Summary
“Fish Stuck” finds Larry’s reputation suffering just when he might need it the most.
There’s a miserable quality to Episode 5 of Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12 that is no fault of the show. Longtime star Richard Lewis passed away on February 27, 2024. He’s in “Fish Stuck” briefly, and calls back to an argument he had with Larry in Episode 3 about which of them would die first. Lewis always had the best improvisational vibe with Larry, which you can see quite clearly here – both of them are on the cusp of laughter in every scene they share – so it’s a real shame that he’s not around anymore.
Still, he’s here on-screen for the time being, and a guy who does impromptu stand-up in AA meetings would want his audience to keep seeing the funny side.
This episode, “Fish Stuck”, is named after the plight of a fish in a Chinese restaurant aquarium that has its lips trapped in the tank filter. Larry and Freddy assume it does, anyway, but the server insists it’s just feeling unwell and is using the heat from the filter to pick itself back up. Neither Larry nor Freddy are buying this, so when they next attend the restaurant and the fish isn’t there, they think a cover-up is afoot.
Ordinarily, this would become the underlying plot of the episode, since it’s the kind of pointless thing that Larry can’t help obsessing over, but instead, it becomes a metaphor and inspires Larry to dream up a way for both he and Freddy to get rid of their girlfriends that involves feigning a serious debilitating illness.
Groat’s Disease
Larry’s relationship woes with Irma have been documented throughout the season and were by no means improved in their brief couples therapy stint during Episode 4. Larry continues counting down the days until he can safely dump Irma without risking her relapsing, but he realizes he can fast-track the process by pretending to have Groat’s Disease. Through Richard, he learns that Irma left her first husband because she had to become a full-time carer for him, so Larry – rather despicably, truth be told – plans to have her leave him in fear of history repeating itself.
Freddy, meanwhile, wants to break up with his girlfriend Jenna because he has discovered she works at the Disney Store as a greeter, but naturally, he doesn’t want to dump her on this basis because it makes him look like an egocentric maniac. Freddy had previously assumed that his new fling’s extensive House of Mouse brand knowledge meant she was an executive, and he never bothered to ask for clarity.
Of course, this deception is uncovered because Larry had volunteered Jenna to read a script written by Irma’s sponsor’s daughter. One thing leads to another and the two meet and bond over recently having been made single thanks to Groat’s Disease.
Strong Dislike Speech
This doesn’t do Larry’s reputation any favors, which is annoying for him since it was already suffering thanks to Hobie, who after the events of the previous episode had carved “Larry David is disrespectful to women” on a brick at the temple. Larry wants to get it removed on the grounds of hate speech, but Rabbi Adelman writes it off as “strong dislike speech”, so Larry tries to get Cheryl to purchase a brick with a more complimentary counter-message (she won’t.)
Larry also makes an enemy of his lawyer, Christopher Mantle. When he discovers that he and his husband (played by a guest-starring Dan Levy) are having a baby via a surrogate and running with the surname Zeckelman instead of the much cooler – by Larry’s standards – Mantle, he just cannot let it go. Larry’s criticisms strongly offend both of them and lead to Mantle being thrown out of his house, right on the cusp of filing a motion that would have kept Larry out of court for the water bottle incident in Episode 1.
The episode ends with Larry discovering that Mantle, who has been sleeping in his office, was so distracted by the breakdown of his marriage that he forgot to file the motion. Larry will be going to trial after all.
The final shot is of even more bricks at the temple engraved with disparaging remarks about Larry. His new darling reputation seems to be suffering.
What did you think of Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12 Episode 5? Let us know in the comments.
