'Curb' Finale was 'Prettay, Prettay Good,' but...

I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but I felt just a little disappointed by last night's season 7 finale of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” titled “Seinfeld.” Yes, it was so ballyhooed, for that reason alone it had to be just a bit of a letdown.
After all, few things in life match or exceed something that one looks forward to with as much anticipation as I did last night's final Seinfeld reunion show. (Like Christmas when you are six years old.) Although since I felt last week's show was close to perfect (I would give it a nine), I just hoped that last night's finale would achieve total perfection. (But ten's are very rare, except on “Dancing with the Stars.”)
But it didn't quite make it. Then again, it far exceeded the much hyped “Seinfeld” finale of 11 years ago, which most people were disappointed in, and which Larry himself mocked in last night's show.
LD seems to write best when he just deals with the mundane annoyances of life. When he tries to knock one out of the park he sometimes swings too hard and pops up. However, saying he “popped up” last night would not be fair. Let's say he lined a double off the wall, while I was hoping for a home run.
So I will try and be positive. After all, the show within a show “Seinfeld reunion” was actually pretty funny, and had the basics of what would be a very good episode. In fact I found myself yearning for more of the “Seinfeld” stuff. George losing the millions that he made from the “iToilet” (I assume that is how it would have been spelled) to Bernie Madoff was a great plot twist.
And I think everyone watching would want to know more details about Elaine's child who was born thanks to a “sperm donation” by Uncle Jerry. Exactly how did that “donation” take place?
As for the “Curb” portion of the show, that is where I felt a little let down. The “favor” exchange with Mocha Joe was a little far-fetched, as was Jason Alexander walking off the show because he didn't like the alternate ending that Larry wrote.
“Having said that,” as usual I loved the scenes with Jeff's wife Susie, screaming at Larry about the coffee ring stain on her antique table. Nobody recreates the “wife from Hell” (and I will credit Richard Lewis for inventing that expression) better.
But let's examine the whole Larry being jealous of Jason's interactions with Cheryl. Certainly a psychiatrist would have a field day analyzing Larry's over the top reactions. After all, Jason was merely playing the part of George, who Larry had based upon himself. Watching Larry attempting to replace Jason and imitate George, who is Larry's alter ego, was very intriguing. That is one scene I plan on watching over several times.
Remember, the major plot arc of the season was not so much the so-called “Seinfeld reunion,” but rather Larry planning the reunion in one of his twisted machinations to win Cheryl back. And the final scene, where he does win her back, sort of, but then begins to demonstrate the same neurotic behavior that drove her away in the first place, was fascinating and funny.
Finally, stepping back from this one episode and examining the show from Larry David's real life perspective, outside of both “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” offers an interesting exercise in trying to separate art from reality.
After all in real life, Larry David and his wife Laurie (who is an environmental activist and was actually the producer of Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth”), really did split up a few years ago. And I understand that Larry really did plan for season 6, which ended with Larry and the Black (that's their name) family living “happily ever after” to be the series finale of “Curb.”
Season 6 actually aired two years ago and supposedly it took HBO executives almost a year to finally talk Larry David into signing on for two more seasons of “Curb.” So it sort of made sense that Larry would have to get Cheryl back in season 7, and that is the real reason that he concocted this “meshugas” scheme to win her back.
It will be very interesting to see what Larry comes up with as a story arc for season 8. Having done the “Seinfeld reunion” thing, I can't imagine what it will entail.
But I can hardly wait. So let me be the first to begin the over the top hype for next season, so I can probably be a bit disappointed yet again. After all that is what happens when you are a Larry David addict.