requires a kidney transplant, and Larry, who is a blood match, doesn’t want to donate his kidney, and does everything he possibly can to get out of the bind this friendship has trapped him in. The beginning of the finale begins with Larry being informed that he really is adopted. And he goes on a search to find his real parents. They turn out to be Christians from the mid-west (Arizona).Larry is happy that he was adopted but he is learning to enjoy his new parents. He even takes to his new lifestyle, going to church, fishing, having a few beers. But he also discovers an even deeper secret about his heritage. He’s a gentile!!!! His parents are the complete opposite of him. They are friendly and polite and Larry is still of course deep down careless. When he and his mother are talking and she tells him forgiveness is the best thing to do because that is what Jesus would do, the look on Larry‘s face is priceless. I mean what you can really say at that moment when your mother that you never knew is telling you to forgive her because that is what Jesus would have done. While Larry is in church he also with his new mom and dad, the priest gives Larry advice on the benefits of being a good friend. It is at that moment that Larry decides to go back to help Lewis. Larry goes back home and heads to the hospital.  While Larry is on the hospital bed he of course is being dramatic and assuming the worst and tells Jeff that he uses too much mayo. Hilarious. I mean he could possibly die and he’s telling Jeff that he uses too much mayo!! But then things change. While Larry is heading for surgery, Omar the investigator comes running in, telling Larry he made a horrible mistake and that he’s not adopted. Larry immediately reverts to his old selfish ways and starts protesting the surgery, but it’s too late. Two months pass, and while Richard Lewis is sitting in paradise, sipping on a mixed drink with a beautiful woman, Larry is dying. After some final words to his friends and family, Larry passes away. In heaven, he meets his two guardian angels. He immediately starts hounding them with questions, and while they’re able to answer them all for the most part, they quickly realize they’ve got their hands full. His guides have a quick pow-wow and decide to send Larry back. I thought it was hilarious that even heaven didn’t want to deal with Larry.

Rating: 5

Overall I enjoyed the season. He tackled a lot of issues but with comedic humor. Even though the last episode was really dramatic, it was fun to see Larry’s take on how it would be for him in the afterlife. It was creative to see what Larry felt the afterlife would be like. I’m not surprised that Larry had so many questions for the guardian angels. It’s only right that he had so many questions because that is just who he is. It was also fun to see Larry become more sensitive and sympathetic to the point that he was willing to give his kidney to his friend Lewis. But it was also more realistic after he found out that he wasn’t adopted and he resorted back to his old ways. I mean no one changes over night. But overall good season.

Episode 49- “The Korean Bookie”

So Suzie and Jeff have dog that had recently been sedated. The Korean bookie (played by Bobbie Lee) was so taken by this dog. Calling the dog beautiful and admiring the dog. When he asks where Suzie lives, Larry is telling the bookie where the house is and how it looks. And meanwhile Suzie is looking at Larry like “I can’t believe you are telling a stranger my business”. The next morning when Larry goes to visit Jeff and Suzie, Suzie tells him the dog is gone. Jeff is like “no one is going to kidnap a sedated dog”. Hilarious. But where else could a sedated dog go. Of course Larry is beginning to snoop and act as if he is a detective. He assumes that the bookie kidnapped the dog because 1. He saw the way the bookie was eyeing the dog, and 2. He thinks that Koreans eats dogs! So when Larry goes to see the bookie and sees him eating a sandwich he asks him what he is eating and as soon as the bookie tells him that he is eating a fresh meat, Larry tells him about the missing dog. The bookie of course denies that he knows nothing and Larry gives him the infamous stare down for like two minutes. Then says see you at the wedding. The wedding between Cheryl’s two friends Mark and Marla takes place on the beach. So the next day they are at a wedding eating and everyone is enjoying the food. Jeff and Larry ask what their eating and the lady tell them that the Korean florist brought the meat and Larry starts yelling “oooo ohhhh you’re eating a dog! You’re eating a dog!!!” to everyone while their eating. Everybody starts spitting out their food on the sand and running. Classic. Just classic. Larry really yells this out and my mouth is still open because he really still believes that the bookie made the dog for everyone to eat. A funny moment was in the beginning of the episode when Larry and Cheryl are late heading to the barbeque of Mark and Marla, Larry insists on going back to the house to get his jacket. Larry realizes that jacket is being worn by Marla. So of course Larry pesters her to give him back the jacket but then he realizes that she spilled chocolate milk on it and is outraged. It’s one thing to borrow something from someone without asking, but then to put a stain on it?? And then she was going to still wear the jacket as if it’s not Larry’s jacket!! So I don’t blame Larry’s outbursts. Even though all signs pointed to the bookie, it was hilarious when the dog showed up in the episode perfectly fine. He just got lost so Larry basically blamed his bookie and made everyone spit out perfectly good food.

