Curb Your Enthusiasm: Vehicular Fellatio

Posted by: Shane Hallam  •  September 29, 2009 @ 1:58pm

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

Curb Your Enthusiasm aired its second installment Sunday night, and while it was a strong showing, it was not quite as good as the first episode. The zaniness that rendered the premiere as a step above the rest of the Curb canon was lacking, and what we got instead was a run-of-the mill outing.

Perhaps I and the cult fans of the show have simply become spoiled by the outstanding improvisation and writing offered by the cast and crew, because an average episode of the show is still absolutely hilarious when you really stop and go over the events in your mind. As usual, there was a typical gag that positioned Larry in an awkward social encounter and which recurred throughout the program. This time it was the titular "Vehicular Fellatio" which provided the impetus for much of the program's events. It played, characteristically of Curb, like a more crass and demented version of Seinfeld (think "The Pick").

As I have mentioned before, the best part of the show is Larry's unfathomable impropriety and the steps to which he will go in order to extricate himself from an undesirable situation. Although he is often the victim of unfortunate coincidence or circumstance, this still does not excuse the times we have seen him pry a golf club from a dead man's hands during a wake, or as within this episode, purposely become even more obnoxious and irritating in order to have himself dumped by his cancer-ridden girlfriend, distorting the advice of a TV self-help guru. Masterfully, the writers have his plans veer off the road, so to speak, as the girlfriend feels that the therapist no longer has any credibility after catching her in what she believes is the act of "Vehicular Fellatio". Larry believes himself trapped in the relationship until he too is caught in what is believed to be the aforementioned act, and the episode ends with Larry trying to assist his friends in escaping from their ruined car after a failed attempt at, you guessed it, Vehicular Fellatio.

Such is the type of continuity writing that Curb consistently delivers, and to which I have not paid proper service, as it truly is much more convoluted and complex to explain than this space allows. This is why this episode, relative to the rest of the program, can still be considered commonplace, but yet stand out as one of the best written episodes of any comedy this year.

Tags: Curb Your Enthusiasm, Vehicular Fellatio, cancer

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Original Comments Posted (2)

metal2000 says...

I actually thought the first episode back, while great, was a tad uneven. Where as this second episode did a little more for me. Maybe it's just my preferance for the characters featured in the second episode compared to the first -- and that they're keeping Leon around!

Can't wait for the Seinfeld stuff to start next week, though!

Sep 29, 2009 8:56pm

shanehallam13 says...

I think I've been anticipating this Seinfeld reunion since the day the finale aired. I love Larry David eternally just for being able to reassemble the cast, aside from all of the other great things he's done.

Sep 30, 2009 1:35am

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