Jerry and Elaine are made godfather and godmother of a friend’s newborn child and are made to organise the bris. Kramer becomes convinced the hospital is creating pigmen. George gets a perfect parking spot near the hospital, only for a man to jump off the building and land on his car.
Written by: Larry Charles
Directed by: Tom Cherones
This is a very rare case where one Seinfeld character is definitely completely in the right and one is at least arguably correct, even if he shows it weirdly. George’s situation seems to me a pretty cut-and-dry legal case – an accident happened on hospital grounds and they are legally liable for it. I think just about any hospital would comfortably pay out the damages George is asking for; like, it’s a lot for him, but it’s gotta be like a few thousand dollars right? But this is a case where the show can be interesting without being specifically, plausibly realistic (or at least conforming to my expectations about how the world works). Now, I understand that American litigiousness is actually a myth that was mostly started by big corporations hoping to embarrass people out of seeking damages in cases exactly like this; the McDonalds hot coffee scandal (riffed on later in the show) is the example most people use.
It makes sense to me why people – especially Americans – would fall for it, and how it fits into the fabric of this show. Grifters are an integral part of the America mythos; the self-made man getting by on his innate wits and work ethic alone is arguably the center of American culture, and grifting feels like the purest expression of that – being so smart that you can just talk people into giving you money for no work. I think The American is both fearful and envious of this man; being terrified that he’ll get one over on you but also wishing you could be this guy so you didn’t have to do all this work.
This is how it relates to Seinfeld in particular. As I’ve argued in the past, this show is the perspective of a deeply anxious person, always trying to get ahead, always trying to find the right trick to keep your head above water. It feels logical that the show would not only believe George wouldn’t be able to get damages for a guy jumping on his car, but that he’d not even deserve them in the first place; the whole scene of him trying is played as him being sleazy as usual (as usual, Jason Alexander is magnificent). There’s always been a bit of a childlike viewpoint on this show.
Meanwhile, Kramer’s views on circumcision are played as cranky on the episode but are fairly mainstream outside the US and gaining traction within. It’s actually less confusing to me when circumcision is done for religious reasons; it’s the atheists and materialists who insist upon that confuse me. A cursory googling indicates that it became widespread in the US in the 19th century for health reasons, which does explain a lot; after that, I suppose it just becomes normal to you, as Elaine articulates in a funny monologue.
TOPICS O’ THE WEEK
- I love the shot of Jerry’s clear discomfort with his friend breastfeeding, Elaine looking on with a beatific expression, and George in the background proudly staring at his parking spot.
- Jerry instantly going Brando when offered godfather is as predictable as it is funny (“You’re not even close!”).
- Kramer and the pigman is an iconic Seinfeld plot, and yet weirdly I’d forgotten that it ends with a conclusive explanation that the pigman is just a mentally ill man.
- I also love Jerry instantly being in on the idea of sacrificing virgins to the gods.
- Admittedly, George ruins his moral superiority with his total indifference to the guy who took his own life.
- “Never question my instincts, because my instincts are honed.” This may be the greatest Kramer quote.
- “We get a few of these pigmen running around, suddenly I’m looking a lot better.”
- Michael Richards is on fire this entire episode, to the point that I’d use this episode to show people what he does. Not once does he ever wink to the audience; he follows Kramer’s obsessions all the way. (One can compare him to Jerry Seinfeld, who makes a virtue out of winking all the time).
- In a very Jewish and neurotic show, the mohel is the closest to a neurotic Jewish stereotype (as opposed to George being a straightforward schlemiel). And even then, he’s too specific in expression to the point that he must be someone the writers met.
- “Symbolizing the covenant between God and Abraham! Or something.”
- “Thank God the flincher didn’t harm the baby!” Rare case of the gang getting a nickname foisted upon them, as opposed to doing the foisting.
- I love that Jerry is still wearing the bandage on his finger in the final standup.
Biggest Laugh: The proud way he says this is what gets me.
Next Week: “The Lip Reader”