JT's comments below originally ran as part of Place to Be Nation's "Seinfeld: The PTBN Series Rewatch" project.
Best Character
We have three legit contenders: Jerry, George and Keith. I liked Keith a lot and thought he slid right into the universe without missing a beat. I loved his arrogance about his stature and his dry delivery was perfect. Jerry met him step for step, providing one of his best performances since the show started, alternating between jealousy, anger, love, fretting and ambivalence at ease. George...was George. Fantastic throughout, exuding desperation and lying at every turn. I don't think he had as much as one bad line, let alone a down scene. Some of the scenes are all time classics, Hall of Fame level stuff. Kramer was really good too and in any other episode he would have contended. In the end, I will go with George.
Best Storyline
This was a real toss up as both the Hernandez and George unemployment storylines were fantastic. My only issue with the former was Elaine's interactions with Keith, which I didn't think really worked that well outside of the kiss debate in the car. I thought George's story was more consistently funny and gave me more laugh out loud moments, especially when he crashed to the floor, begging Kramer to say Vandelay Industries. Very strong across the board here, but George nudges it out in the end.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
Should Elaine have taken the date with Keith knowing how much it bothered Jerry, especially once she found out Keith switched plans to see her instead of him? Yes, because unless Jerry was interested on a sexual level, it isn't on her to make these types of decisions. If anything, she should question Keith's moral fiber for blowing off his new bro for a chick. Bad form, Hernandez. Bad form.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
Jerry and Keith were whimsical, magical and splendid together. You could cut the mutual respect and sexual tension with a knife. You could tell Jerry was a big fan of his in real life because it bled into his scenes here and made it all the more real. On the flip, I didn't care for Keith and Elaine. It seemed forced and the interactions were a bit rigid. I totally was rooting for Jeith over Kelaine. Relationship Grade: Jeith 10/10; Kelaine 4/10
What Worked
The bickering about basketball was very funny and true; Kramer and George sneaking peaks at each other naked made me laugh; Keith Hernandez is great casting as a guest star; Jerry's fretting over Keith calling is actually enjoyable and makes sense, as opposed to most of his fretting; Lenore the Unemployment Agent is also really great; George's great lying skills on display again with Lenore; Newman's initial arrival was great, like he heard Jerry mention Keith from a mile away and ran over; The Hernandez Spitting Incident story and deconstruction is iconic as is George's initial description of Vandelay Industries to Jerry and Elaine; This is one of the few times an internal monologue worked with Jerry in the car with Keith; Kramer botching the Vandelay call and the ensuing fracas is an all time scene; George being so desperate that he takes out Lenore's daughter, to McDonald's of course; Jerry's interactions with the baby were great; Kramer's rant on Keith's request for moving help was strong; Good continuity with Elaine bailing on a relationship over a moral stand; The explorer argument is one of my favorite show scenes; I love the symmetry with George following the same steps after rushing out of the Labor office the second time; The payoff of the Hernandez spit story was perfectly done; George gets screwed again but gets a glimpse of hope when the giant woman shows up.
What Didn't Work
Jerry's date shirt is atrocious; I actually didn't care for Keith and Elaine's chemistry, it seemed forced; The weird dubbed in scream when Kramer picked up the baby; The moving stuff was a bit heavy handed and overplayed.
