Lin-Manuel Miranda is known for his incredible musical talents. Now, I know him as a lovable jerk that I want to “get in the weeds with” about where to find the most iconic white professorial sweater vest. See, Lin and I already have inside jokes – along with the rest of the viewers who watched the last two episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s ninth season. Miranda plays himself and the star of Larry David’s current project, Fatwa! The Musical. And he does not disappoint.
As a rabid Curb fan, this is the first time I’ve seen Latinx folk – including the fabulous America Ferrera, playing Miranda’s wife in “The Shucker” episode – portrayed as three-dimensional characters. Typically on Curb we see Latinx characters playing support staff (gardeners, maids, and maintenance workers) who call their boss “Señor Larry” and feign horrifically bad accents. Not only is Miranda exceptional in Curb Your Enthusiam, teasing us with performance rehearsals for Fatwa! The Musical, but he’s done the unthinkable: he acts like a jerk!
But this national treasure is too loveable to be a dick! His boyish enthusiasm, hilarious bullheadedness, and defense of the every man not only warms our hearts, but lands him in a Hamilton-esque paintball duel taking down the Goliath of jerk-ery, Larry David. And we root for Miranda to win, not the star of the series – no easy feat in a show with a celebrated protagonist.
Be sure to catch Miranda and Ferrera in some of the funniest Curb episodes you’ve ever seen.
Curb Your Enthusiasm is available for binge-watching on HBO (if you’re classy) or HBOGo if you have your primo’s login.
