And, that’s a wrap on ‘s The series finale of the Emmy-winning
HBO improv
comedy kicked off with a big circle back to how the final season began, with the ensemble heading to Atlanta to support Larry David (played by series creator-star David) in his trial. For a refresher: Season 12 opened with in Georgia when he gave Leon Black’s (JB Smoove) Auntie Rae (played by Ellia English) a glass of water while she was waiting in line to vote. Larry didn’t know about the law, but he became anyway, with the likes of Stacey Abrams, and becoming his adoring new fans. An unfortunate issue with , however, led to Larry pleading not guilty to obstructing the
election process in the state of Georgia — which is punishable by up to one year in
prison and a fine of $10,000 — and going ahead with the trial, an event that has loomed over the entire season. Larry’s act of being a good samaritan to the series finale of and speculation that s ending might address the series finale of the classic comedy that left starring foursome , Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards in a jail cell after they were deemed by the law to be bad samaritans. The ending was divisive. And ‘s collaborating duo of David and executive producer Jeff Schaffer seemed in on the reception, as this season was littered with references to how David ended that beloved comedy. One key storyline in the series finale is that Leon is binge-watching for the first time ever when the crew lands in Atlanta for Larry’s trial. Jury selection is underway and the judge decides to sequester the jurors due to the flurry of media scrutiny around the high-profile trial. Ted Danson (played by himself) uses the opportunity to lead
protests again the Election Integrity Act (which is ) and Richard Lewis (played by the late comedian) is rekindling a former romance with a dishonest woman (played by guest star Allison Janney) who inadvertently flipped off Larry and Leon off on the highway. The guest cast roster continues to unspool, as a whose-who of ghosts from Larry’s past pour into the courtroom to haunt his verdict prospects. Larry and his lawyer (played by Sanaa Lathan) also face a formidable opponent on the other side of the courtroom with the prosecutor (played by Greg Kinnear), as well as the judge on the bench (played by Dean Norris). Susie Greene (played by Susie Essman) dropped the first hint of how the verdict might go when she called Larry out for never learning a lesson in his life. “It’s up to the jury to decide what kind of man Larry David is,” newscasters announce of the headline-making trial. The laundry list of Larry’s offenders is, in the end, too large to ignore — as the jury is informed of some of his worst behaviors, like stealing shoes from the
Holocaust museum, “maliciously” giving Bruce Springsteen COVID, hugging a 9-year-old (after placing a water bottle in his pants) and giving her 21 years of therapy, using the N-word, stealing from multiple dead people, bribing a city councilperson, hiring a prostitute so he could drive in the carpool lane and pretending to be an incest survivor named Todd. “I will not tolerate corruption from Trump, Putin or Larry David,” declares season 11 guest star, whistleblower Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (playing himself). The trial has proven Larry to be a “petty, conniving and frankly spiteful man,” the newscasters sum up before Larry is handed down a guilty verdict and sentenced to one year in prison. But just as viewers think may leave Larry rotting in a jail cell, complaining about the minutiae of daily life in familiar
fashion, Atlanta visitor and highly anticipated guest star Jerry Seinfeld comes in to save the day. Thanks to a fortuitous encounter at a nearby restaurant, Jerry was able to out one of the jurors for
BREAKING the sequestering rule. A mistrial is declared and Larry’s sentence has been thrown out. Larry, Jerry bellows, is a free man! “You don’t wanna end up like this. Nobody wants to see it. Trust me,” says Jerry in a massive wink to . As the pair walk out of the jail cell together, they muse about things that could have been. “Oh my God, this is how we should’ve ended the finale,” says Larry. “Oh my God you’re right, how did we not think of that?” asks Jerry. “Ahhh,” they say in unison, as they throw their hands up. The episode, directed by Schaffer, then ends with the ensemble arguing over putting the shade up or down on their airplane back to
Los Angeles. “Go fuck yourself, Larry. Go back to fucking jail, Larry!” Susie screams in one of the last discernible lines of the series. When talking about Larry’s fate in recent weeks, Schaffer had hinted to that Larry would not be punished — equating his situation to that of former President
Donald Trump, who was once again invoked this week with a resurfaced shot of “The former felon-in-chief is supposed to be on trial now four times over, and none of them are happening! TV Larry should be envious at how [former President Donald] Trump is delaying all this stuff. So, who knows what’s going to happen on ?” Now, Schaffer offers this to , in a bit of rare reflection: “What I love about the finale is that it touches on something bigger than the show. We often blur the line between real Larry and TV Larry, but here there is no line at all: Both Larrys have never learned a lesson — and thank the Gods for it.” Come back to on Monday for more from Schaffer as he unpacks the series finale — titled “No Lessons Learned” — with . is streaming on Max. THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day More from The
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