Key Character Debuts
- Keith Hernandez
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- "I have to dribble, if I give it to you, you just shoot. You're a chucker." - Jerry "Oh I'm a chucker." - George "That's right, everytime you get the ball you shoot. - Jerry "I can't believe you called me a chucker. No way I'm a chucker, I do not chuck, never chucked, never have chucked, never will chuck, no chuck!"- George
- "He's a real smart guy too. He's a Civil War buff" - Jerry "I'd love to be a Civil War buff...What do you have to do to be a buff" - George "So Biff wants to be a buff? Well sleeping less than 18 hours a day would be a start." - Jerry
- Jerry again refers to George as Biff, as does Carrie
- "You know Keith, what I've always wondered, with all these ball clubs flying around all season don't you think there would be a plane crash?" - George
- George claims to have interviewed with Vandelay Industries, a latex company
- "Newman, Kramer, if you'll indulge me. According to your story Keith passes you and starts walking up the ramp then you say you were struck on the right temple. The spit then proceeds to ricochet off the temple striking Newman between the third and forth rib. The spit then cam off the rib turned and hit Newman in the right wrist causing him to drop his baseball cap. The spit then splashed off the wrist, Pauses In mid air mind you - makes a left turn and lands on Newman's left thigh. That is one magic loogie." - Jerry "Well, that's the way it happened." - Newman
- "Well you're not even a fan. I was at game six - you didn't even watch it." - Jerry "Wait a second wait a minute, You jealous of him or you jealous of me?" - Elaine
- "So who do you think she looks like?" - Carol "Lyndon Johnson." - Kramer
- "Hardware fascinates me. Wouldn't you like to make a key?" - George
- "Who does this guy think he is?" - Elaine "I'm Keith Hernandez" - Keith
- "I don't understand. Before you were jealous of me. Now you're jealous of him?" - Elaine "Ah, I'm jealous of everybody." - Jerry
- "You think I'm going to spend my life with somebody because he can get me a deal on a box of nails?" - Carrie
- "You know I know this sounds a little arrogant but I never thought she would find anyone she would like better than me. Ya know, I guess I had my chance and that's that." - Jerry "You know what I would like to do? I would really like to have sex with a tall woman. I mean really tall. Like a like a giant Like six five." - George "Really?" - Jerry "What was the tallest woman you ever slept with?" - George "I don't know … six three." - Jerry "Wow…God! You see this is all I think about. Sleeping with a giant. It's my life's ambition." - George "So I guess it's fair to say you've set different goals for yourself than say, Thomas Edison, Magellan, these types of people." - Jerry "Magellan? You like Magellan?" - George "Oh, yeah, My favorite explorer. Around the world. Come on. Who do you like?" - Jerry "I like DeSoto." - George "DeSoto? What did he do?" - Jerry "Discovered the Mississippi." - George "Oh, like they wouldn't have found that anyway." - Jerry
Oddities & Fun Facts
- This is the first one hour long episode
- Jerry. George and Kramer all play basketball
- George mentions that he has a friend that is a gum salesman
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
Justin: This was a legendary episode and the hour really flew by, to the point that it felt like a regular length installment. Around 3/4 of the way through, I was ready to go the full monty on this one, but I thought they stumbled ever so slightly down the stretch. That may just be me, though, because I enjoyed Keith and Jerry's romance way more than I did Keith and Elaine. George's whole quest to maintain his unemployment pay was fantastic and he was flawless through the whole episode. Kramer was really good as a background player, doing what he does best: judging and doling out advice from afar. The whole JFK parody was excellent and a Hall of Fame moment in show history, as was the Vandelay Industries kerfuffle. I am being really harsh here but I just feel it lost a touch of steam down the stretch, keeping this from being a perfect grade. Final Grade: 9/10
Best Character
We have three legit contenders: Jerry, George and Keith. I liked Keith a lot and thought he slid right into the universe without missing a beat. I loved his arrogance about his stature and his dry delivery was perfect. Jerry met him step for step, providing one of his best performances since the show started, alternating between jealousy, anger, love, fretting and ambivalence at ease. George...was George. Fantastic throughout, exuding desperation and lying at every turn. I don't think he had as much as one bad line, let alone a down scene. Some of the scenes are all time classics, Hall of Fame level stuff. Kramer was really good too and in any other episode he would have contended. In the end, I will go with George.
Best Storyline
This was a real toss up as both the Hernandez and George unemployment storylines were fantastic. My only issue with the former was Elaine's interactions with Keith, which I didn't think really worked that well outside of the kiss debate in the car. I thought George's story was more consistently funny and gave me more laugh out loud moments, especially when he crashed to the floor, begging Kramer to say Vandelay Industries. Very strong across the board here, but George nudges it out in the end.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
Should Elaine have taken the date with Keith knowing how much it bothered Jerry, especially once she found out Keith switched plans to see her instead of him? Yes, because unless Jerry was interested on a sexual level, it isn't on her to make these types of decisions. If anything, she should question Keith's moral fiber for blowing off his new bro for a chick. Bad form, Hernandez. Bad form.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
Jerry and Keith were whimsical, magical and splendid together. You could cut the mutual respect and sexual tension with a knife. You could tell Jerry was a big fan of his in real life because it bled into his scenes here and made it all the more real. On the flip, I didn't care for Keith and Elaine. It seemed forced and the interactions were a bit rigid. I totally was rooting for Jeith over Kelaine. Relationship Grade: Jeith 10/10; Kelaine 4/10
What Worked
The bickering about basketball was very funny and true; Kramer and George sneaking peaks at each other naked made me laugh; Keith Hernandez is great casting as a guest star; Jerry's fretting over Keith calling is actually enjoyable and makes sense, as opposed to most of his fretting; Lenore the Unemployment Agent is also really great; George's great lying skills on display again with Lenore; Newman's initial arrival was great, like he heard Jerry mention Keith from a mile away and ran over; The Hernandez Spitting Incident story and deconstruction is iconic as is George's initial description of Vandelay Industries to Jerry and Elaine; This is one of the few times an internal monologue worked with Jerry in the car with Keith; Kramer botching the Vandelay call and the ensuing fracas is an all time scene; George being so desperate that he takes out Lenore's daughter, to McDonald's of course; Jerry's interactions with the baby were great; Kramer's rant on Keith's request for moving help was strong; Good continuity with Elaine bailing on a relationship over a moral stand; The explorer argument is one of my favorite show scenes; I love the symmetry with George following the same steps after rushing out of the Labor office the second time; The payoff of the Hernandez spit story was perfectly done; George gets screwed again but gets a glimpse of hope when the giant woman shows up.
