JT's comments below originally ran as part of Place to Be Nation's "Seinfeld: The PTBN Series Rewatch" project.
Best Character
It was a two horse race in this one, but George takes it for his freaking out over his potentially gay tendencies. It started with the massage from Raymond, built to the increasingly tense apartment recap with Jerry, got out of hand in Roy's office with the Evander Holyfield discussion and snowballed from there, culminating with the kids calling him a "Mary" and him falling while chasing them. Good stuff and I was happy to see George back to being the neurotic, cheap hot mess that he had turned into during season two. Kramer comes in a close second for his awesome Joe DiMaggio quest, specifically when he was describing how he tried to get his attention.
Best Storyline
This was again a close call, but I will go with George's slow descent into madness over Kramer's stalking of Joltin' Joe. This was a bit of a touchy subject but I thought they handled it well as George was never really looking poorly at gay people, but instead seemed freaked out that may be gay and not knowing how to handle it. His penis led him down this path and his quick denial of liking Holyfield was great because to Roy his actions must have seemed really weird. I felt bad for poor Raymond, who really just wanted to chat and fix up George's hamstrings, but George never gave the poor guy a chance.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
Should Jerry have asked his buddy for a note, knowing it could get him in some trouble? Depends on how close they are I guess. Even though he asked, he gave Roy plenty of openings to say no but Roy seemed cool with it and was more worried about George not liking Holyfield, so he kind of had himself to blame in the end. So, maybe it just isn't a good idea to put your friend in the position to potentially commit insurance fraud if he is the type that doesn't like to say no.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
Nothing doing here, unless you want to count Raymond and George. Noticeably missing is any sort of relationship between Jerry and Elaine, who are right back to being friends with zero mention of them hooking up at the end of season two. Relationship Grade: 0/10
What Worked
Jerry inadvertently painting himself as a child kidnapper during his massage; Cheap George is back en force and it was great to see; George's issues with a male masseuse and being afraid of maybe being gay as outlined above; Raymond is pretty great with his oblivious dedication to his job; Kramer is much more Kramer here, hair included, and I loved it; The end was a good payoff to the DiMaggio story with the whole group seeing him and George calling him handsome.
What Didn't Work
Juliana the masseuse overreacted just a bit to Jerry's story; Roy was a bit of a dick for blaming Jerry and George when he was so cavalier about giving the note; Juliana's son runs like a little person more than a kid and it creeped me out.
Key Character Debuts
N/A
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- "Why don't take off those pants and I'll work the hamstrings" - Raymond
- "I think it moved"- George "It moved?" - Jerry "It may have moved, I don't know" - George "Im sure it didn't move" - Jerry "It MOVED! It was imperceptible, but I felt it" - George "Maybe it just wanted to change positions, you know, shift to the other side!" - Jerry
- Kramer sees Joe DiMaggio in Dinky Donuts
- "The guy slept with Marilyn Monroe, he's at Dinky Dounts?" - George
- "He's a good fighter and a nice guy, but I don't LIKE him." - George
- "You know, kids can be very perceptive." - Kramer
- "I've never been happy." - George
Oddities & Fun Facts
- The theme music has people singing doo-wop in it.
- Kramer's hair is starting to grow into its recognizable shape.
- Jerry and George both went to college.
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
Now this is more like it! After a rough landing to wrap season two, season three opens with a really fun episode that just feels much more like Seinfeld. Kramer is on the way to becoming the Kramer we all know and love, George is back to being neurotic and cheap, Jerry was still a bit too concerned with Roy's feelings, but the seeds are there for him being an asshole and we also got more Elaine this time out. It was funny to see them completely ignore Jerry & Elaine becoming a couple, but it was for the best. There were lots of good lines here, topped by the legendary "It Moved" discussion. Season three is off and running, baby! Final Grade: 7/10
Best Character
It was a two horse race in this one, but George takes it for his freaking out over his potentially gay tendencies. It started with the massage from Raymond, built to the increasingly tense apartment recap with Jerry, got out of hand in Roy's office with the Evander Holyfield discussion and snowballed from there, culminating with the kids calling him a "Mary" and him falling while chasing them. Good stuff and I was happy to see George back to being the neurotic, cheap hot mess that he had turned into during season two. Kramer comes in a close second for his awesome Joe DiMaggio quest, specifically when he was describing how he tried to get his attention.
Best Storyline
This was again a close call, but I will go with George's slow descent into madness over Kramer's stalking of Joltin' Joe. This was a bit of a touchy subject but I thought they handled it well as George was never really looking poorly at gay people, but instead seemed freaked out that may be gay and not knowing how to handle it. His penis led him down this path and his quick denial of liking Holyfield was great because to Roy his actions must have seemed really weird. I felt bad for poor Raymond, who really just wanted to chat and fix up George's hamstrings, but George never gave the poor guy a chance.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
Should Jerry have asked his buddy for a note, knowing it could get him in some trouble? Depends on how close they are I guess. Even though he asked, he gave Roy plenty of openings to say no but Roy seemed cool with it and was more worried about George not liking Holyfield, so he kind of had himself to blame in the end. So, maybe it just isn't a good idea to put your friend in the position to potentially commit insurance fraud if he is the type that doesn't like to say no.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
Nothing doing here, unless you want to count Raymond and George. Noticeably missing is any sort of relationship between Jerry and Elaine, who are right back to being friends with zero mention of them hooking up at the end of season two. Relationship Grade: 0/10
What Worked
Jerry inadvertently painting himself as a child kidnapper during his massage; Cheap George is back en force and it was great to see; George's issues with a male masseuse and being afraid of maybe being gay as outlined above; Raymond is pretty great with his oblivious dedication to his job; Kramer is much more Kramer here, hair included, and I loved it; The end was a good payoff to the DiMaggio story with the whole group seeing him and George calling him handsome.
What Didn't Work
Juliana the masseuse overreacted just a bit to Jerry's story; Roy was a bit of a dick for blaming Jerry and George when he was so cavalier about giving the note; Juliana's son runs like a little person more than a kid and it creeped me out.
Key Character Debuts
N/A
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- "Why don't take off those pants and I'll work the hamstrings" - Raymond
- "I think it moved"- George "It moved?" - Jerry "It may have moved, I don't know" - George "Im sure it didn't move" - Jerry "It MOVED! It was imperceptible, but I felt it" - George "Maybe it just wanted to change positions, you know, shift to the other side!" - Jerry
- Kramer sees Joe DiMaggio in Dinky Donuts
- "The guy slept with Marilyn Monroe, he's at Dinky Dounts?" - George
- "He's a good fighter and a nice guy, but I don't LIKE him." - George
- "You know, kids can be very perceptive." - Kramer
- "I've never been happy." - George
Oddities & Fun Facts
- The theme music has people singing doo-wop in it.
- Kramer's hair is starting to grow into its recognizable shape.
- Jerry and George both went to college.
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
Now this is more like it! After a rough landing to wrap season two, season three opens with a really fun episode that just feels much more like Seinfeld. Kramer is on the way to becoming the Kramer we all know and love, George is back to being neurotic and cheap, Jerry was still a bit too concerned with Roy's feelings, but the seeds are there for him being an asshole and we also got more Elaine this time out. It was funny to see them completely ignore Jerry & Elaine becoming a couple, but it was for the best. There were lots of good lines here, topped by the legendary "It Moved" discussion. Season three is off and running, baby! Final Grade: 7/10
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