Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Night of Terror #7: 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' - "Trick or Treat"



A quick scan of the Curb Your Enthusiasm Wikipedia entry suggests that Larry David and friends only had one brush with the occult, and it's this season 2 classic, "Trick or Treat." Thrill at seeing Cheryl David actually act with affection towards her husband Larry, and vice-versa! Chill at Larry accusing a couple of bratty teenagers of a hate crime for painting "bald asshole" on his door after he refuses to give them candy on Halloween! Spill at Larry kind of committing a hate crime of his own by hiring an orchestra to play Wagner in the front lawn of a zealous Jewish neighbor (it's a long story)!

Other than the brief excursion into the rules of Trick or Treat, there actually isn't much spooky action in this episode of Curb. I kept expecting Cheryl to rip the flesh off of her face and sink her fangs into Jeff's neck, or for Larry's friend Richard Lewis to show up and start stabbing people, etc. Oh wait a second, there's the confrontation between Larry and his friend Cliff Cobb that is shot with a kind of horror-esque vibe. Thank you, episode director Larry Charles. And contrary to the trappings of horror, Larry actually gets an unambiguously happy ending here, inflicting his revenge and not being immediately humiliated afterward, as is usually the case.

Like pretty much every episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, this is packed with great comic details, both obvious and subtle. Larry gets in digs at outdoor smokers (where are they supposed to smoke, Larry??) golfwear being unacceptable outside the context of golf, yawning during movies, and an entire plot thread that hinges entirely on a guy having the same last name as whoever the Cobb salad is named after. Terrifying!

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