JT's comments below originally ran as part of Place to Be Nation's "Seinfeld: The PTBN Series Rewatch" project.
Best Character
I really enjoyed Jerry here and Newman was great in his brief scenes, but I have to go with Kramer this time around. The way he popped in and out all episode with updates on the Gendason situation was great and watching it all unfold and payoff with the police chase was well done. The final scene was great too with them bickering over which roads to take while evading a monster police brigade.
Best Storyline
I will stick with Kramer and Gendason. The big salad was really good but the Kramer stuff just stood out more to me as the episode wore on. I almost lost it when they found out the guy was murdered with a golf tee. George's eventual meltdown and rant about the salad after being so arrogant about buying everyone lunch was really great too.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
Should Kramer really feel guilty about the murder of poor little Pinkus? Gendason seemed like a loose cannon that could pop at any moment and he obviously had long brewing issues with Pinkus. The K-Man was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sure, he didn't help things but Pinkus was probably destined to meet a tee-induced end either way.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
Julie was...not someone I want to see more of. She was both annoying but also way above George so it didn't fit on either level. I did like that she easily outsmarted George at the end, proving his mind tricks don't always work. Margaret was fine, but the stank of Newman was just much for Jerry to get past. And really, can you blame him? Relationship Grade: Rat's Nest/10
What Worked:
The Rollamech 1000; I love how Mr. Pitt's eccentricities are already coming out; Gendason; Kramer's telling of the fight was tremendous; Bobby Hebert; The whole big salad fiasco was vintage Costanza and a very Larry David type issue; Jerry's smarmy "bye bye" to Julie made me chuckle; The guy constantly calling to update the pencil order was great; The Newman/Margaret web was tremendous; Gendason killing the dry cleaner with the tee was a nice tie-in; Jerry and Elaine talking about Newman in the coffee shop was great and the Twinkie line is one of my favorites; Newman's digs about Margaret were so well delivered; Poor little Pinkus; Elaine breaking the heart of the clerk and his guilt trip; Jerry being unable to kiss Margaret wrapped that story up well; The OJ spoof was timely and well done and didn't feel forced at all
What Didn't Work
Elaine's point to the door when Kramer bangs around annoyed me for some reason; Julie is pretty annoying but is also much too smart for George
Key Character Debuts
N/A
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- "You're name is?" - Clerk "Elaine." - Elaine "Elaine...and your last name?" - Clerk "It's just Elaine, like Cher." - Elaine
- "Is that what I ask for? The BIG salad?" - George "It's okay, you don't…" - Elaine "No, no, Hey I'll get it. What's in the BIG salad?" - George "Big lettuce, big carrots, tomatoes like volleyballs." - Jerry
- "A rule is a rule. And let's face it. Without rules there's chaos." - Kramer
- "Yes. Yes. You know what's interesting. The quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons is Bobby Hebert. No "r" which I find fascinating. You know it's Herbert h-e-r-b-e-r-t, Hebert h-e-b-e-r-t. "Hebert" it's a fun name to pronounce. Try and say it Hebert. Take a shot. All right." - George
- "No, you go Guggenheim. I'm not much of a Guggenheimer." - George
- "Imagine, her taking credit for your big salad. " - Jerry "You know you buy a big salad for somebody it would be nice if they knew it." - George
- "Well, generally speaking you don't need any extra incentive to murder a dry cleaner. I wouldn't worry about that." - Jerry
- "It's just that I was the one who actually paid for the big salad. She just happened to hand it to you. But it's no big deal." - George "You want the money for the big salad, George?" - Elaine "No, no," - George "What is the problem?" - Elaine "There is no problem. . . just a small miscommunication. Whereby you thanked her instead of the person actually responsible for purchasing the big salad." - George
- "No. It isn't and the most distressing part of it is, not that she went out with him but that HE stopped seeing her. Do you understand? He, Newman; Newman stopped seeing her. Newman never stopped seeing anybody. Newman will see whoever is willing to see him. Not so much why she did see him as disturbing as that is. But why, did HE, Newman, stop seeing her?" - Jerry "Perhaps there's more to him than meets the eye." - Elaine "No, there's less." - Jerry "It's possible." - Elaine "No it isn't. I've looked into his eyes. He's pure evil." - Jerry "He's an enigma, a mystery wrapped in a riddle." - Elaine "Yeah, he's a mystery wrapped in a Twinkie." - Jerry
- "No, we can't. My skin is crawling just being inside your little rat's nest." - Jerry
- We see Newman's apartment for the first time
- "Because that's the way I weas raised. You know when I was growing up I had to be in bed every night by nine o'clock. And if I wasn't, well I don't have to tell you what happened." - Kramer
- "Poor Pinkus, poor little Pinkus." - Kramer
- "You know, I think I could have played with dolls if their were dolls in the house. It seems like fun to me. It doesn't seem like a gender thing. I think I would like to play with dolls. What's so terrible?" - George
- "All I could think of was when I was looking at her face was; Newman found this unacceptable." - Jerry
- "You know, if it was a regular salad I wouldn't have said anything. But you had to have the BIG SALAD." - George
Oddities & Fun Facts
N/A
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
Similar to the premier, this was a really solid episode with lots of laughs and well developed, cohesive storylines that all tied up nicely at the end. Still, something is just missing to bump it into the highest tier and maybe I am just waiting for the spark from season five to reemerge. It may also be that we are still getting readjusted to a successful George and watching him suddenly become cocky about his success after having been so pathetic is a fun twist. The big salad is certainly a big pop culture catchphrase and George being George is always really good, but this one comes up just short in a few ways. Final Grade: 6/10
Best Character
I really enjoyed Jerry here and Newman was great in his brief scenes, but I have to go with Kramer this time around. The way he popped in and out all episode with updates on the Gendason situation was great and watching it all unfold and payoff with the police chase was well done. The final scene was great too with them bickering over which roads to take while evading a monster police brigade.
