[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness Episode 2, “Farewell.”]
The final sketch of Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness’s second episode, like many of the HBO historical comedy series’ sketches so far, featured some big deal guest stars alongside Larry David, as well as some of the show’s most direct political commentary to date. It most notably featured Rob Reiner as George Washington, one of his few remaining posthumous performances following his tragic death in December 2025.
In the sketch from “Farewell,” Washington is wrapping up his second term as President with the announcement that he will not be seeking a third time — a decision he explained in his farewell address, which also included his strong opinion that political parties were bad for the country because they might “become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”
Narrator Samuel L. Jackson, in his introduction, puts some extra mustard on the “cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men” bit, and things get much less subtle from there. As Washington explains his decision to step down, he and a crowd member played by David start debating the possibility of a “narcissistic prick” of a future president, who might violate the Constitution and enrich his own interests thanks to a broken system of checks and balances.
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The January 6th insurrection, the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, and the many efforts by this current administration to censor dissent are all referenced in the ensuing debate, with Jimmy Kimmel popping up as another crowd member to drive the point home. “Are you suggesting that the president would taketh the time to challenge anyone who dare make fun of him, as if he were a big baby?” he says in his tricorner hat. “I don’t see it.”
As the crowd begins to fight each other and the scene descends into chaos, Reiner’s Washington gets the last word, after calling futilely for peace: “We’re fucked,” he says right into the camera. (Again, not subtle.)
Throughout his life, Reiner was very involved with political causes as an outspoken liberal. Perhaps that’s why Trump chose to mock him after his death, a move which had even people like James Woods saying the president went too far. This sketch didn’t give Reiner the last word. But it did give him the opportunity to speak out for justice and sanity one more time.
New episodes of Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness debut Fridays at 9:00 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
