Jerry meets a woman named Chang over the phone, and is surprised to discover she isn’t Chinese. Kramer becomes concerned about his fertility. George learns his father has been speaking to a man in a cape, which leads him to learn his parents are getting divorced. Elaine repeatedly hangs up on a friend’s boyfriend rather than talk to him.

Written by: Peter Mehlman
Directed by: Andy Ackerman

I was a bit wary in the opening scenes that this episode was going to be weaker; the initial jokes about Jerry dating a Chinese woman came off as the exact poorly-ageing jokes that I frequently argue this show does not make, including a rather groan-inducing one about how Jerry can’t be racist if he likes their race; you can hear the audience laughing knowingly as opposed to simply laughing as they usually do. But the reveal that Donna Chang is actually white (and indeed Jewish) is brilliant, instantly spinning the plot into classic Seinfeld. It’s such a brilliant creative idea on multiple levels; I love that it’s just enough within the realm of plausibility, because it’s not like there’s anything stopping a white person from having a POC-coded name, and it’s not impossible that a white person with a Chinese-sounding name will enjoy Chinese food and know Buddhist wisdom and occasionally misspeak. It sits in this very specific Uncanny Valley-like level of behaviour where it’s not something you would ever actually see but there’s no reason you wouldn’t.

Which brings me to an even better reason it’s brilliant: it is exactly, precisely the kind of thing that would drive Jerry insane. What separates Jerry from George is an innate sense of cool; sure, he looks and acts like a dork, and his confidence tends to come off more as smug detachment than suaveness, but there’s a seemingly impenetrable armour of ease with himself. This makes it all the funnier when that armour gets pierced by something, and it’s usually something he can’t quite explain; way back when we started this, I noted that this is a sitcom about the very process of observational comedy, not in the sense of showing how comedians get their material (as Larry David originally pitched), but in showing what happens when you act like an observational comedian all day every day and the chaos it would cause.

In this case, we see Jerry fail at being an observational comedian in real life. His whole persona, both on stage and as the character, is his immediate comprehension of whatever social absurdities are happening in front of him. He often has a way of rolling with the punches, in the form of an exasperated quip if nothing else, and much of his “did you ever notice” comedy is him coming up with an absurd explanation for strange things he sees, so obviously it’s incredibly funny whenever something he can’t find an explanation for pops up, and we watch him slowly seethe at this thing he can’t predict or control. It’s even better for me that we, typically, don’t get an explanation for her at all; the plot demands some kind of escalation, but there’s no answer that won’t inevitably disappoint us, so the story goes to her seeming to fix and then explode the Costanza marriage.

TOPICS O’ THE WEEK

• Jerry ignoring Elaine as she struggles with groceries is very Seinfeld.
• Larry David cameos as the man in the cape.
• “Hey, it’s George. I got nothin’ to say.” / “Sounds urgent.”
• “In a cup, in the middle of the day?!” / “Does it interfere with your regular schedule?”
• More great blocking: Jerry and Elaine reacting to George in unison. Kramer chasing Jerry around the apartment with his jocks.
• “Go ahead, I secondhand smoke two packs a day.”
• “Why are you seeing her again?” / “Well, she is a woman.”
• Elaine’s plot is another classic case of her being deeply concerned with what the consequences of her actions say about her as a person.
• Kramer proudly freeballin’ is an incredibly iconic moment for this show. Michael Richards absolutely eats up his grin and eyeroll.

Biggest Laugh: I continue to go for bat for Seinfeld (comedian) being a poor actor in general but a great comedic performer.

Next Week: “The Couch”.