Jerry and Elaine buy their friend The Drake a big-screen TV as a wedding present, only for the relationship to be called off, and they try and figure out how to get the TV back. Meanwhile, Kramer convinces George to park in a handicap spot, which leads to George getting trouble with his father and Kramer dating a wheelchair user.
Written by: Larry David
Directed by: Tom Cherones
One of the big things associated with Seinfeld is the fast dialogue, and one of the big things about Seinfeld dialogue is the way they can get stuck on a word – Family Guy, of all things, got a good parody of it here. This is an episode filled with that; obviously, you have the way the characters seem almost stuck on “the Drake”, finding as many variations on it as possible – including calling his fiance “the Drakette” – but I’m particularly amused by a scene where George and Jerry riff on variations of the word ‘good’. I’m told this is a particularly New York cultural thing, repeatedly bashing on a single word or phrase until you get what you want (Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro have, together, built a whole subcategory of his films on this idea), but it is also pretty straightforward comedy, simultaneously riffing on every variation of an idea and continually escalating tension.
(I’m particularly amused by the fact that when we finally meet The Drake, he doesn’t seem particularly interesting or charismatic. It’s like the nickname was so good it simply looked for someone to attach itself to.)
Anyway, this episode is about a fairly basic act of immorality: parking in a handicap space. One thing that fascinates me about living in the modern world is that there are two seemingly opposed but apparently equally true facts: able people keep parking in handicap spaces, and people with invisible disabilities keep getting harassed for ‘not looking disabled’ when they park in a handicap space. Obviously, this is about the former; Seinfeld might have aged well in its presentation of people outside Jerry and George’s circle, but it’s about their perspective.
I often assume that anything Larry David writes is largely based on things he actually did, so I wonder how close to reality this was; I assume he did park in a handicap space at one point and his father’s car actually did get beat up, and it’s mostly the gluing together of things (as well as the scope) that was exaggerated or fictionalised. Some people’s creativity is based on original action or character or whatever, and some people’s creativity is based on inventing complex systems of already true things, and I always figure David’s creativity also involves things seeping through the cracks of his bizarre history.
TOPCIS O’ THE WEEK
- “Hey, is it my imagination, or do good-looking women walk so much faster than everyone else?” / “We don’t walk that fast.” Love her shit-eating grin on that.
- Funny banal detail: Jerry is delighted to have drawn a perfect triangle.
- “Must have been one of those rich spoiled handicapped people!” George’s anxiety about committing to any action is as incredible as his ability to justify anything he’s already done. I think this is an interesting difference to Larry David’s persona on Curb; Larry seems so much more comfortable apologising, recognising he’s been a fool, or straight up just not caring about a slight when the moment has passed.
- Our first appearance of Jerry Stiller as Frank Costanza, though this section of refilmed after Frank was recast. Jason Alexander found the appearance of Frank to be a useful insight into who George is and why he’s like that.
- “The important thing is, he didn’t get hurt.” / “No it isn’t!”
- “I don’t know if I’m happy for them. I’m glad they’re happy, but frankly it doesn’t do anything for me.” Weirdly, I can empathise with Jerry here.
- “Do you have something a little more… less expensive?” Up there with “I can’t because I’m… don’t want to.” from Arrested Development.
- Jerry remarks that he’s thinking of getting a yoyo, apparently forgetting he already has one.
Biggest Laugh:
Next Week: “The Pilot”.