Rating: 3 ½
Larry openly talks about stereotypes especially when he says that Korean eats dogs. I mean I guess every race is subject to a stereotype. But Larry is not afraid to point a finger when he thinks it should be pointed. He didn’t think twice about assuming the bookie kidnapped the dog and then killed the dog to make the meat for the wedding. Also with borrowing people’s property.  Some people really think that when they borrow something from another person it’s theirs for the moment. Some people overstep their boundaries when they borrow things form people. If you are going to borrow something from someone, it’s only right that you return back in the SAME condition.

Episode 48- “The Ski Lift”

Larry is still trying to find a kidney donor for Lewis, when he finds out that he learns about the head of the kidney consortium. Larry tries to befriend him. When Larry was in the restaurant having lunch with the doctor, pretending to be religious- HILARIOUS. He’s obviously faking his accent. I surprised that the doctor didn’t notice Larry’s fake accent even I knew he was faking it. Larry ends up inviting him and his daughter on a ski trip. The daughter was really extremely devoted in her religion. She was an orthodox Jew. Most of things that she did made me really question if this is really true in the Jewish religion. For instance when Cheryl was in the kitchen making food. Larry was scolding her for making bacon because the daughter is kosher. When the daughter walked in and asked whether the plates Cheryl was about to use were the same plates that they used to eat pot roast last night and Cheryl replied yes, she refused to eat off of the same plate. She even went as far to saying that they had to bury the plates because it is not kosher and it was the only way to purify it. Wow. I never knew being kosher was so serious. But she took it farther than that. While she and Larry are on the ski lift, they get stuck. So he’s asking her if she’s hungry and realizes that he has edible underwear in his jacket. Just when I thought he would get any more ridiculous, he actually eats the underwear. He’s trying to offer to eat some but she refuses. She asks him how long they have left until sundown. After she realizes that sundown is near she gets so extreme to say that one of them has to jump off the ski lift. He looks straight at her like “what are you f**king nuts?!!” My same words exactly. That was too far even for me. I would have just stayed on the ski lift and just asked God for forgiveness. She actually goes through with it and jumps off the ski lift. Seeing her go so far made me want to research what being an orthodox Jew is all about and also being kosher. As far as it goes with being a female orthodox Jew there isn’t a law about a single or married woman not being able to ride on a ski lift after sundown. Also she was single and she was covering her hair. According to orthodox law only married women are required to cover their hair with a wig, scarf or a hat. As for being kosher they were right. Milk and meat cannot be served with the same utensils, stored in the same place, or served at the same meal. But as for burying the plates I never heard about that one.

Rating: 4
Larry probably just wanted to show the extreme ways people when it comes to religion. Some people go to extreme lengths to respect their religion. How far is too far?? And I think Larry does a great job trying to show his viewers his take on religion. I understand why he goes so far when he is trying to explain sensitive subjects like religion because he probably feels that it shouldn’t be a touchy subject and people should take a look at how much they go the extra mile.

Episode 47- “The Seder”

