The Cringe-Comedy Legacy of Larry David

In the opening episode of the 12th and allegedly-for-realsies-this-time final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which returns Sunday night on HBO, a lady at a party gives Larry David a taste of his own medicine. Which, when I put it that way, sounds like an evergreen Curb episode synopsis. But in this case, the woman isn’t vindictive—she’s just being friendly. Attempting to make small talk with the man, the myth, the misanthrope, she mentions to Larry that she has an annoyance in her life, one having to do with those green and clear plastic bags in the supermarket produce section. Yada yada yada, as they say.