No Lessons Learned

It is the tenth episode of the 12th season and the 120th episode overall of the series. The episode's story was written by series creator and star Larry David and executive producer Jeff Schaffer, and directed by Schaffer. It was first broadcast on HBO in the United States on April 7, 2024, and also was available on Max on the same date.

The series stars Larry David as a fictionalized version of himself. It follows David's life as a semi-retired television writer and producer in Los Angeles and his misadventures in his daily life. The season saw Larry facing a trial after violating the Election Integrity Act of 2021 in Atlanta. In the final episode, Larry's trial begins and he faces his past catching up to him. The episode mirrors the final episode of Seinfeld.

The series finale received critical acclaim, and the series was commended for its references and ending. In addition, it also features the final appearance of Richard Lewis who died shortly after the airing of the episode "Disgruntled".

Larry (Larry David), Leon (J. B. Smoove), Jeff (Jeff Garlin) and Susie (Susie Essman) head to Atlanta for Larry's trial. On the plane, Larry is scolded for not switching off his phone, and immediately snitches on Leon and Jeff amidst the argument. Arriving in Atlanta, Larry is blocked from entering an exit by a woman on the I-85 road. At a hotel, Larry is accidentally hit with a ball by a child, and the mother tries to force her son to apologize to him. Larry is annoyed by the situation, and tells the boy that he never learned a lesson in his life. While talking with Richard Lewis, Larry is dismayed when he finds that Richard's date, Cynthia (Allison Janney), is the same woman from I-85, although Cynthia claims she was never there.

Before the trial, Larry follows Cynthia, after hearing that she told Richard that she attempted suicide after Richard broke up with her. He is even more suspicious when Cynthia cannot fully detail her suicide attempt, upsetting Richard for interfering in his life. 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. During her testimony, Larry is annoyed by a fly and kills it in front of the jurors.

Mack calls many character witnesses to testify. 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. The next witness is Matsue Takahashi (Dana Lee), who relates how Larry hit Troy Kotsur with a golfball, and also killed Kyoko, Takahashi's black swan. The next witness is Alexander Vindman, who accuses Larry of bribing a councilwoman. That night, Larry and Jeff manage to obtain the secret recipe for a salad dressing from Auntie Rae (Ellia English), which Jeff gives to Susie for their anniversary. As he discusses the case with his friends, Larry receives advice from Leon; he must draw compassion from the jury to win them over. The following day, Susie enters the court room as a wheelchair-bound lover of Larry, with Larry faking good deeds to improve his image.

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. Another witness is Maureen (Jillian Bell), who states Larry urinated on her portrait of Jesus. More include the maitre'd from Katsuya (Sonny Saito), who complains over Larry yelling as a greeting to two chefs; Irma (Tracey Ullman), who reveals that Larry stole a pair of shoes from an exhibit at the Holocaust Museum LA; Bruce Springsteen, who accuses Larry of ruining his tour by giving him COVID-19; and Tara Michaelson (Bailey Thompson), who claims that Larry had an erection while she hugged him as a child. Sibby summons Rae to support Larry, but she angrily goes on a tirade by calling Larry and Jeff out for stealing her recipe. Realizing this is where her gift came from, Susie ends the charade and walks out of the room. The case is withheld until the following day, but Larry is losing support. At a bar, Larry runs into Jerry Seinfeld.

The following day, Larry testifies, and acts compassionate by claiming he just wanted to help Rae as there was nothing to cover her from the sun. Mack then questions Larry, asking him to remember many of his misdeeds; such as stealing flowers from a roadside memorial for Ida Funkhouser; taking a 5-wood golf club from Leo Funkhouser's hand at his funeral; breaking into head councilman Weinblatt's house to retrieve an incriminating letter; and the "beloved cunt" typo in Louise's obituary. 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; exhuming the corpse of his mother Adele; inviting Rick, the convicted sex offender, to a Passover Seder; eating Oscar's last meal which was ice cream; having sex with a blow up doll in front of Cheryl; teaching Greg how to knit a swastika pillow sham for Susie; hiring a prostitute named Monena as his passenger; and lying over being abused by his uncle Leo at an incest survivors group. Mack uses all of this to point that the Act is required to prevent society from ending due to people like Larry.