Larry thinks that someone is stealing his paper. After talking to Jeff and his wife about  it, he concludes that it must be someone in the neighborhood. Mark (Rob Huebel) who was dating Marla (Lauren Katz) are their neighbors. Cheryl informed Larry that they were back together and Larry realizes that after not giving Mark his Christmas gift which was a subscription to the New York Times, Mark must be stealing his newspaper for revenge. But Cheryl and Jeff both feel that Mark doesn’t have to steal a newspaper form anyone because he is a doctor and he is able to afford buying his own newspaper. Meanwhile Larry met someone named Rick Leftowitz (Robert Corddry) who is a friendly stranger. After bumping into each other a couple of times, Rick convinces Larry that he would help him with his golfing skills. Larry agrees and after the game and an awkward moment Larry decides to tell Rick about his seder and invite him. Larry comes home to tell Cheryl that he invited Rick to their seder, and then slips in that Rick is the sex offender that is on the flyer in their neighborhood. Cheryl gets so upset and even tells Larry that he has to un invite Rick because he is a sex offender. Larry’s only argument is that “he’s a Jew”. Rick being a sex offender bothered Larry at first because when Rick tried to help Larry get a newspaper, Larry was hesitant. But after he taught Larry how to be a better golfer, “he’s cool”. I think that Larry didn’t care that Rick was a sex offender after they shared something in common. But I don’t blame Cheryl because a sex offender just doesn’t stop being a sex offender overnight and technically he is still a stranger to Larry. Larry doesn’t really know him and doesn’t know what whether his motives are good or bad. So it’s nighttime and the seder begins. Larry is casually making conversation and then he walks over to Mark. At first Larry is being inappropriate by asking whether or not Mark gets aroused with any of his female patients. Mark is getting uncomfortable and just when it couldn’t get any worse, Larry asks him if Mark is the one stealing his newspaper. Mark denies it but Larry stands there for like ten minutes grilling Mark in the face to see if Mark is telling the truth or not. It’s funny because he’s grilling Mark about a newspaper, but yet he invites a sex offender to his house for seder!!! Right in the nick of time Rick shows up. The room is immediately silent. It is so awkward. You can tell everyone is both shocked and on the defense because of Rick. Now Suzie is scolding Larry for bringing a sex offender to the house for seder because it a “holy day”. Larry is still defending this man saying that “he has a good personality, he’s smart, he funny.” Right after this conversation Mac (Pat Harrington) and Ethel (Jennie Ventriss) show up at the house. They are the ones who told Larry about the sex offender in the beginning of the episode!!! Larry wastes no time for them to realize that he invited the sex offender, so he tells Ethel to look around the room to see if she recognizes anyone. After two minutes she and Rick eyes meet across the room and she realizes Larry invited him and she passes out. So Mark who is a doctor is making sure she’s fine. Ethel’s husband tells them that when she gets startled she passes out for a couple of hours. The funniest part is when everyone leaves the room. After everyone leaves Larry is trying to wake her up. I cant believe he is trying to wake her up after he is the one who brought to her attention that he invited the sex offender over for seder. So at the dinner table the conversation of someone stealing Larry’s newspaper is brought up again. So Mac is telling Ethel that the next time the person goes to steal Larry’s newspaper, Ethel would able to know who it is because she “never forgets a face”. Now Mark the one that Larry accused of stealing his newspaper starts coughing . I think that it is Mark because he started coughing as soon as he heard that Ethel never forgets a face. Larry goes back  upstairs to try to wake Ethel up. He’s jumping on the bed, touching her, shaking her, beating on the congas and she is still not waking up!!! When he goes back downstairs he lies that she is going to be downstairs soon and that the reason why there were so many noises upstairs was because his foot fell asleep and he was trying to wake it back up. Now Mark is  lying that he had an emergency because he was paged for a medical emergency. But yet no one heard his pager go off. Its obvious that Mark wants to get out before he meets Ethel because I think he knows that she will recognize his face. Then before Larry could turn around, Rick approaches him. He begins to tell Larry that he saw Jeff’s brother-in-law whisper in his son’s ear and tell him where Larry placed the matzvah. Earlier Larry hid the matzvah and told the children that whoever found it would get a dollar. Larry remembered when Jeff’s brother-in-law was getting out of the bathroom, he was looking over to see what Larry was doing. Jeff’s brother-in-law gets offended but instead throws Rick under the bus. He had a good argument because he said that Larry believed “a convicted sex offender”. So after everyone begins to yell at Larry for having such an accusation, Suzie’s daughter is having problems breathing. Suzie is saying “Oh my God, Oh my God does anyone know mouth to mouth?!!!” And Rick says I do. At that moment I cant stop laughing. That was priceless. A sex offender offering to do mouth to mouth on a child. Everyone at that moment seemed to forget that Suzie’s daughter had problems breathing and looked at him as if he had two heads. The next morning Larry goes to pick up his newspaper and the headline reads “emergency surgery to reattach hand, doctor leaves seder to perform the surgery”. What a way to end the newspaper mystery! I guess Mark really wasn’t stealing his newspapers after all and he really did have to perform an emergency surgery. I was really starting to believe he did it because all signs seemed to point to him.

