JT's comments below originally ran as part of Place to Be Nation's "Seinfeld: The PTBN Series Rewatch" project.
Best Character
I didn't think any of the characters really stood out in this one, so I will go with George, who was the most consistent to his character and had some of the funniest lines, including the capper when the woman was robbing him and he pondered if he would get to see her again. Kramer was pretty good too, especially at OTB when he was rooting on the horse. I didn't care much for Jerry at all and Elaine was fine but didn't get much shine outside of the internal monologue.
Best Storyline
Just as I did for Best Character, I will take George's affair and robbery for the best storyline as it was the most fleshed out one we saw and just made perfect sense for all this to happen to George. The lesbian wedding had potential but outside the old woman's disapproval it never went anywhere. The naked man was just odd.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
Should George roll the dice on blowing a much needed job for a potential mid-day delight with a hot stranger? Probably not since there is no chance this random hottie would be so in to him as to basically beg him to come back to her hotel room. That should have been a major red flag immediately. No way that chick brings George home. He got what he asked for and now has no more suit, is out eight dollars and blew the job.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
I thought Jerry really developed a nice bond with his naked friend, finally finding that friend to spend the day with at Coney Island that he so craved. The fact that it was Leon Carosi made it all the better. Relationship Grade: 300 lbs/10
What Worked
Kramer overexplaining the subway options was funny; George telling the blind man he can't carry change in his pants because it falls out; All four separating off the subway and looking lost without each other; Kramer almost bowling over elderly and pregnant women to land a subway seat before getting stuck next to the fat guy; George's lie fueled flirting was great; They got all the little things about subway riding right, including Kramer's awesome newspaper grab; Elaine's internal meltdown was a rare time that style of exposition has worked since the show started; The whole robbery scene was perfect George, right down to him only having $8 and then asking if he would see the thief again; Kramer's horse riding pantomime was glorious; A much as I didn't care for the naked man story, I liked how he and Jerry bonded; The payoff with the blind guy being the cop that saves Kramer was nice.
What Didn't Work
Jerry falling asleep on a random dude seemed very un-Jerry; While the naked train rider was a funny visual, it was a really odd storyline and made zero sense, unless that was big at the time.
Key Character Debuts
N/A
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- "What, you are comparing me to Biff Loman, very encouraging. The biggest loser in history of American literature." - George
- "Lesbian wedding. How do they work bride and groom out, what do they flip a coin?" - George "Yeah, they flip a coin." - Elaine "What, was that not politically correct? It's a legitimate question." - George
- Jerry's stolen car was found
- "Oh, no no no. I was just looking for stock-pages. Here it is. Looking for the quotes. Gotta check to quotes. Love a good quote. Oh, IBM up a quarter." - George
- "It's ironic." - Elaine "What's ironic?" - Woman "This, that we've come all this way, we have made all this progress, but you know we've lost the little things, the niceties." - Elaine "No, I mean what does 'ironic' mean?" - Woman
- "I hate men...but I'm not a lesbian!" - Elaine
- Kramer's gambling addiction comes back out as he can't ignore the hot tip he got on the train
- "Exactly, this horse loves the slop. It's in his bloodlines. His father was a mudda', his mother was a mudda'." - Man One "His mudda' was a mudda'?" - Man Two
- "I'll tell ya what, if they win the pennant this year, I'll sit naked at the World Series with you." - Jerry "It's a deal!" - Naked Man
- "So you missed the wedding...you'll catch the bris!" - Jerry
Oddities & Fun Facts
- Elaine is the best man at a lesbian wedding far before same sex marriage was widely accepted.
- George's mother looks like Shirley Booth and walked around in her underwear.
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
This was another concept show with everything happening outside the apartment building, similar to The Chinese Restaurant and The Parking Garage, but this time everyone is broken up and I think we end up with some mixed results. There were definitely laughs throughout and the writing was very good and tight because they had to move quickly around the horn to get everything in...but that is also the problem. With four very different and separate stories going on, I didn't feel like they had the time to really develop much at all. George's story got the most flesh and Kramer followed behind but I thought Elaine could have had a bit more time to shine while I didn't enjoy Jerry's much at all. It felt very un-Jerry, as I mentioned above, to fall asleep on a crowded subway and then befriend a naked man. I like when all of the stories converge into a big climactic finale and we get none of that here. It was a cool idea to try and very different for them but I prefer my Seinfeld to be of the vintage storyline mashed variety. Final Grade: 5/10
Best Character
I didn't think any of the characters really stood out in this one, so I will go with George, who was the most consistent to his character and had some of the funniest lines, including the capper when the woman was robbing him and he pondered if he would get to see her again. Kramer was pretty good too, especially at OTB when he was rooting on the horse. I didn't care much for Jerry at all and Elaine was fine but didn't get much shine outside of the internal monologue.
