Summary
A slightly overstuffed but still hilarious episode of Curb is a testament to the surprising power of Leon’s testicles – in more ways than one.
Larry is no longer legally trapped in Atlanta in Episode 3 of Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12, but he’s still very much clinging to his new reputation as a liberal champion. Back in L.A., Larry’s desire for plaudits predictably gets him in trouble, and his complete inability to not be Larry David even while pretending to be a new, elevated version of himself ensures that he’ll probably remain in trouble forever, one way or another.
“Vertical Drop, Horizontal Tug” is very much about Larry being Larry to a hilariously obnoxious degree, in various ways and to the detriment of various people. This episode isn’t quite as cleverly nested as some have been, but it’s still a very funny slice of Curb all told, with zinging lines everywhere (double that whenever Leon is around) and details that’ll probably crop up again later to spite Larry even further.
Larry swaggering through LAX clues him in to the fact that he’s still very much in the public’s good graces, but a chance encounter with Sienna Miller reminds him of one pressing problem – Irma. In Episode 1, we were reminded that Larry isn’t happy with Irma but can’t leave her in case she relapses, so he has taken to making Wordle suggestions like “slept” and “alone” while she annoys him by blurting out the answer. Wordle features a lot in this episode, for some reason.
Another recurring guest star(s) turns out to be Leon’s testicles, since he has taken to letting them flop out of his shorts regardless of who’s around. Larry’s not a fan of this, but he comes around a little when Leon’s errant nuts distract him from improper Wordle etiquette and, later, from a steep invoice.
Golf Hijinks
The episode’s title comes from Larry listening in on a private golf lesson being given to Troy Kotsur of CODA. “Vertical Drop, Horizontal Tug” is swing advice that Larry incorporates into his own game, despite having not paid for tutoring. It improves his stroke so much that he manages to hit Troy in the back with a ball from quite a distance, which lands him in serious trouble with Mr. Takahashi, the golf club owner who hates him, since he didn’t shout “fore!” as a warning because he figured Troy wouldn’t have heard him anyway.
All of this loops back around. On his way back from the airport earlier, Larry had tossed a bagel to a homeless guy – so that he wouldn’t get too close – and when he tries it again he ends up throwing one in Troy’s face as he’s passing. Larry’s later caught in the golf club toilets listening to another lesson, which is the final straw for Takahashi. However, Larry has a Leon-inspired, ball-oriented solution.
Testes to the Rescue
The “balls slipping out of the shorts” solution is applied to two problems in this episode of Curb. In the first, Larry gets into a disagreement with his neighbor Duane Tubman over a lemon tree that hangs in Larry’s yard. When lemons drop off, Larry uses them, which Duane thinks makes him liable for 50% of the tree’s maintenance costs. Now, to be fair, I’m actually with Larry on this one. However, the matter is clouded since Larry only runs into Duane because he turns up at a memorial for Tubman’s father-in-law to earn liberal brownie points from someone he has just assumed must in some way be related to Harriet Tubman.
Luckily, Leon’s timely arrival and indecent exposure disgust Tubman into leaving the matter completely alone, which inspires Larry to re-use the tactic against Mr. Takahashi when he’s summoned to his office to have his golf club membership revoked. Once again, the balls win.
There’s another bizarre subplot in this episode that involves Leon. Freddy Funkhauser is doing his infertile neighbor a solid by trying to impregnate his wife, but when Freddy’s not going to be available she needs a substitute. Leon volunteers himself for the role.
The episode ends with Leon doing the deed, though crucially not interrupting coitus to respond to a terrible noise outside that sounds like a coyote eating a dog. This is a callback to earlier in the episode when Larry and Jeff wouldn’t interrupt their golf game to investigate the same noise, despite the fact it was coming from Jeff’s house and Cheryl and Ted had just bought Susie a puppy as a belated birthday gift. Larry’s crusade against dogs not only continues, it seems to be contagious.
What did you think of Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12, Episode 3? Let us know in the comments.
RELATED:
