JT's comments below originally ran as part of Place to Be Nation's "Seinfeld: The PTBN Series Rewatch" project.
Best Character
Man, this was strong all around and everyone was pretty damn good. But, I have to go with George, for his angst over the pay phone, for his general disgust with society, for his awesome bathroom story, for Cartwright and for his copious amount of memorable quotes strung throughout the episode. He killed it from beginning to end. I also must give honorable mentions to Mr. Cohen, one of my favorite guest spots ever, and the maitre' d, who passive aggressively deadpanned his way into our hearts.
Best Storyline
The whole episode was a fantastic sundae and was really just one giant storyline with a bunch tremendous cherries topping it throughout. Who among us has never experienced an endless restaurant wait? So relatable. And pretty much everything that happened throughout the wait was easily believable and so fitting for our heroes. This was easily my favorite story to date.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
How pushy can you be with a maitre' d? You don't want to run the risk of pushing too far and pissing off the person controlling your food but how many times can you hear "five, ten minutes" before you snap? I don't know if I would have handled things any differently than Jerry, George and Elaine did but they definitely should have mentioned they had a movie to get to just to see if it helped at all. They also should have planned their night better.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
George and Tatiana is our only relationship and it isn't a very strong one if George is gun-shy to tell Tatiana the truth behind his quick bedroom escape. It is bound for failure. I am still surprised how few on screen relationships we have had so far. Relationship Grade: 1/10
What Worked
The banter is firing on all cylinders and moving at a great pace; The setting was brilliant and relatable and gave a nice bustling backdrop to set the story against; The weaving of storylines and bits through the episodes was perfect, as we kept on point with the main goal but kept getting stopped along the way for various developments in the side stories; George's bathroom story was our Vintage Costanza moment of the episode; The maitre' d was great, as mentioned above, and I love that he never sold anything the group tried; Elaine's building desperation and hunger cresting to her lashing out and bailing on the movie was fun; Mr. Cohen was aces; Jerry's awkward interaction with Lorraine was something we have all dealt with; George's cheapness is developing as he choses the short stake of the bribe; Elaine botching her attempt to try to bribe her way to a table was enjoyable as was Jerry's talk with the maitre' d that leads to relationship advice; Cartwright is legendary.
What Didn't Work
Elaine's weird voice over during the bet has always bugged me as I don't get why they couldn't just have her actually whisper instead of that odd clenched teeth thing she does; Jerry is still whiny and concerned about what his family thinks, fretting about his uncle discovering why he cancelled after he runs into Lorraine.
Key Character Debuts
N/A
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- Jerry suggests combining the jobs of garbagemen and police officers
- "Will be five, ten minutes" - Maitre' d
- "Yeah, I want to get into a rumble" - Jerry
- Elaine suggests patrons should be seated based on who is hungriest, not order of arrival
- Elaine attempts to cash in on a bet to walk over and eat food of a random person's plate
- "For $50? I'd put my face in their soup and blow!" - George
- "Hey! What stinks in here?" - Mr. Cohen
- "No, just bring me a plate and I'll eat here!" - Mr. Cohen
- "Mr. Cohen always here...Mr. Cohen very nice man. He live on Park Avenue!" - Maitre' d
- "In a Chinese restaurant do they take money?" - Jerry
- "I'm counting your shrimps!" - Jerry
- "I yell Cartwright, Cartwright, nobody came up, I hang up." "Well, was it for Costanza?" "Yes, nobody answer, I hang up" "Well, was it a woman" "Yes, yes, I tell her you not here, she say curse word, I hang up" "She called, he yelled Cartwright. I missed her." "Who's Cartwright? "I'm Cartwright" "You're not Cartwright" "OF COURSE I'M NOT CARTWRIGHT!" - George, Maitre' d & Jerry
- "Seinfeld. Four." - Maitre' D
Oddities & Fun Facts
- First episode without Kramer
- Pay phones play a major role in this episode
- This is the first episode that entirely takes place in one setting
- Jerry mentions having a sister
- Larry David's voice can be heard among the group of elderly people Elaine talks to on the bet
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
Pure love from me here. This has always been one of my favorite episodes and it is pretty high in the canon of legendary installments. There are tons of memorable moments and quotes littered throughout and we also continue to get George and Elaine developing into equals with fleshed out characters as opposed to just being Jerry's wacky friends that support his story. This was relatable, filled with laughs and leaves you hungry for more. I don't think there is a TV show quote I have repeated more than "Cartwright". Final Grade: 8/10
Best Character
Man, this was strong all around and everyone was pretty damn good. But, I have to go with George, for his angst over the pay phone, for his general disgust with society, for his awesome bathroom story, for Cartwright and for his copious amount of memorable quotes strung throughout the episode. He killed it from beginning to end. I also must give honorable mentions to Mr. Cohen, one of my favorite guest spots ever, and the maitre' d, who passive aggressively deadpanned his way into our hearts.