Best Storyline
Just as I did for Best Character, I will take George's affair and robbery for the best storyline as it was the most fleshed out one we saw and just made perfect sense for all this to happen to George. The lesbian wedding had potential but outside the old woman's disapproval it never went anywhere. The naked man was just odd.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
Should George roll the dice on blowing a much needed job for a potential mid-day delight with a hot stranger? Probably not since there is no chance this random hottie would be so in to him as to basically beg him to come back to her hotel room. That should have been a major red flag immediately. No way that chick brings George home. He got what he asked for and now has no more suit, is out eight dollars and blew the job.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
I thought Jerry really developed a nice bond with his naked friend, finally finding that friend to spend the day with at Coney Island that he so craved. The fact that it was Leon Carosi made it all the better. Relationship Grade: 300 lbs/10
What Worked
Kramer overexplaining the subway options was funny; George telling the blind man he can't carry change in his pants because it falls out; All four separating off the subway and looking lost without each other; Kramer almost bowling over elderly and pregnant women to land a subway seat before getting stuck next to the fat guy; George's lie fueled flirting was great; They got all the little things about subway riding right, including Kramer's awesome newspaper grab; Elaine's internal meltdown was a rare time that style of exposition has worked since the show started; The whole robbery scene was perfect George, right down to him only having $8 and then asking if he would see the thief again; Kramer's horse riding pantomime was glorious; A much as I didn't care for the naked man story, I liked how he and Jerry bonded; The payoff with the blind guy being the cop that saves Kramer was nice.
What Didn't Work
Jerry falling asleep on a random dude seemed very un-Jerry; While the naked train rider was a funny visual, it was a really odd storyline and made zero sense, unless that was big at the time.
Key Character Debuts
N/A
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- "What, you are comparing me to Biff Loman, very encouraging. The biggest loser in history of American literature." - George
- "Lesbian wedding. How do they work bride and groom out, what do they flip a coin?" - George "Yeah, they flip a coin." - Elaine "What, was that not politically correct? It's a legitimate question." - George
- Jerry's stolen car was found
- "Oh, no no no. I was just looking for stock-pages. Here it is. Looking for the quotes. Gotta check to quotes. Love a good quote. Oh, IBM up a quarter." - George
- "It's ironic." - Elaine "What's ironic?" - Woman "This, that we've come all this way, we have made all this progress, but you know we've lost the little things, the niceties." - Elaine "No, I mean what does 'ironic' mean?" - Woman
- "I hate men...but I'm not a lesbian!" - Elaine
- Kramer's gambling addiction comes back out as he can't ignore the hot tip he got on the train
- "Exactly, this horse loves the slop. It's in his bloodlines. His father was a mudda', his mother was a mudda'." - Man One "His mudda' was a mudda'?" - Man Two
- "I'll tell ya what, if they win the pennant this year, I'll sit naked at the World Series with you." - Jerry "It's a deal!" - Naked Man
- "So you missed the wedding...you'll catch the bris!" - Jerry
Oddities & Fun Facts
- Elaine is the best man at a lesbian wedding far before same sex marriage was widely accepted.
- George's mother looks like Shirley Booth and walked around in her underwear.
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
This was another concept show with everything happening outside the apartment building, similar to The Chinese Restaurant and The Parking Garage, but this time everyone is broken up and I think we end up with some mixed results. There were definitely laughs throughout and the writing was very good and tight because they had to move quickly around the horn to get everything in...but that is also the problem. With four very different and separate stories going on, I didn't feel like they had the time to really develop much at all. George's story got the most flesh and Kramer followed behind but I thought Elaine could have had a bit more time to shine while I didn't enjoy Jerry's much at all. It felt very un-Jerry, as I mentioned above, to fall asleep on a crowded subway and then befriend a naked man. I like when all of the stories converge into a big climactic finale and we get none of that here. It was a cool idea to try and very different for them but I prefer my Seinfeld to be of the vintage storyline mashed variety. Final Grade: 5/10
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