Jerry meets an old classmate, and when she asks about George, he spins a lie about George being a marine biologist that George is forced to play along with. Kramer gifts Elaine an electronic address book that causes chaos in her professional relationship with a Russian writer.
Written by: Ron Hauge & Charles Rubin
Directed by: Tom Cherones
Sometimes there are moments for any creative where it all just comes together. Inspiration strikes and craft backs it up. This episode is most famous for its stunning final monologue, and that the monologue itself was written by Larry David and memorised by Jason Alexander in about ten or fifteen minutes because the original ending was falling flat. It’s interesting because up that point the episode itself, while great, is basically around the standard the show has set for four seasons now. The show has been trucking along, not predictably by reliably entertaining, and now here’s a pure showstopping moment. You can feel both writer and performer really reaching to entertain their audience; David using every turn of phrase to keep the comedy going (“The sea was angry that day, my friends. Like an old man trying to send back soup at a deli.”), and Alexander delivering his lines with a furious staccato and big gestures.
I recognise this kind of furious creative energy, where you’ve run out of ideas but still have a while to go, and you’re throwing words together in a desperate attempt to fill out space. When your craft has reached a certain point, this is when you really reach your comedic peak; you let the energy carry you through. This is certainly where David and Alexander find themselves together; even only within the episode, the sheer staggering ridiculousness of Kramer’s plot boomeranging into George’s is hilarious enough to carry whatever they’re doing, and the actual jokes are almost the icing on the cake.
And what really gets me is how much these characters do just talk like regular people. The episode opens with Jerry making a goofy animist interpretation of his favourite shirt, attributing it just as much personality as a hunter/gatherer in pre-agricultural history would to the sun, and for the same reason (one major theme of Seinfeld is that we may live in modern cities with modern conveniences, but we’re still irrational cavemen), then it shifts to Jerry sharing a bit of information he learned (and, we later learn, is just doing a bit). This show really does reflect the way people really talk to each other and live our lives, and it gives it a bizarre amount of weight even when ridiculous shit keeps happening. How many situations do you find yourself in that you describe as ‘being something out of Seinfeld’?
TOPICS O’ THE WEEK
- I admit to having at least two shirts I pull out first after laundry.
- “Isn’t that against the law?” / “Maybe I can get her locked up.”
- “Now are you just saying you wanna have some fun or do ya really want to have fun?” / “I really want to have fun.” / “I’m just saying I want to have fun.”
- A little bit of Jerry being a weirdo: Jerry racing what he has every reason to believe is a complete stranger to get his money out of an ATM for no reason.
- Great bit of blocking: George bragging to a stranger about Diane calling him.
- George getting loud about how he wants control over his own lies is so funny to me.
- “You know I always wanted to pretend that I was an architect!”
- “Great, great book, if I must say so sir. I almost read the whole thing.”
- Newman getting hit in the head with a boot is so fucking funny. Especially the exaggerated way he’s walking before he gets hit.
- “I said easy, big fella!”
Biggest Laugh: I can’t go against the grain here.
Next Week: “The Pie”