Best Storyline
The whole episode was a fantastic sundae and was really just one giant storyline with a bunch tremendous cherries topping it throughout. Who among us has never experienced an endless restaurant wait? So relatable. And pretty much everything that happened throughout the wait was easily believable and so fitting for our heroes. This was easily my favorite story to date.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
How pushy can you be with a maitre' d? You don't want to run the risk of pushing too far and pissing off the person controlling your food but how many times can you hear "five, ten minutes" before you snap? I don't know if I would have handled things any differently than Jerry, George and Elaine did but they definitely should have mentioned they had a movie to get to just to see if it helped at all. They also should have planned their night better.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
George and Tatiana is our only relationship and it isn't a very strong one if George is gun-shy to tell Tatiana the truth behind his quick bedroom escape. It is bound for failure. I am still surprised how few on screen relationships we have had so far. Relationship Grade: 1/10
What Worked
The banter is firing on all cylinders and moving at a great pace; The setting was brilliant and relatable and gave a nice bustling backdrop to set the story against; The weaving of storylines and bits through the episodes was perfect, as we kept on point with the main goal but kept getting stopped along the way for various developments in the side stories; George's bathroom story was our Vintage Costanza moment of the episode; The maitre' d was great, as mentioned above, and I love that he never sold anything the group tried; Elaine's building desperation and hunger cresting to her lashing out and bailing on the movie was fun; Mr. Cohen was aces; Jerry's awkward interaction with Lorraine was something we have all dealt with; George's cheapness is developing as he choses the short stake of the bribe; Elaine botching her attempt to try to bribe her way to a table was enjoyable as was Jerry's talk with the maitre' d that leads to relationship advice; Cartwright is legendary.
What Didn't Work
Elaine's weird voice over during the bet has always bugged me as I don't get why they couldn't just have her actually whisper instead of that odd clenched teeth thing she does; Jerry is still whiny and concerned about what his family thinks, fretting about his uncle discovering why he cancelled after he runs into Lorraine.
Key Character Debuts
N/A
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- Jerry suggests combining the jobs of garbagemen and police officers
- "Will be five, ten minutes" - Maitre' d
- "Yeah, I want to get into a rumble" - Jerry
- Elaine suggests patrons should be seated based on who is hungriest, not order of arrival
- Elaine attempts to cash in on a bet to walk over and eat food of a random person's plate
- "For $50? I'd put my face in their soup and blow!" - George
- "Hey! What stinks in here?" - Mr. Cohen
- "No, just bring me a plate and I'll eat here!" - Mr. Cohen
- "Mr. Cohen always here...Mr. Cohen very nice man. He live on Park Avenue!" - Maitre' d
- "In a Chinese restaurant do they take money?" - Jerry
- "I'm counting your shrimps!" - Jerry
- "I yell Cartwright, Cartwright, nobody came up, I hang up." "Well, was it for Costanza?" "Yes, nobody answer, I hang up" "Well, was it a woman" "Yes, yes, I tell her you not here, she say curse word, I hang up" "She called, he yelled Cartwright. I missed her." "Who's Cartwright? "I'm Cartwright" "You're not Cartwright" "OF COURSE I'M NOT CARTWRIGHT!" - George, Maitre' d & Jerry
- "Seinfeld. Four." - Maitre' D
Oddities & Fun Facts
- First episode without Kramer
- Pay phones play a major role in this episode
- This is the first episode that entirely takes place in one setting
- Jerry mentions having a sister
- Larry David's voice can be heard among the group of elderly people Elaine talks to on the bet
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
Pure love from me here. This has always been one of my favorite episodes and it is pretty high in the canon of legendary installments. There are tons of memorable moments and quotes littered throughout and we also continue to get George and Elaine developing into equals with fleshed out characters as opposed to just being Jerry's wacky friends that support his story. This was relatable, filled with laughs and leaves you hungry for more. I don't think there is a TV show quote I have repeated more than "Cartwright". Final Grade: 8/10
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