When I first watched Curb Your Enthusiasm, I thought Season 3 was one of the defining high points of the series, but upon rewatch, I don't think that's entirely correct. This season does have its great moments, don't get me wrong, but I did end up feeling a bit underwhelmed coming off of Season 2... at least at first.
Season 3's main storyline was always one of my personal favorites of the series, focusing around Larry and a bunch of other actors investing in a restaurant. It's not even that it has that much more of a focus than Season 2's plot, I think it just has a more enjoyable premise that lets a lot of the same characters repeatedly interact over the course of the season, and it definitely sticks the landing a lot better than the previous season. Unlike Season 2, I remember being genuinely surprised by the finale having a happy ending for Larry and his friends, it was a rare and triumphant moment of success for the hapless protagonist. And it's a good thing that the restaurant storyline is so good because Season 3 does not get off to a very good start. In terms of the standalone episodes, the first half of Season 3 is honestly really weak, with no truly amazing episodes. It all culminated in The Terrorist Attack, easily my least favorite episode of the show so far. From the uncomfortable premise to Cheryl's odd characterization, I just don't think this episode was able to accomplish what it set out to do.
Thankfully, starting with the sixth episode, the general quality shot up dramatically. Where the first five episodes of Season 3 was one of the show's weakest stretches of episodes so far, the last five episodes of Season 3 was one of the show's best. From the sheer hilarity of watching Larry playing a gangster in a Scorsese movie, to the brief moments of pathos like Jeff's daughter choosing her dog over him and the aforementioned happy ending, to the incredible moments of crossing the line in The Special Section and Krazee-Eyez Killa, the last five episodes of Season 3 had a renewed sense of energy that gave the season an incredibly strong ending. I also think that as a whole, this season had a lot more strong one-liners than the last two, as if the whole cast (Larry included) really started to improve on their improv skills. Curb has never been a fast-paced show with its jokes, but Season 3 shows the jokes-per-minute ratio slowly improving compared to the previous two seasons.
When this season got good, we ended up getting some all-timer episodes:
The Special Section: This episode probably seemed better than it was coming off of The Terrorist Attack, but even on its own merits, The Special Section was just laugh after laugh after laugh. From Larry acting in a gangster film, to his father not telling him about his mother's death, to the titular "special section", to Jai Ya.
Krazee-Eyez Killa: Another iconic Curb classic, this was definitely the high point in the season... and was also a lot grosser than I remembered. Gross in a funny crossing-the-line kind of way, but gross nonetheless. The highlight was definitely Larry's interactions with the titular rapper, since they have a really offbeat kind of chemistry that I found super fun. But we also get another scene of gangster Larry, which is always a good time.
The Grand Opening: Curb's season finales tend to be a bit hit or miss, but The Grand Opening is the first one I'd call genuinely fantastic, and easily one of the show's best. Most of the episode (and season as a whole) built up to the restaurant opening, culminating in a phenomenal final scene that brings the cast together, ties up loose ends, an underrated lottery ticket gag, and has Larry manage to save the restaurant by screaming out expletives, finally getting some sort of happy ending.
Overall, Season 3 took a while to really get going, with a shaky first half and the show's worst episode to date. However, the great central storyline, fantastic second half, and perfect ending still made this a solid season even if it wasn't as thoroughly enjoyable as its predecessor
3/5 Stars
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