Best Storyline
I will stick with Kramer and Gendason. The big salad was really good but the Kramer stuff just stood out more to me as the episode wore on. I almost lost it when they found out the guy was murdered with a golf tee. George's eventual meltdown and rant about the salad after being so arrogant about buying everyone lunch was really great too.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
Should Kramer really feel guilty about the murder of poor little Pinkus? Gendason seemed like a loose cannon that could pop at any moment and he obviously had long brewing issues with Pinkus. The K-Man was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sure, he didn't help things but Pinkus was probably destined to meet a tee-induced end either way.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
Julie was...not someone I want to see more of. She was both annoying but also way above George so it didn't fit on either level. I did like that she easily outsmarted George at the end, proving his mind tricks don't always work. Margaret was fine, but the stank of Newman was just much for Jerry to get past. And really, can you blame him? Relationship Grade: Rat's Nest/10
What Worked:
The Rollamech 1000; I love how Mr. Pitt's eccentricities are already coming out; Gendason; Kramer's telling of the fight was tremendous; Bobby Hebert; The whole big salad fiasco was vintage Costanza and a very Larry David type issue; Jerry's smarmy "bye bye" to Julie made me chuckle; The guy constantly calling to update the pencil order was great; The Newman/Margaret web was tremendous; Gendason killing the dry cleaner with the tee was a nice tie-in; Jerry and Elaine talking about Newman in the coffee shop was great and the Twinkie line is one of my favorites; Newman's digs about Margaret were so well delivered; Poor little Pinkus; Elaine breaking the heart of the clerk and his guilt trip; Jerry being unable to kiss Margaret wrapped that story up well; The OJ spoof was timely and well done and didn't feel forced at all
What Didn't Work
Elaine's point to the door when Kramer bangs around annoyed me for some reason; Julie is pretty annoying but is also much too smart for George
Key Character Debuts
N/A
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- "You're name is?" - Clerk "Elaine." - Elaine "Elaine...and your last name?" - Clerk "It's just Elaine, like Cher." - Elaine
- "Is that what I ask for? The BIG salad?" - George "It's okay, you don't…" - Elaine "No, no, Hey I'll get it. What's in the BIG salad?" - George "Big lettuce, big carrots, tomatoes like volleyballs." - Jerry
- "A rule is a rule. And let's face it. Without rules there's chaos." - Kramer
- "Yes. Yes. You know what's interesting. The quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons is Bobby Hebert. No "r" which I find fascinating. You know it's Herbert h-e-r-b-e-r-t, Hebert h-e-b-e-r-t. "Hebert" it's a fun name to pronounce. Try and say it Hebert. Take a shot. All right." - George
- "No, you go Guggenheim. I'm not much of a Guggenheimer." - George
- "Imagine, her taking credit for your big salad. " - Jerry "You know you buy a big salad for somebody it would be nice if they knew it." - George
- "Well, generally speaking you don't need any extra incentive to murder a dry cleaner. I wouldn't worry about that." - Jerry
- "It's just that I was the one who actually paid for the big salad. She just happened to hand it to you. But it's no big deal." - George "You want the money for the big salad, George?" - Elaine "No, no," - George "What is the problem?" - Elaine "There is no problem. . . just a small miscommunication. Whereby you thanked her instead of the person actually responsible for purchasing the big salad." - George
- "No. It isn't and the most distressing part of it is, not that she went out with him but that HE stopped seeing her. Do you understand? He, Newman; Newman stopped seeing her. Newman never stopped seeing anybody. Newman will see whoever is willing to see him. Not so much why she did see him as disturbing as that is. But why, did HE, Newman, stop seeing her?" - Jerry "Perhaps there's more to him than meets the eye." - Elaine "No, there's less." - Jerry "It's possible." - Elaine "No it isn't. I've looked into his eyes. He's pure evil." - Jerry "He's an enigma, a mystery wrapped in a riddle." - Elaine "Yeah, he's a mystery wrapped in a Twinkie." - Jerry
- "No, we can't. My skin is crawling just being inside your little rat's nest." - Jerry
- We see Newman's apartment for the first time
- "Because that's the way I weas raised. You know when I was growing up I had to be in bed every night by nine o'clock. And if I wasn't, well I don't have to tell you what happened." - Kramer
- "Poor Pinkus, poor little Pinkus." - Kramer
- "You know, I think I could have played with dolls if their were dolls in the house. It seems like fun to me. It doesn't seem like a gender thing. I think I would like to play with dolls. What's so terrible?" - George
- "All I could think of was when I was looking at her face was; Newman found this unacceptable." - Jerry
- "You know, if it was a regular salad I wouldn't have said anything. But you had to have the BIG SALAD." - George
Oddities & Fun Facts
N/A
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
Similar to the premier, this was a really solid episode with lots of laughs and well developed, cohesive storylines that all tied up nicely at the end. Still, something is just missing to bump it into the highest tier and maybe I am just waiting for the spark from season five to reemerge. It may also be that we are still getting readjusted to a successful George and watching him suddenly become cocky about his success after having been so pathetic is a fun twist. The big salad is certainly a big pop culture catchphrase and George being George is always really good, but this one comes up just short in a few ways. Final Grade: 6/10
Comments
Post a Comment