It’s been about two years since we’ve had the chaos of Larry David’s life on screen. The eighth season picks up exactly where the seventh left off: Larry is watching the Seinfeld reunion on TV and Cheryl has returned to him. However, she has also put her drink down on the table and created a ring stain. Their argument about respecting wood causes Cheryl to leave Larry again.We then jump forward one year later: Larry is seeing a divorce lawyer, Berg. It looks like he and Cheryl are over for good. Larry is shocked that Cheryl’s lawyer is bald: “we can’t go up against each other. It’s the bald code.”
At lunch, Larry tells Jeff and Susie how good his Jewish lawyer is. Funkhouser tells everyone that he’s going to London for three weeks but his wife isn’t. Larry manages to talk her into it. Funkhouser is pissed. Larry meets Joe, the owner of the Dodgers (Gary Cole), who has the same divorce lawyer as him and is worried about losing the team as a result of the divorce. Joe asks Larry if he’s interested in going to a game and then tells him that his daughter will be coming to his house to sell Girl Scout cookies.
Anyway, while everyone else orders from the menu, Larry decides to get food from the buffet. Everyone is impressed with Larry’s finds and he shares some food with Jeff. This attracts an employee of the restaurant, who is going to charge them for an additional buffet. A lawyer randomly jumps in and states that Larry is free to do with whatever he wants with the food. Larry is impressed.
Disaster strikes when Joe’s daughter comes to Larry’s house to sell him cookies: she has her first period while inside his home. Larry springs into action and gives her one of Cheryl’s tampons. He then attempts to instruct her on how to use it through the toilet door. It seems to be a success.
While at Jeff’s house, Susie tells Larry that Joe is annoyed that Larry taught his daughter how to use a tampon and might not give him a ticket. Funkhouser also turns up and yells at Larry, who simply suggests that he too gets a divorce if he doesn’t like his wife anymore.
After seeing his lawyer Berg on a motorbike and learning that he attended a Catholic school, Larry confronts his lawyer about pretending to be Jewish. Berg tells him that he never said he was Jewish and that Larry just assumed it. Larry walks out, angry that his lawyer is actually Swedish.
Larry decides to get the lawyer who saved him at the restaurant as his new divorce lawyer and also recommends him to Joe. We then cut ahead one month later, with Larry and Funkhouser going to attend a game. They are not allowed in because it turns out that Joe lost everything in the divorce, including the Dodgers. Larry panics and rushes to his lawyer only to discover that he too has lost everything to Cheryl. Joe also punches him in the face, and he has to use a tampon to stop the bleeding.
While Larry and Leon pack their things and get ready to leave the house, a gang of Girl Scouts arrive and demand that Larry pays them for the cookies. He refuses, as now that he can’t attend games with Joe, he has no reason to buy them. He tries to shut the door but they fight back. Larry is now trapped in a house that he has to leave in half an hour.
“The Divorce” was a hysterical premiere of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I’m really surprised that Larry David decided to go ahead with the divorce storyline considering most of the last season was all about Larry trying to win Cheryl back. I guess if someone doesn’t respect wood they’re just not worth it.