Episode Commentary: “Vow of Silence”
This isn’t a bad episode of Curb, it just once again fails to pack the same punch as the magical episode two weeks ago. With no Leon and barely any Funkhouser, this episode doesn’t have the same level of supporting comedy many others this season do. Richard Lewis has his moments here, as well as Susie Essman and Jeff Garlin, but overall, it’s just not a hilarious episode.
Like similar mediocre episodes of the series, the outcome became pretty predictable after a few minutes and several of the small plotlines feel too inorganic. After Larry catches a line-cutter at the Greene’s going-away party, the creative team goes to the same well once again a few minutes later and it just doesn’t catch the same fire. While this doesn’t hurt the storyline surrounding the Greene family dog too much, it hurts the pace of the episode.
In a half hour show, one bad skit can sometimes ruin an episode. That’s not what happens here, but it slows down the action enough to derail the rest of the laughs induced.
In spite of this, what ultimately does this episode in is the fact that the end climax was obvious. After Larry and Jeff were almost tattled on by Vance, who luckily for them, was taking a vow of silence, who didn’t know what was eventually going to happen?
Anyone who has watched this show for years could smell that Vance was not only the bad parker, but would break his vow to make a fool of Larry. Isn’t that the point of the show, after all? The best episodes follow a similar formula, but throw a realistic curveball at the end that you were never expecting. The past few episodes have had off-speed pitches of sorts, but ones that missed the strike zone of hilarity by a long shot.
The one good thing that came out of this episode was that Larry and the Greene’s will now spend the rest of the season in New York. What surprises could be in store for Larry there? Can the change of scenery help induce some more laughs? Lets hope so. With almost eight seasons under its belt, this show must pick up its pace or else it’ll suffer the same fate as the Greene’s family dog.
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