JT's comments below originally ran as part of Place to Be Nation's "Seinfeld: The PTBN Series Rewatch" project.
Best Character
There was some stiff competition here as, for the first time, all four of the main characters clicked at the same time. Uncle Leo was a force in his debut as well and was in contention here. However, I have to go with Morty Seinfeld, portrayed by Barney Martin for the first time. Between his defense of his sports jacket, offhand snarky comments to combat his wife and his obsession with getting discounted plane tickets, Morty was awesome in every scene he appeared in. His frustration boiling over at the end, where he snaps at his nephew and just about calls him a pussy was fantastic. His delivery was great and it was 100% improvement over the original incarnation of Jerry's father.
Best Storyline
Easy choice here as the Pony Remark dominated the episode and provided some iconic moments and quotes as it unfolded. It started with the great family dinner scene with Jerry and Elaine hitting the insult and then Jerry frantically trying to spin his way out of it. Then, Manya died and it forced into Jerry having to decide whether to attend his championship softball game or the funeral. Mixed in is Jerry's mom basically implying Jerry killed her and the great eulogy that twisted the knife in Jerry's back. Toss in Uncle Leo and Cousin Jeffrey and this storyline was the best to date in the short life of the show.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
The main dilemma here was whether Jerry should attend the funeral or play in his softball game. And it was a really tough decision. I can say I think Jerry made the wrong choice. He barely knew Manya and it is highly unlikely he killed her. Plus he makes it clear that he doesn't care much for his family, so he shouldn't really worry about what they would say. It is not every season that your softball team makes the championship round and he had worked hard to get to that point. Manya would have understood.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
Not much going on here. I guess the remnants of Jerry and Elaine: The Couple are still on display, but beyond that it was an episode bereft of romance. That pony was the pride of Krakow. Relationship Grade: N/A
What Worked
With the debut of Barney Martin, there is instantly better chemistry with Jerry's parents; Uncle Leo was fantastic right out of the gate; Kramer's dedication to renovating his apartment and then backing out of the bet was a great story threaded throughout the pony fiasco and it did not feel shoehorned it at all; The family dinner scene was classic stuff, riddled with great lines; George is starting to be more of a loser, worrying about never having sex again and showing himself to be more of a sad sack than successful and cocky; Elaine has really settled in by this point and is starting to feel like one of the gang as opposed to Jerry's ex; The argument over whether Jerry should attend the funeral and how the spirit world works was crisp and effective and classic Seinfeld; I liked the callback to Elaine's obsession with finding a new apartment; The pony eulogy with the indirect pony digs was great; Jerry's softball karma paid everything off
What Didn't Work
There really wasn't much here to complain about so I will just say we needed more George.
Key Character Debuts
Uncle Leo
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- Debut of Jerry's softball career
- First mention of the beltless trench coat
- First mention of Cousin Jeffrey, who works for the parks department
- Kramer wants to build levels in his apartment, like Ancient Egypt
- Kramer's first bet
- "The sugar makes my ankles swell up, and I can't dance" - Jerry
- "In fact, I hate anyone that ever had a pony growing up" - Jerry " I had a pony!" - Manya
- "You gotta figure, Oswald even took forty-five minutes" - Jerry
- "It was the pride of Krakow" - Eulogy
- "Who figures an immigrant is gonna have a pony?" - Jerry
Oddities & Fun Facts
- Barney Martin debuts as Morty Seinfeld
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
This was easily the best episode to date and the first great episode of the series. It was coherent and easy to follow, the dialogue and story was flowing and crisp and it all remained relatable. There will be better episodes to come, but this was an easy instant classic with tons of laughs and historical scenes, plus it laid some more pipes for the future. Oh, and Uncle Leo and Cousin Jeffrey. Awesome. Final Grade: 7/10
Best Character
There was some stiff competition here as, for the first time, all four of the main characters clicked at the same time. Uncle Leo was a force in his debut as well and was in contention here. However, I have to go with Morty Seinfeld, portrayed by Barney Martin for the first time. Between his defense of his sports jacket, offhand snarky comments to combat his wife and his obsession with getting discounted plane tickets, Morty was awesome in every scene he appeared in. His frustration boiling over at the end, where he snaps at his nephew and just about calls him a pussy was fantastic. His delivery was great and it was 100% improvement over the original incarnation of Jerry's father.
Best Storyline
Easy choice here as the Pony Remark dominated the episode and provided some iconic moments and quotes as it unfolded. It started with the great family dinner scene with Jerry and Elaine hitting the insult and then Jerry frantically trying to spin his way out of it. Then, Manya died and it forced into Jerry having to decide whether to attend his championship softball game or the funeral. Mixed in is Jerry's mom basically implying Jerry killed her and the great eulogy that twisted the knife in Jerry's back. Toss in Uncle Leo and Cousin Jeffrey and this storyline was the best to date in the short life of the show.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
The main dilemma here was whether Jerry should attend the funeral or play in his softball game. And it was a really tough decision. I can say I think Jerry made the wrong choice. He barely knew Manya and it is highly unlikely he killed her. Plus he makes it clear that he doesn't care much for his family, so he shouldn't really worry about what they would say. It is not every season that your softball team makes the championship round and he had worked hard to get to that point. Manya would have understood.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
Not much going on here. I guess the remnants of Jerry and Elaine: The Couple are still on display, but beyond that it was an episode bereft of romance. That pony was the pride of Krakow. Relationship Grade: N/A
What Worked
With the debut of Barney Martin, there is instantly better chemistry with Jerry's parents; Uncle Leo was fantastic right out of the gate; Kramer's dedication to renovating his apartment and then backing out of the bet was a great story threaded throughout the pony fiasco and it did not feel shoehorned it at all; The family dinner scene was classic stuff, riddled with great lines; George is starting to be more of a loser, worrying about never having sex again and showing himself to be more of a sad sack than successful and cocky; Elaine has really settled in by this point and is starting to feel like one of the gang as opposed to Jerry's ex; The argument over whether Jerry should attend the funeral and how the spirit world works was crisp and effective and classic Seinfeld; I liked the callback to Elaine's obsession with finding a new apartment; The pony eulogy with the indirect pony digs was great; Jerry's softball karma paid everything off
What Didn't Work
There really wasn't much here to complain about so I will just say we needed more George.
Key Character Debuts
Uncle Leo
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- Debut of Jerry's softball career
- First mention of the beltless trench coat
- First mention of Cousin Jeffrey, who works for the parks department
- Kramer wants to build levels in his apartment, like Ancient Egypt
- Kramer's first bet
- "The sugar makes my ankles swell up, and I can't dance" - Jerry
- "In fact, I hate anyone that ever had a pony growing up" - Jerry " I had a pony!" - Manya
- "You gotta figure, Oswald even took forty-five minutes" - Jerry
- "It was the pride of Krakow" - Eulogy
- "Who figures an immigrant is gonna have a pony?" - Jerry
Oddities & Fun Facts
- Barney Martin debuts as Morty Seinfeld
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
This was easily the best episode to date and the first great episode of the series. It was coherent and easy to follow, the dialogue and story was flowing and crisp and it all remained relatable. There will be better episodes to come, but this was an easy instant classic with tons of laughs and historical scenes, plus it laid some more pipes for the future. Oh, and Uncle Leo and Cousin Jeffrey. Awesome. Final Grade: 7/10
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