Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12 premiere: Larry is back and just the way we like him

Cue up “Frolic,” because Curb is back, baby! Larry David just choked out Elmo on the Today Show, then apologized, and now we’re ready to rock with some new episodes of his television program. And this is the season-12 premiere, so there’s a lot to establish. First of all, remember Maria Sofia? The horrible actor Larry cast on his show Young Larry in season 11 to smooth over a conflict with her dad? The first thing we get is a montage, showing us that she has since become a breakout star. She’s on the cover of all the magazines, winning the awards, giving the acceptance speeches: “I love you America, and you love me!” We see her on Jimmy Kimmel Live! getting praise for stealing the show on Larry’s sitcom. “Obviously confidence is not an issue with you,” Kimmel tells her. And of course she makes up her own lines. So there we have it: She’s definitely back here. But for how long? Will she fall from grace? Will her fame eclipse Larry’s?

You know who else is back, making her presence known by operatically singing the J.G. Wentworth 877-CASH-NOW song as she descends the stairs to the kitchen in Larry’s house? Irma (Tracey Ullman), that lady he dated last season to try to get a law passed that would advantage him. And she, seemingly, isn’t going anywhere either. We get a flashback to her sponsor, cautioning Larry not to break up with her for at least six months, because she wouldn’t be able to handle it. She’s lecturing him about almond milk wasting water; he’s marking off days on his calendar, presumably to the precise time when he can cut her loose. What we’re left to wonder is if Larry can last that long with poor Irma—and what, exactly, will befall her (or him) if he doesn’t make it the full six months with this gal.

So we’ve got some character interactions to ponder that will likely carry us through much of this final season, if not all of it. Now for the shorter term payoffs, the smaller arcs that get tied up within the episode, a Curb Your Enthusiasm writers’ room mainstay (something Seinfeld always did, too). Let’s start with the main one: A wealthy businessman from Africa is paying Larry and Maria Sofia to head to Atlanta to work his birthday party. Per Larry’s contract, he’ll mingle, shake hands, and be cordial (no standup). Leon is going, too, because his Auntie Rae, who had formerly lived with Larry back in season six when Leon moved in, also lives there. We know immediately that this birthday party thing isn’t going to go well, but how it fails will ultimately involve the following little threads: butt-dialing and Maria Sofia’s “pudgy” emotional support dog, some stretched out glasses, a disapproving hotel housekeeper in her last few days on the job, and Larry’s inability to rescue items that have fallen in the toilet. Plus, there’s a nickname thing.

Let’s begin with the butt-dialing. It’s simple: Larry keeps butt dialing people. He even butt-dials Leon as they chat face to face while waiting to board their Atlanta-bound plane together. (Leon explains that he keeps his phone in his front pocket to avoid this, but ends up dick-dialing people by mistake, including a pizza place once. “Sometimes I can hear my dick dialing a number,” he admits.) A doggy butt-dial, courtesy of Maria Sofia’s pup Pechuca, ultimately sours the African rich guy to Larry’s whole vibe, but the concept is introduced right at the beginning of the episode with some great Leon banter. And that makes for a pretty good start.

Now let’s talk about the glasses. Auntie Rae stretches out Larry’s pair when Maria Sofia hands them to her so that she can try a new style. Because Auntie Rae has what Larry calls a “jack-o-lantern” head, he has to borrow some cat-eye glasses from her that she’s never worn. Leon says they look “fucking ridiculous,” but they work. Also notable: Auntie Rae is wearing a “Vote” pin. She’s stoked about the election, and says it’s an important one. This comes back later.

Next, we’ve got the hotel housekeeper. She straight up doesn’t like Larry. He’s strewn his shit everywhere in the room and takes it personally that she won’t clean it in that state. He pisses her off, though, when he tries to make do with his loose glasses, they fall into the toilet, and he suggests that she be the one to pluck them out because, as he sees it, that’s kind of her whole thing. She’s furious. She’s extra furious when, later, a ten-spot flies into the potty and she perceives that as Larry’s attempt to leave a tip in the most insulting way possible. We learn it’s her last day, so she’s got nothing to lose. This frees her up to exact her revenge on this asshole by chucking his clothes off the balcony, loudly proclaiming “I’m going out with a bang!” (Yes, that’s a metaphor.)

