Curb Your Enthusiasm “The Accidental Text On Purpose”

Susie Essman, as Susie Greene, is a great foil for Larry, the kind of person who won’t take his nonsense and can handle him no matter what sort of stupid stuff he and Jeff are up to.  But this episode has a guest appearance by Elizabeth Perkins as Marty Funkhouser’s new girlfriend, a woman who is very particular about the water she serves despite the fact no one else seems to like it.  And I got to thinkin’, if Essman (who can’t be topped) wasn’t available for this show for one reason or another, Perkins would have been a great reoccurring nemesis for Larry.

As it is, I don’t think I’ll be seeing Perkins again.  Larry, along with Richard Lewis, Jeff, Susie, and Richard’s current love interest, are over at Perkins’s house for dinner, and Larry gets tossed out for basically being Larry.  To help Funkhouser fix things, Larry suggests Funkhouser send Perkins a text message, ostensibly meant to be Funkhouser telling Larry off, and that will make Perkins think Funkhouser is sensitive and win her back.  You know, the accidental text on purpose.

Larry also almost ruins things for Richard and his love interest, but Richard ruins things himself by calling her “honey” and later “girlfriend” prematurely.  Now, I could see that.  It’s a Larry David-kind of rift, but really, she was the one already demanding Richard never see Larry again due to a misunderstanding involving Sophia Loren, Richard’s date, and the Neiman Marcus concierge service combined with a genuinely accidental erection.

Of course, Larry invented the accidental text on purpose for Jeff to use in order for him to be able to go to a Rams game instead of driving Susie to the airport so she can fly to San Francisco.  Yeah, she shouldn’t need to be seen off there, but Susie isn’t the sort of woman you say no to.  Plus, it doesn’t work on her. She sees right through it.  Saying so gets Funkhouser dumped by Elizabeth Perkins.  And somehow, Jeff, who has cheated on Susie many times, is the only man at their table during a send off to some other guy that can keep his woman.

That said, Larry also has to deal with some guy writing stuff like “WASH ME” onto his car, a factor that leads to a war of words on Larry’s car.  It’s ridiculous, but to Larry’s credit, when the neighbor responsible reveals himself, Larry isn’t mad:  he’s outright respectful.

Never let it be said that Larry David doesn’t appreciate a good practical joke, even at his own expense.

What he doesn’t respect is Ed Begley Jr’s doctor character, who may also be sending accidental texts on purpose.  Or he might not.  Dude was pretty heinous.