Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season 5

For season 5 of "Curb Your Enthusiasm", Larry David and directors Larry Charles and Robert Weide just couldn't keep the magic going from the hilarious season 4. The fifth season's main story arcs involve Larry's spiritual transformation. After nearly drowning, Larry seeks to understand why his life was spared. In a post-stroke delirium, Larry's father insinuates that Larry may have been adopted. Larry jumps full force into the mystery, contracting a private investigator (Mekhi Phifer) to search for his real parents. Meanwhile, the years of drink and drugs have taken their toll on Richard Lewis, who desperately needs a kidney transplant to save his life. His one family match, cousin Lewis Lewis, languishes in a coma. When Larry finds out he's a match, he's thrown into an ethical tailspin, trying anything to avoid losing one of his own precious kidneys, including contemplating pulling the plug on Lewis Lewis and attempting to schmooze the head of the Kidney Consortium.

The storylines just don't work as well as the previous season. Season 4 saw Larry at his most outrageous, balls-to-the-wall funny. Season 5 is much more subdued, constraining Larry too much to stricter story arcs. There are definitely some highlights, including a visit to the Playboy Mansion, with a terminally ill 12-year-old boy in tow, to compare smoking jackets with Hef. Also of note is Larry's investigation into the shady world of nursing home bingo, an episode featuring the considerable comedic talents of Kevin Nealon.

Once again, Larry's near-constant companion and partner in crime is his agent Jeff Greene (Jeff Garlin), who has evolved to become considerably less skeazy and more like Larry's jolly fat-man counterpart. Which is okay; Jeff Garlin is freaking funny no matter how you shake it. Larry's wife Cheryl (Cheryl Hines) is considerably less annoying than in all other seasons, which is also a blessing. But yet, with Larry himself so keyed-down (relatively speaking), season 5 never really cashes in on the promise of season 4. This is most evident in the season finale, which is just a scattered mess of storylines that draw the show out to a downright ludicrous conclusion. Ugh. It was probably the worst single episode yet. I look forward to a rebound in season 6.

Storyline & plot: 6/10
Cinematography & effects: 5/10
Music & mood: 6/10
Performances: 6/10

The Reverend says: 6/10