Finally, the jury reaches a verdict: Larry is declared guilty. 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. While sitting in his cell, Larry converses with an inmate (Tarnue Massaquoi) over the appearance of an erection caused by the fabric of his pants bunching up, referred to as a "pants tent", which was referenced in (and gave its name to) the first episode of the series. Suddenly, Seinfeld shows up, telling Larry that he met one of the jurors (Martin Carlin) at a Mexican restaurant the previous night. This violated the jury sequestration, causing a mistrial and Larry is allowed to be released. As he walks off, Larry tells Seinfeld, "this is how we should've ended the finale", and both express disappointment for not coming up with it before. On the flight back home, Larry and his friends get into an argument when Susie opens the plane's window shade.

Development

 

In December 2023, it was announced that the twelfth season of the series would be the last. Larry David said, "As Curb comes to an end, I will now have the opportunity to finally shed this ‘Larry David’ persona and become the person God intended me to be – the thoughtful, kind, caring, considerate human being I was until I got derailed by portraying this malignant character." David had previously teased the possibility of the series ending, but he confirmed the series' ending the following month, saying "Yeah, I said it before. But I wasn't 76 when I said it." David explained that his age played a factor in the decision, "I'm too old to be on camera every week now, to act the way I do on the show. How can I continue to act like that? It's insane! I could do it in my 50s and 60s and mid-70s. I'm not going into the 80s acting like that!"

Weeks prior to its airing, the finale's title was revealed as "No Lessons Learned". The New York Times noted similarities to the Seinfeld series finale, writing that the title "certainly nods at the core ethos of Seinfeld, minted by David: "no hugging, no learning," meaning the characters don't evolve as people or become sentimental. (Not to mention that Larry is, in fact, facing a trial this season.)"

Writing

Through the season, many trades noticed similarities to the Seinfeld series finale, particularly over the main story arc involving Larry preparing for a trial. While the series finale received a polarizing response, David has been known for defending the finale since its airing, which is also referenced in Curb Your Enthusiasm. The episode makes multiple references to the finale, following a similar structure in which past characters return to condemn Larry.

Executive producer Jeff Schaffer said, "What I love about the finale is that it touches on something bigger than the show. We often blur the line between real Larry and TV Larry, but here there is no line at all: Both Larrys have never learned a lesson — and thank the Gods for it."

Ratings

Critical reception

"No Lessons Learned" received critical acclaim. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 92% approval rating for the episode, based on 12 reviews.

Meredith Hobbs Coons of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B" and wrote, "As they walk away from the cell, they realize, “This is how we should have ended the finale.” And now they've had their chance. They got to have their little do-over, and you know what? I'm happy for them. Congrats on getting the ending you wanted, and congrats on 12 successful seasons, L.D."

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. Their silly hypothetical about the Bearded Lady lets us see Larry and Jerry, the co-creators of Seinfeld, cracking each other up. 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. Maybe that finale didn't have enough of those moments for some of you, but this one sure does. And either way, Larry doesn't give a shit. He's just having a laugh." 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. He never gets to that point in this episode, although early on he does gleefully tell a small child that at age 76, he has “never learned a lesson.” This, in a way, is the Larry shrug distilled into a single line. Larry is who he is, and this show was what it was. Who would ever expect anything more than that?"

Brian Lowry of CNN wrote, "All told, as Larry is fond of saying, the result was pretty, pretty good, and indeed, even a bit better than that. 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." Daniel D'Addario wrote, "On Seinfeld, one admires the logic; on Curb, one admires the audacity. Which also meant that on Seinfeld, those who were not bitterly disappointed by the finale could appreciate a certain poetic logic to it. The only poetry to Curb's finale was free verse. Larry will be missed. But he may just deserve a break."

Similarly, William Earl, also from Variety, praised the finale, and considered the final scene "a perfect summation of what made the series brilliantly obsessive and petty." Erin Jensen of USA Today wrote, "Raise your Latte Larry's mugs. It's time to toast the Curb Your Enthusiasm finale."

• "The Finale" – The series finale of Seinfeld