JT's comments below originally ran as part of Place to Be Nation's "Seinfeld: The PTBN Series Rewatch" project.
Best Character
I am going to go with Kramer this time around. His physical comedy continues to deliver and the scene where he strolls out of the fumigated apartment followed by him explaining the story to Elaine are some of my favorite Kramer moments. The end was good too with him sending the dog after Newman after he taunted him about the peaches.
Best Storyline
Jerry's fleas. It set the tone for the episode and established the center point for the other stories to spin off from. Elaine darting around while holding her breath and Kramer sucking in the toxic poison were the cherries on top.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
Did Elaine get what she deserved for trying to swindle Viking out of a free Plaza stay? Yep. This is a dream job for her! Is it worth risking it for a couple of nights at a hotel? Did she not think they would do some sort of background check if they did hire her? Odd decision, Laney.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
George getting grossed out about Paula sucking on his peach remains seemed a bit out of character. He once ate food out of the trash! He found an attractive woman that didn't give a shit about his body mass index or male pattern baldness and still DTF and he ditches her over this? He should be honored that she would put anything related to him in her mouth. Relationship Grade: Mackinaw/10
What Worked:
Jerry accusing George of wanting to see the nude model and then freaking out about the pecan; George's "There's a lot of nuts out there" always makes me laugh; Elaine thinking the doodle of George looks like Mr. Magoo; Jerry's Potsie line is aces; The Mackinaw Peaches!; Kramer asking Jerry if he has the dog; Elaine and Paula talking about George in class, capped with the gum; Jerry's line about ugly people not knowing they are ugly; Morty exploring the Plaza room, "80 cents a nut"!; Kramer walking out of the apartment was awesome; Chunky's Chunky; Jerry breaking down Newman about the fleas; Kramer explaining the Billy Muphrey story to Elaine is one of my favorite scenes, followed by her pressing the Viking Press manager with the same points; Poor Kramer and his loss of taste; Velvet is quite the running theme of this season as it has popped up quite a few times
What Didn't Work
George fixing his hair in the coffee pot always bothered me; Jerry's blue sweater is atrocious; How did Elaine find Jerry on the streets of New York City?; Does Shelly live in a museum?; I don't care what point Shelly wants to prove and how much they make out, brushing with somebody else's toothbrush is pretty gross; I don't like the name Hubert for a dog... and how does Kramer know its name?; Uncle Leo has never met Elaine?
Key Character Debuts
Karl the Exterminator
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- "You know I went out once with a nude model. Never let me see her naked. Hundreds of people see her naked every week, except me. Needless to say it was quite vexing." - Jerry
- "Yeah, but this is different , this is like ,you know, semi digested food stuff. You know the next stop is the stomach and you can take it from there." - Jerry
- "Well, it was very nice meeting you Shelly and Jerry be careful, there's a lot of nuts out there." - George
- "I want you to find out is she likes me." - George "Find out if likes you?. What, are you in High School?...George come on can't you just talk to her yourself?" - Elaine "But she's gonna know that I like her more than she likes me." - George "You know my parents are coming in and I got some clean up to do , so if you and Potsie are done scheming..." - Jerry
- "I am not gonna taste your peach. I ate some one's pecan last night, I'm not gonna eat your peach." - Jerry "Jerry, this is a miracle of nature that exists for a brief period. It's like the Aurora Borealis." - Kramer
- "Don't sweat it buddy...I used to have fleas." - Kramer "What did you do about them?" - Jerry "What do you mean?" - Kramer
- "I don't get this. How did this happen. I don't have a dog." - Jerry "I don't explain 'em Mr. Seinfeld. I just exterminate them." - Karl
- "Hey! I found out from Paula; She likes George. I'll bet he'll be relieved." - Elaine "Yeah...When he's dead he'll be relieved." - George
- "She thinks I'm ugly. I knew it." - George "You see the thing of it is, there's a lot of ugly people out there walking around, but they don't know they're ugly, because nobody actually tells them." - Jerry
- "Oh!, so what. I'd rather she hate me and thought I was good looking...At least I can get somebody else." - George
- "Aw! You'll be fine, you were in there for what , a couple of minutes." - Jerry "An hour and a half!" - Kramer
- "Wait a minute. Did you say chunky wrappers?" - Jerry "Yeah!" - Elaine "Let me see those. Oh! I know the chunky that left these Chunkies...NEWMAN! I've got him." - Jerry