Rating:5

This was so good. I think that when someone is labeled as a sex offender, it is very hard to trust them because you are not aware of what they are capable of. But at the same time people who are not sex offenders lie also. For instance Jeff’s brother-in-law saw where Larry hid the matzvah and I know he told his son. But his only valid argument was that Larry is believing a sex offender over him. What makes him so much better? A lie is still a lie no matter whose mouth it comes out of. Everyone was so quick to side with Jeff’s brother-in-law but they hardly knew him and they don’t know what he is capable of either because he just convinced them all to believe a lie. Its obvious that Rick was capable of telling the truth. Just because he is a sex offender doesn’t mean he doesn’t tell the truth. Even though Mark really did have an operation to perform, it doesn’t mean that he wasn’t the one stealing Larry’s newspaper. He could very well be the one stealing Larry’s newspaper, but after having to perform such a stressful surgery, he wasn’t able to wake up in time to take the newspaper from Larry like he normally does. If people were willing to assume that Rick was lying then they have to be willing to assume that Mark could steal newspapers from Larry despite the fact that he is a doctor. I thought that it was kind of smart what Larry was trying to show his audience. He was willing to befriend a sex offender and even invite him over to his house, but refused to believe that just because Mark was a doctor, he had no reason to steal. The moral of this episode is do not judge a book by its cover. You do not know what someone is capable of or what they can do so it’s always best to leave room for error.

Episode 45- “Lewis Needs a Kidney”

The opening of Larry on the phone with a receptionist- hilarious. That gets me all the time. She is asking him what the call is regarding to. I mean really is it mandatory to what the call is regarding to? I mean some calls are really private calls and it is not intended for other people to know what I want to talk about with someone else. But then again I feel like people don’t want other people in their business, but yet pry in other people’s business. Sometimes people do not understand the word privacy.  An example is what happens immediately after to Larry. He goes to his car and realizes that he was locked out of his car. So as he is waiting for someone to come and help him, he is hungry. So he tries to go to the restaurant “Jack in the Box”, but they are closed. The drive thru is open so he decides to WALK in the drive thru without being in a car. The worker in Jack in the Box realizes that he is not in car and refuses to give Larry his order. A stranger volunteers to help and while they are in the car eating Larry is asking him all of these personal questions about his life and looking through his back seat of his car asking about the porn tapes he has. THAT IS SO EMBARRASSING. If I was the stranger that helped Larry, immediately after I helped I would have told Larry to get out of the car. I mean all Larry needed was a car so it would have made sense to let Larry out after he got his food. Soon after Jeff comes and tells Larry that their friend Lewis needs a kidney. Lewis cannot find a donor and at that moment Larry and Jeff know that they could possibly become donors. When Larry and Lewis have lunch the next day, Lewis is telling Larry that he cannot find a donor and he obviously wants Larry to be a potential donor for him. But Larry is in a tough position because he doesn’t know if he should really help his friend or not. I mean it is very risky because you put your life on the line for someone else, but of course Larry agrees that he will take some tests. So when he tries to call Lewis at work to tell him about the decision he made, a receptionist picks up. She of course asks him what the call is regarding to, and Larry tells her about Lewis needing a kidney obviously to avoid the confrontation he had with the other receptionist.  Now the receptionist is upset about Lewis going through surgery and Larry is confused about this. He was trying to avoid what happened with the other receptionist but gets into trouble with another one because he actually tells her what the call is regarding to. Again PRIVACY. If you don’t want to know don’t ask. She asked so of course he told her what she wanted to hear. A weird twist was when the stranger that helped Larry needed Larry to be his alibi because he was in a lineup at the police station. I think that was a good gesture. He helped Larry so in turn Larry had to help him. It’s almost like some unspoken rule like I help you; you help me kind of situation. As for the kidney situation now Larry and Jeff are trying to figure out which one of them has to give up their kidneys. They are both compatible so it is between the both of them. Larry comes up with the idea to let Lewis choose who he wants to give him the kidney. Larry goes to see Lewis and, Larry is trying to persuade Lewis to choose Jeff instead. But Lewis really didn’t care so Larry and Jeff resort to do eenie, meanie, minie, mo to decide who would give the kidney. Larry is the one that has to give his kidney to Lewis. So in the end after all the stress and fighting about who has to give the kidney, Larry ends up having to give away his kidney.

