Jon Hamm Meets Mocha Joe

Larry’s gotten into it with his friends’ significant others before, but he’s never done so with an understudy at his side. After being cast as a Larry David type in a movie from some Seinfeld alum (one Hobe Turner), Jon Hamm ends up shadowing Larry for much of the episode. At first, Hamm is basically an audience stand-in, as awed and mortified by Larry’s convention-eschewing ways as we are. He covers his face as Larry asks a group of Asian Americans for their recommendations on Chinese food, but once the encounter is over, he just grins.

I do not know what kind of preparation Jon Hamm usually does for a role, but his research and dedication here make “Elizabeth, Margaret And Larry” one of the highlights of the season. He starts dressing like Larry, right down to the eyeglass frames. Jon also takes Larry’s side in the “sex with an ex’s sister versus sex with an ex’s friend” debate, which leads Susie to kick him out of her home (she truly is ride or die for Cheryl, except when it comes to paying your part for a chartered flight). He throws out terms like “appetizer allotment” over lunch with Larry and Richard, which prompts Richard to remark that there are now “two Larry Davids.” After getting a kick out of Larry David attempting a Kramer impression at the top of the episode, I laughed out loud at Jon and Larry doing a round of “prett-ay good”s at the table.