- "Oh! but I do. There's probably fleas crawling all over your little snack bar." - Jerry "So, you have fleas. Maybe you keep your house in a state of disrepair. Maybe you live in squalor." - Newman
- "Well it's a story about love, deception, greed, lust and...unbridled enthusiasm." - Kramer "Unbridled enthusiasm...?" - Elaine "Well, that's what led to Billy Mumphrey's downfall." - Kramer "Oh boy." - Elaine "You see Elaine, Billy was a simple country boy. You might say a cockeyed optimist, who got himself mixed up in the high stakes game of world diplomacy and international intrigue." - Kramer
- "That's right...We just had sex... You know Jerry I've been searching for someone a long time. Well the search is over." - George "And now the search for the right psychiatrist begins." - Jerry
- "So where are you staying?" - George "Well I guess I'm stuck with the Velvet Fog." - Jerry
- "Mr Mandel, you don't understand...my my friend had fleas. I ran into the gas, it could have killed me, and my, my other friend couldn't taste his peaches, they only good for two weeks." - Elaine "I think, you've read, one too many, Billy Mumphrey stories. Good day Miss Benes." - Mandel
Oddities & Fun Facts
- Paula is portrayed by Christa Miller, who also portrayed Ms. DeGranmont in "The Sniffing Accountant" (S5, E4)
- Paula and George's discussion about velvet is a callback to "The Label Maker" (S6, E12) and Jerry calling George "The Velvet Fog" is a callback to "The Jimmy" (S6, E19)
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
I really like this one but it definitely suffers from being jammed into the run of all timers we have been privy to lately. I thought it started strong and built a nice wave but finished pretty soft, something we have avoided lately. Kramer was great and Jerry was pretty funny too. George had his moments here but it was one of those episodes where he felt a little out of character. I didn't care much for the Plaza stuff either as the Seinfelds are better when they are overbearing worriers instead of trashing a hotel room. Overall there is a lot to like here (Billy Mumphrey) but things fell apart towards the end. Tough grading curve, crew. Final Grade: 6/10
Best Character
I am going to go with Kramer this time around. His physical comedy continues to deliver and the scene where he strolls out of the fumigated apartment followed by him explaining the story to Elaine are some of my favorite Kramer moments. The end was good too with him sending the dog after Newman after he taunted him about the peaches.
Best Storyline
Jerry's fleas. It set the tone for the episode and established the center point for the other stories to spin off from. Elaine darting around while holding her breath and Kramer sucking in the toxic poison were the cherries on top.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
Did Elaine get what she deserved for trying to swindle Viking out of a free Plaza stay? Yep. This is a dream job for her! Is it worth risking it for a couple of nights at a hotel? Did she not think they would do some sort of background check if they did hire her? Odd decision, Laney.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
George getting grossed out about Paula sucking on his peach remains seemed a bit out of character. He once ate food out of the trash! He found an attractive woman that didn't give a shit about his body mass index or male pattern baldness and still DTF and he ditches her over this? He should be honored that she would put anything related to him in her mouth. Relationship Grade: Mackinaw/10
What Worked:
Jerry accusing George of wanting to see the nude model and then freaking out about the pecan; George's "There's a lot of nuts out there" always makes me laugh; Elaine thinking the doodle of George looks like Mr. Magoo; Jerry's Potsie line is aces; The Mackinaw Peaches!; Kramer asking Jerry if he has the dog; Elaine and Paula talking about George in class, capped with the gum; Jerry's line about ugly people not knowing they are ugly; Morty exploring the Plaza room, "80 cents a nut"!; Kramer walking out of the apartment was awesome; Chunky's Chunky; Jerry breaking down Newman about the fleas; Kramer explaining the Billy Muphrey story to Elaine is one of my favorite scenes, followed by her pressing the Viking Press manager with the same points; Poor Kramer and his loss of taste; Velvet is quite the running theme of this season as it has popped up quite a few times
What Didn't Work
George fixing his hair in the coffee pot always bothered me; Jerry's blue sweater is atrocious; How did Elaine find Jerry on the streets of New York City?; Does Shelly live in a museum?; I don't care what point Shelly wants to prove and how much they make out, brushing with somebody else's toothbrush is pretty gross; I don't like the name Hubert for a dog... and how does Kramer know its name?; Uncle Leo has never met Elaine?
