Seinfeld: The Series Rewatch - "The Wait Out" (S7, E23)

JT's comments below originally ran as part of Place to Be Nation's "Seinfeld: The PTBN Series Rewatch" project.

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Best Character

I will go with Kramer and Mickey here. Nobody else did much of anything of substance. Mickey's anger at everything is always entertaining and Kramer's jeans are the most memorable part of this one.

Best Storyline

The Wait Out by default. Some of the early lines by Jerry and Elaine were funny and I liked their scheming and celebrating plus George getting all excited that Susan was going dump him was a nice touch.

Ethical Dilemma of the Week

If you broke up a marriage with a joke should you feel bad and attempt to fix it? No, if a marriage can be broken up by a joke it is a shit marriage anyway and bound to fail. Flame on, Georgie Boy.

Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)

Is David Lookner an idiot for breaking up with prime Debra Messing? Yes, yes he is. Relationship Grade: 0/10

What Worked:

Elaine's hair, hache mache; Debra Messing, hache mache; George telling Beth she could have done better; Mickey!; Taut pre-teen Swedish boy; Kramer strutting in wearing the slim jeans and then Jerry trying to get them off; Jerry saying three years is a long time to be married; "Flesh Wounds in Ithaca"; Kramer falling on the stage; Jerry and Elaine celebrating their dinners and Elaine using the rhetorical questions; The tree way dance blocking the door and George showing up to Beth's all disheveled; George trolling Jerry with his own style of bit on the phone; David getting payback on George but bagging on him to Susan; Joey thinking Kramer was a monster; George celebrating Susan contemplating breaking him; Mickey saying goodnight

What Didn't Work

How did Kramer get the jeans on?; Susan's ponderous facial expression was rough; The punchline of Susan saying she wanted the chicken was a funny laugh but confusing and they didn't really flesh out why she was fucking with George

Key Character Debuts

- Beth Lookner
- David Lookner

Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes

- "A physician married to a salesman. Well, I gotta tell you, Beth, you coulda done a lot better than him." - George
- "Hey, I got the body of a.. taught, pre-teen, Swedish boy." - Kramer
- "It's like when someone dies in a rent controlled building - you gotta take immediate action." - Jerry "Yeeah, but David and Beth are going to need their grieving time." - Elaine "Their grieving time is a luxury I can't afford. I'm calling Beth tonight, and if you want a clean shot at David, I suggest you do likewise." - Jerry
- "Yeah, they're streamlined." - Kramer "You're walkin' like Frankenstein!" - Jerry
- "Well three years is a long time to be married." - Jerry
- "Well, David the thing about George is that he's an idiot." - Elaine
- "George what the hell are you doing over there? I told you to mind your own business now stay out of my affairs!" - Jerry "Oh Jerry, that is so sweet of you but actually i already ate." - George "Ate? What? What the hell are you talking about? Now you listen to me, you get out of that apartment this instant. If you screw this up for me I swear..." - Jerry "Chocolate chip mint? Oh well, actually Jerry I prefer chocolate chip. What is it about the chocolate and the mint that makes it go so well together?" - George "What are you talking about?" - Jerry "Oh of course you can use it, sure." - George

Oddities & Fun Facts

- Elaine claims David is "sponge worthy", a callback to The Sponge (S7, E9)
- George mentions Susan buying him shoelaces, which is a callback to The Friars Club (S7, E18)

Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)

We are starting to limp towards the finish here. While I don't think this was bad by any means, it just was sort of... there... for us? It never felt to get out of first gear and a lot of the jokes didn't feel fleshed out. It was like they took a handful of ideas they had left for the season and jumbled them in this episode to get them to the finale. I did enjoy the teases about George and Susan, a nice call back to how the season started. And speaking of call backs, one of the best parts of season seven has been all the random comments and references to previous episodes. This had potential but they never really figured it out. Final Grade: 5/10

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