No Lessons Learned

According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.530 million household viewers and gained a 0.11 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.

In addition, it also features the final appearance of Richard Lewis, who died in late February 2024 after the episode was filmed.

On the plane, Larry is scolded for not switching off his phone, and immediately snitches on Leon and Jeff amidst the argument.

Larry and his lawyer, Sibby Sanders (Sanaa Lathan) arrive at the trial, with some protesters supporting him outside, one of whom is Ted Danson.

At the trial, District Attorney Earl Mack (Greg Kinnear) points Larry as a danger to society for his actions, while Sibby uses her testimony to challenge the Election Integrity Act of 2021.

The first is Mocha Joe (Saverio Guerra), who brings up the time Larry insulted him and opened a spite store next to his business, also accusing him of burning it down.

As he discusses the case with his friends, Larry receives advice from Leon; he must draw compassion from the jury to win them over.

Mack then brings Rachel Heinemann (Iris Bahr), who relates how Larry forced her to jump off a ski lift due to her strict observance of her Orthodox Judaism.

Mack then questions Larry, asking him to remember many of his misdeeds; such as stealing flowers from a roadside memorial for Ida Funkhouser;[k] taking a 5-wood golf club from Leo Funkhouser's hand at his funeral;[l] breaking into head councilman Weinblatt's house to retrieve an incriminating letter;[m] and the "beloved cunt" typo in Louise's obituary.

[n] Mack mentions more of Larry's misdeeds to the jury which includes refusing to give candy to two trick-or-treating girls on Halloween because they are not wearing costumes;[o] exhuming the corpse of his mother Adele;[p] inviting Rick, the convicted sex offender, to a Passover Seder;[q] eating Oscar's last meal which was frozen yogurt;[r] having sex with a blow up doll in front of Cheryl;[s] teaching Greg how to knit a swastika pillow sham for Susie;[t] hiring a prostitute named Monena as his passenger;[u] and lying over being abused by his uncle Leo at an incest survivors group.

Judge Whittaker (Dean Norris) notes how Larry kept committing mistakes, telling him he hopes he finally learned a lesson, and sentences him to one year in prison.

Suddenly, Seinfeld shows up, telling Larry that he met one of the jurors (Martin Carlin) at a Mexican restaurant the previous night.

)"[5] Through the season, many trades noticed similarities to the Seinfeld series finale, particularly over the main story arc involving Larry preparing for a trial.

[7] The episode makes multiple references to the finale, following a similar structure in which past characters return to condemn Larry.

The site's consensus reads: "Going out at a characteristically cranky note, Larry David doubles down on the notorious Seinfeld finale and actually vindicates the formula with this uproariously clever sign off.

"[13] Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the episode a "B+" and wrote, "If the Curb finale is meant to rewrite the Seinfeld ending in any way, it's during that first scene between Jerry and Larry.

They're playing out the kind of scene they used to write for Jerry and George, and getting that silly, joyful spark between two TV legends – even for a moment – is pure bliss.

"[14] Noel Murray of The New York Times wrote, "Even if the Curb Your Enthusiasm finale lacked a sense of surprise, it did feel right for the show.

One of David's go-to moves throughout Curb Your Enthusiasm has been the 'OK, I get it' shrug, deployed whenever Larry realizes he may have gone too far and that whatever punishment coming to him is probably fair.

And while Larry made a point in the episode of saying he hadn’t learned a thing in his life, grading this on the spectrum of series finales would suggest otherwise.