Key Character Debuts
Karl the Exterminator
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- "You know I went out once with a nude model. Never let me see her naked. Hundreds of people see her naked every week, except me. Needless to say it was quite vexing." - Jerry
- "Yeah, but this is different , this is like ,you know, semi digested food stuff. You know the next stop is the stomach and you can take it from there." - Jerry
- "Well, it was very nice meeting you Shelly and Jerry be careful, there's a lot of nuts out there." - George
- "I want you to find out is she likes me." - George "Find out if likes you?. What, are you in High School?...George come on can't you just talk to her yourself?" - Elaine "But she's gonna know that I like her more than she likes me." - George "You know my parents are coming in and I got some clean up to do , so if you and Potsie are done scheming..." - Jerry
- "I am not gonna taste your peach. I ate some one's pecan last night, I'm not gonna eat your peach." - Jerry "Jerry, this is a miracle of nature that exists for a brief period. It's like the Aurora Borealis." - Kramer
- "Don't sweat it buddy...I used to have fleas." - Kramer "What did you do about them?" - Jerry "What do you mean?" - Kramer
- "I don't get this. How did this happen. I don't have a dog." - Jerry "I don't explain 'em Mr. Seinfeld. I just exterminate them." - Karl
- "Hey! I found out from Paula; She likes George. I'll bet he'll be relieved." - Elaine "Yeah...When he's dead he'll be relieved." - George
- "She thinks I'm ugly. I knew it." - George "You see the thing of it is, there's a lot of ugly people out there walking around, but they don't know they're ugly, because nobody actually tells them." - Jerry
- "Oh!, so what. I'd rather she hate me and thought I was good looking...At least I can get somebody else." - George
- "Aw! You'll be fine, you were in there for what , a couple of minutes." - Jerry "An hour and a half!" - Kramer
- "Wait a minute. Did you say chunky wrappers?" - Jerry "Yeah!" - Elaine "Let me see those. Oh! I know the chunky that left these Chunkies...NEWMAN! I've got him." - Jerry
- "Oh! but I do. There's probably fleas crawling all over your little snack bar." - Jerry "So, you have fleas. Maybe you keep your house in a state of disrepair. Maybe you live in squalor." - Newman
- "Well it's a story about love, deception, greed, lust and...unbridled enthusiasm." - Kramer "Unbridled enthusiasm...?" - Elaine "Well, that's what led to Billy Mumphrey's downfall." - Kramer "Oh boy." - Elaine "You see Elaine, Billy was a simple country boy. You might say a cockeyed optimist, who got himself mixed up in the high stakes game of world diplomacy and international intrigue." - Kramer
- "That's right...We just had sex... You know Jerry I've been searching for someone a long time. Well the search is over." - George "And now the search for the right psychiatrist begins." - Jerry
- "So where are you staying?" - George "Well I guess I'm stuck with the Velvet Fog." - Jerry
- "Mr Mandel, you don't understand...my my friend had fleas. I ran into the gas, it could have killed me, and my, my other friend couldn't taste his peaches, they only good for two weeks." - Elaine "I think, you've read, one too many, Billy Mumphrey stories. Good day Miss Benes." - Mandel
Oddities & Fun Facts
- Paula is portrayed by Christa Miller, who also portrayed Ms. DeGranmont in "The Sniffing Accountant" (S5, E4)
- Paula and George's discussion about velvet is a callback to "The Label Maker" (S6, E12) and Jerry calling George "The Velvet Fog" is a callback to "The Jimmy" (S6, E19)
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
I really like this one but it definitely suffers from being jammed into the run of all timers we have been privy to lately. I thought it started strong and built a nice wave but finished pretty soft, something we have avoided lately. Kramer was great and Jerry was pretty funny too. George had his moments here but it was one of those episodes where he felt a little out of character. I didn't care much for the Plaza stuff either as the Seinfelds are better when they are overbearing worriers instead of trashing a hotel room. Overall there is a lot to like here (Billy Mumphrey) but things fell apart towards the end. Tough grading curve, crew. Final Grade: 6/10
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