Rating: 5
Privacy is very important. I think that sometimes we don’t know where to draw the lines. When all the information is not being given to someone they snoop, and when they get all the information, they feel as though they are being over-exposed. The receptionist always asked what the call was regarding to and when Larry didn’t tell her anything she was offended. But then when Larry tells her everything she breaks down and gets upset that she wasn’t aware of Lewis’s operation. Also the question that was being raised is how far do you go to help someone, and what if the person is your friend? When you are placed in the position to help someone like a stranger you immediately help because you know that you could gain something out of doing them a favor and you know you would never see them again. You don’t know this stranger yet you are willing to help. But when it is a friend you are skeptical because it is a situation where it’s either you help your friend or you lose your friend because you didn’t help them. The main idea of the episode is mainly just to show viewers how far privacy and help goes with both friends and strangers.

Episode 46- “The Smoking Jacket”

It’s Larry’s birthday and he is celebrating at home when Andy (Richard Kind) comes over to visit him. Andy, Jeff and Larry are all talking when Jeff is telling them that he had been invited to Hugh Hefner’s Play Boy Mansion. Shortly after Larry goes to the hospital to see Lewis. Lewis is in a coma. The doctor is telling Larry that a person could be in a coma for days, weeks, months, and maybe years. Larry is trying to weasel his way out of having to wait around to give up his kidney so after the doctor leaves he tries to pull any plug to stop the machine. He is so desperate about the situation that he tries to pull the plug. The kid named Wilson that is in the bed next to Lewis catches him. So he blackmails Larry by telling him that he would be able to overlook the situation if he granted him his wish. His wish was to be ale to see a naked woman. My favorite part was when Larry’s cousin Andy comes over to the house. A package comes to the house and it is for Andy. Larry’s dad sent a gift to Andy which was a “smoking jacket” like the one Hugh Hefner owns. Larry was so upset that he wasn’t sent a gift so he assumes that the gift was sent for him. It clearly says the gift is for Andy but he doesn’t want Andy to have the jacket because he himself didn’t get any gift from his father. Larry decides to take Jeff up on his offer to go to the Play Boy Mansion. When Larry comes home and sees Andy with the jacket on he still harasses him about the jacket. They argue back and forth until Larry decides to tell Andy that he is going to the Play Boy Mansion knowing that Andy would want to come. So he convinces Andy to give him the smoking jacket in order to come with him to the Play Boy Mansion. Larry also keeps his promise to the patient Wilson  and brings him along to the Play Boy Mansion. So when Larry gets to the Mansion and meets Hugh Hefner, he is telling him that his father has the same smoking jacket as Hugh Hefner. Hugh Hefner doesn’t believe him so he runs out to the car to go get it. When Larry brings back the jacket Hugh Hefner tries the jacket on. Then he goes into a room for so long that Larry is forced to have the most awkward conversation with two playmates. So Hugh comes out a gives Larry back the jacket. But Larry is disgusted with the jacket because he assumes that Hugh was being “dirty” in the bathroom with the jacket on so he switches Hugh’s real jacket for his father’s jacket. He did the same thing earlier to Andy. When Andy  had to use the bathroom, he took a magazine with him. After he came out Larry throws away the magazine because he felt that Andy went into the bathroom with the magazine so he must have been doing something he was supposed to. Later on Larry’s father comes over complaining that the nursing home is stealing form him because they took away his smoking jacket. Larry and Andy begin to fight when his father tells Larry that the smoking jacket isn’t his because it is a knockoff. So Larry goes all the way back to the mansion to explain the situation and switch jackets with him, but Hugh doesn’t buy the story. When Larry goes back to visit Lewis he takes Wilson back with him to his house. When they get into the house they walk in on Andy having sex with a playmate and Wilson finally gets his wish of seeing a naked woman.