At the party, Maria Sofia is signing headshots and dancing, a true people person; Larry is mingling with ladies who gripe to him about trips to the grocery store, while he mumbles disinterestedly back to them, making no effort to conceal his contempt. It’s clear: These two are opposites (and what the show will do with that remains to be seen). Here, we also encounter possibly the pettiest of little subplots: Rich guy Michael Fouchay (a white South African, it turns out) has a friend named Brooke who allows certain inner circle buds to call her “Brookie,” but no others are to call her that. Of course this sticks in Larry’s craw. He can’t get over it at all and becomes particularly incensed after he uncovers information about a party guest with “Brookie” privileges having been granted them upon first meeting her at a dinner party just a few months prior—all because he’s such a “great guy.” Naturally, Larry confronts her about it, even declining a photo op (the very kind of thing he’s at this party to provide) on his way to continue to pursue his argument with her. Now, is this “cordial” behavior, the kind he’s contractually obligated to provide at this shindig? God no. It’s the kind of behavior that violates the terms of said contract and gets a person not paid.

After an attempt to repair the rift between them inspired by the South African Truth And Reconciliation Commission, where Larry and Fouchay play either Desmond Tutu or a guy named “Frank” (they argue about it for a while, because “there can’t be two Tutus”), Fouchay seems willing to pay Larry’s appearance fee. Larry admits that he hates people, and that seems to be a bold enough admission to grant him a pass. However, the butt dial thing happens, and Fouchay declines to pay Larry.

And now we’re back to the voting/glasses thing. Larry returns Auntie Rae’s glasses as she’s in line to vote. She says she’s been waiting over two-and-a-half hours, so Larry kindly offers her a bottle of water from his car. In doing this, though he’s in violation of the Election Integrity Act, and some white, drawling cops come out of the woodwork to bust his ass. Larry gets arrested, resulting in a Trump-style mug shot that lingers on screen for the entirety of the credits. That’s how it’s done on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and, fortunately, we have plenty more of it to come.

Stray observations

• The flashbacks, the montages, the cuts to other things occurring in the Curbiverse—these are things we didn’t get back when Curb Your Enthusiasm began. It’s fun to think of the ways this show has grown over time in its ambitions and scope (while still remaining petty and small as ever).
• Watching Larry argue with Siri is great. He’s looking to get to Wolfsglen Restaurant in Westwood, and boy does it suggest he do just about everything but go there. “You stupid fucking idiot!” he screams at his phone. He calls it a cunt, and it thinks he wants a bundt cake. He is all of us in this moment.
• Larry, Susie, and Jeff eat at a restaurant where the server’s mother has just passed away, and his grief delays their order. Guests at another table offer their condolences, and it prompts a whole conversation between them. Larry takes the tray from the guy and brings it back to his table, like a true dick, saying “I’m so sorry for your loss.” As far as we can tell, this little thread doesn’t go anywhere… but it might eventually?
• As Maria Sofia walks up to the guys at the airport with her emotional support dog Pechuca and a whole fancy getup, Leon says “They call that shit DTM: Doing too much.” Leon’s the best.
• “I told your pudgy ass before to stay off my shit,” Leon says to the dog Pechuca. His position is that it’s okay to fat shame a dog, because the dog doesn’t understand and therefore can’t feel shame. What do we think?
• “If this guy’s African… I’m Huckleberry Fuckin’ Finn.” Leon again (of course) talking about the wealthy, very white South African host of the party. Also, his description of Huck Finn includes that he looks “wet all the time.” Hadn’t thought of it that way, but it’s perfect.
• Brooke-not-Brookie gets real familiar and calls Larry “Larr” immediately, right at the end of their first debate/conversation. He’s not even mad about it. It’s just the kind of fun little detail they like to toss in on this show.
• Larry thinks Michael Fouchay’s son’s name is Kramen, when it’s actually Simon, and that’s pretty damn funny.