Curb Your Enthusiasm “Beloved Aunt”

Cheryl’s extended family pops up in this episode, notable her sister Becky because, man, did Becky look familiar.  I keep Wikipedia open when I type these up to double check my spelling and whatnot, but there was no listing there for the actress playing Cheryl’s sister even though I had a really good idea who it was.  And I was right:  it was Kaitlin Olson, AKA Sweet Dee Reynolds from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  I might have had back-to-back Kaitlin Olson episode write-ups were it not for the fact I put Sunny on hiatus until I finished off The Penguin!

Unless Kaitlin Olson was also in The Penguin…I don’t put anything past HBO these days.

For those keeping track at home (hi, Jimmy!), we can now add “funerals” to the list of things that cause Larry misery either through his own screw-ups or someone else’s.  Cheryl’s aunt died, a suicide, and that means her parents and sister are out in L.A. for the funeral.  Cheryl’s sister Becky is dating a guy who asks Larry for advice on when the best time to break up with Becky might be.  Why Larry?  I suppose her looks the most like someone who knows how to handle a break-up.  However, not only will Craig ignore Larry’s advice and break it off far too early while staying in a hotel Larry paid for, but I knew Larry was doomed the moment Cheryl’s mother told Larry that she loved him.

Yeah, this was not going to end well for Larry.  And this time, the problem is he tried to do something nice by offering to write an obituary for the newspaper.  It won’t be funny.  It will be appropriate.  Jeff has a newspaper contact, so Larry just needs to get the obit to the guy by a certain time, something he does by dictating the obit to Jeff when the two sit down for lunch in a restaurant.  Oh, and Jeff’s parents are visiting, so can Larry buy Jeff’s mom a birthday present to make nice after all the problems he’s had with Jeff’s folks?

You know, I am vaguely aware that Jeff’s wife Susie becomes something of a nemesis for Larry in the future, so it is a little odd that when she pops up in this first season, the two seem to get along just fine.

So, Larry advised Craig on when to break up with Becky, he wrote an obituary for Cheryl’s aunt, and got Jeff’s mom a pair of designer sunglasses without finding a single place to get them wrapped.  What can possibly go wrong?

Craig can break up with Becky early!  And then things get worse.

The newspaper can do a misprint on the phrase “beloved aunt” by printing…OK, the “beloved” is still there as are the last three letters in “aunt.”  The first letter…man, someone should probably get fired for that.  But Cheryl’s parents blame Larry, who is innocent, and he’s kicked out of his own house until Cheryl’s family can go back to Florida.  Jeff’s mom likes the sunglasses, but when Larry picks up a reflective toaster so she can see herself better, she leans too close to him and the back of his hand is…somewhere it shouldn’t be, so Jeff’s parents likewise want Larry kicked out.  Jeff and Susie get it.  It was an accident.  Larry is kicked out of the Greene’s guest room at 2AM.  And the hotel he goes to, well, Craig is there–with another woman, no less–and no, Larry can’t stay there even after multiple attempts to bribe people with the designer sunglasses because no, he is not going to let Jeff’s mom keep them after all that.

Eh, they at least let Larry sleep in his car when the sun came up.  He just needs to be the kind of guy who doesn’t always let people believe the absolute worst things about him at all times.