Rating: 3 ½ / 5
When something belongs to a famous person people usually go crazy over what they have even if you can find something that looks exactly like what they have . For Larry it wasn’t about having their jacket it was about being with the celebrity. But he still didn’t treat them any different than he would treat one of his friends. When he confronts Hugh about having the same jacket and proves that his father has the same jacket, he doesn’t try to keep the jacket after Hugh Hefner tries it on. Instead he switches it because in Larry’s mind Hugh must have done something while he had the jacket on. The same goes for Gary Player. When his wife set up a date for Larry to be able to meet him, Larry shows up with the same kind of jacket Gary has. When Gary goes to try on the jacket, Larry gets the same idea in his mind as he did with Hugh. I think for Larry he feels as though a celebrity is just like any other normal person. It is easy to have something that they have even if it is not the same brand as or as expensive as theirs.

Episode 44 – “Kamikaze Bingo”

You would think after hearing someone attempt to commit suicide, people would get up and try to react quickly. I can’t stop laughing at Larry and his friends. They just heard that Yoshi, an art dealer (who is Larry’s friend Kevin’s wife brother) tried to commit suicide. Larry and his friends didn’t even get up to go and see if Yoshi was okay. What’s making me react even more is the fact that they are still sitting in the house and they didn’t even have the courtesy to leave. Jeff says “Did he seem weird? Was he nervous, was he anxious?” Another one of Larry’s friends even had the nerve to say “he tried to, which means he didn’t”, just to justify them staying in the house. This is both awkward and crazy that they could still there with no care. The funniest part is when Kevin walks in and yells at them and they all sit there in shock as if Kevin is over-reacting. When Larry is the nursing home, Kevin is telling him that he is the cause of Yoshi attempting to commit suicide. The reason of course was because Larry offended him about being a Kamikaze pilot and still being alive. Kevin is also confronting him about Larry and his friends still staying in the house after hearing the news about Yoshi. I’m realizing little by little Larry is always the cause or the main root to any problem. He is always offending someone by saying the most outrageous things. It’s almost as if he just talks without thinking. And when he does get into trouble he takes absolutely NO responsibility for what he does. I think that is what I dislike about Larry the most. He can be really hilarious at times but then he will do and say things without thinking about the consequences. Instead of being considerate about Yoshi trying to commit suicide, he is still rambling on about Yoshi being a Kamikaze pilot. At the same time I think he does these things purposely that’s who he really is. He doesn’t really care for other people’s reaction at the expense of his own happiness. I think that is what he trying to show in this episode. Suicide is a very serious issue. When people try to commit suicide it is because they are unhappy with their life or their lifestyle. Yoshi tried to commit suicide simply because of what Larry tells him about being a Kamikaze pilot. That was one person’s opinion. I’m not trying to sound mean but who would really kill themselves after hearing one comment. I mean even though Larry can be selfish, I felt like suicidal people are also selfish too. When people think about or try to commit suicide they don’t think about how it affects other people. So Larry sitting in the house with his friends spoke volumes to me because it was almost as if he was saying, you commit suicide and life goes on without you. The part that I was funny was when Larry calls Yoshi to apologize. While he’s apologizing he’s snaking on pistachio nuts. Yoshi of course is offended but I cannot stop laughing. I mean it is mean but its funny how careless and nonchalant Larry is behaving as if the situation was not even major.

Rating: 4
I felt like I had a lot to think and write about. I think no matter how old we get we are all affected by teasing or taunting from other people. Some people still take it more seriously then others. The whole Kamikaze situation was serious but the same time Larry was just joking around with him. Also in the episode Larry’s father pharmacist named Coffey tagged his name at the restaurant Larry and his wife ate in and also on the door of the old people’ home at bingo night. No matter how old we get, we still tag our names everywhere! I don’t think that will ever get old.

 Rating: 4

 I felt this episode tackled a lot of the issues that we talk about today, but at the same time Larry David’s kind of humor shows me that maybe we have double standards on certain things. Like for example when Larry comes home and his wife tells him, “we need to talk”. It could have been about anything but he immediately assumed that she was leaving him because he ties that expression to a woman’s break up line with separating from their significant other. Or for example the handicapped issue. We always treat handicapped people differently of course but he made me realize what if they take advantage of us. In the end of the episode the handicapped man used a regular stall in the bathroom after he gave Larry the speech about using “his stall” and learning how to wait for the regular stall instead of using a handicapped stall.