What Didn't Work
Jerry's date shirt is atrocious; I actually didn't care for Keith and Elaine's chemistry, it seemed forced; The weird dubbed in scream when Kramer picked up the baby; The moving stuff was a bit heavy handed and overplayed.
Key Character Debuts
- Keith Hernandez
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- "I have to dribble, if I give it to you, you just shoot. You're a chucker." - Jerry "Oh I'm a chucker." - George "That's right, everytime you get the ball you shoot. - Jerry "I can't believe you called me a chucker. No way I'm a chucker, I do not chuck, never chucked, never have chucked, never will chuck, no chuck!"- George
- "He's a real smart guy too. He's a Civil War buff" - Jerry "I'd love to be a Civil War buff...What do you have to do to be a buff" - George "So Biff wants to be a buff? Well sleeping less than 18 hours a day would be a start." - Jerry
- Jerry again refers to George as Biff, as does Carrie
- "You know Keith, what I've always wondered, with all these ball clubs flying around all season don't you think there would be a plane crash?" - George
- George claims to have interviewed with Vandelay Industries, a latex company
- "Newman, Kramer, if you'll indulge me. According to your story Keith passes you and starts walking up the ramp then you say you were struck on the right temple. The spit then proceeds to ricochet off the temple striking Newman between the third and forth rib. The spit then cam off the rib turned and hit Newman in the right wrist causing him to drop his baseball cap. The spit then splashed off the wrist, Pauses In mid air mind you - makes a left turn and lands on Newman's left thigh. That is one magic loogie." - Jerry "Well, that's the way it happened." - Newman
- "Well you're not even a fan. I was at game six - you didn't even watch it." - Jerry "Wait a second wait a minute, You jealous of him or you jealous of me?" - Elaine
- "So who do you think she looks like?" - Carol "Lyndon Johnson." - Kramer
- "Hardware fascinates me. Wouldn't you like to make a key?" - George
- "Who does this guy think he is?" - Elaine "I'm Keith Hernandez" - Keith
- "I don't understand. Before you were jealous of me. Now you're jealous of him?" - Elaine "Ah, I'm jealous of everybody." - Jerry
- "You think I'm going to spend my life with somebody because he can get me a deal on a box of nails?" - Carrie
- "You know I know this sounds a little arrogant but I never thought she would find anyone she would like better than me. Ya know, I guess I had my chance and that's that." - Jerry "You know what I would like to do? I would really like to have sex with a tall woman. I mean really tall. Like a like a giant Like six five." - George "Really?" - Jerry "What was the tallest woman you ever slept with?" - George "I don't know … six three." - Jerry "Wow…God! You see this is all I think about. Sleeping with a giant. It's my life's ambition." - George "So I guess it's fair to say you've set different goals for yourself than say, Thomas Edison, Magellan, these types of people." - Jerry "Magellan? You like Magellan?" - George "Oh, yeah, My favorite explorer. Around the world. Come on. Who do you like?" - Jerry "I like DeSoto." - George "DeSoto? What did he do?" - Jerry "Discovered the Mississippi." - George "Oh, like they wouldn't have found that anyway." - Jerry
Oddities & Fun Facts
- This is the first one hour long episode
- Jerry. George and Kramer all play basketball
- George mentions that he has a friend that is a gum salesman
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
Justin: This was a legendary episode and the hour really flew by, to the point that it felt like a regular length installment. Around 3/4 of the way through, I was ready to go the full monty on this one, but I thought they stumbled ever so slightly down the stretch. That may just be me, though, because I enjoyed Keith and Jerry's romance way more than I did Keith and Elaine. George's whole quest to maintain his unemployment pay was fantastic and he was flawless through the whole episode. Kramer was really good as a background player, doing what he does best: judging and doling out advice from afar. The whole JFK parody was excellent and a Hall of Fame moment in show history, as was the Vandelay Industries kerfuffle. I am being really harsh here but I just feel it lost a touch of steam down the stretch, keeping this from being a perfect grade. Final Grade: 9/10
Comments
Post a Comment