Curb Your Enthusiasm: 10 Worst Things Larry David Ever Did

10. Uses His Mother's Death For Personal Gain

Larry isn’t sociable. He hates family gatherings, events on a large scale of any sort and, to be frank, any sort of commitment whatsoever. The difficulty for him is, of course, that he is a coward and is afraid of standing up to people when it comes to saying ‘no’.

In Season 3, upon his return from a trip to New York City shooting a Martin Scorsese picture, he is ‘blessed’ with a ‘get-out-of-all-commitments-free’ card. But it’s not what you think: he returns to Los Angeles to the news that his mother has died.

Many people react to bad news with fear, disgust or sadness. Not Larry: he sees an opportunity. Right from his instant reaction, we are astonished - not the slightest bit of nostalgia graces his face.

For the rest of the episode, we see how he uses his ‘bad news’ in the most pragmatic of ways. From manipulating his wife, Cheryl, into ‘sympathy sex’ to avoiding encounters with acquaintances and skipping social engagements.

Niccolò Machiavelli would be proud…