Jerry, Elaine, and Tim Whately end up in a ridiculous game of gifting, regifting, and regifting both a label maker and tickets to the Superbowl. George discovers his girlfriend has a male roommate and schemes to get him out of the picture. Kramer and Newman play a long game of Risk.
Written by: Alec Berg & Jeff Schaffer
Directed by: Andy Ackerman
Sometimes I jokingly say ‘poignant moments with George Costanza’, but this feels like a specifically great look into George’s particular neuroses. I don’t normally think of the characters as having arcs, but while watching this one, I ended up thinking about the story as a whole; George, in the process of dealing with a mild irritant he doesn’t like the idea of, ends up making a full commitment to one woman and only realising it too late. George’s problem is that he’s fundamentally a reactive figure; this is often a problem for a dramatic character where their motivations are unclear and random, but it works here, partly because George’s motivation is always clear – be comfortable at all times – and his actions are so over-the-top that they become compelling.
George is ‘us’ in the sense that he only ever responds to the world and rarely initiates it. The funny underlying thing about George and Jerry’s analysis is that it is actually healthy behaviour – it’s where George comes off the most self-aware and honest – it’s just neither uses it to achieve a healthy outcome, with George using it to justify absurd behaviour and Jerry either mocking him or egging him on. It’s like they’re inches away from being healthy people, and that’s what makes the show so funny.
Elaine’s plot actually falls into a similar place. I find it hilarious that she instantly drops the label maker the moment Tim Whately offers her a Superbowl ticket. It’s human nature, I think, to try and quantify things into these rules and codes, but it’s a misuse of an Aristotelian impulse; you can’t really get matters of love and evil down to a science like that and people are generally better off if we don’t. Last week, we were talking about Jerry’s morality being that of “what kind of person do I want to be, and what would that person do?”, and Seinfeld is about how that morality can blow up in our faces because it stops being about tracking actual consequence and more about what consequence we think we’re supposed to have. It’s really funny watching people try and make a moral situation ‘even’.
TOPICS O’ THE WEEK
- Jerry’s standup bit that sports fans are really cheering clothes is pretty funny.
- Lots of references in this episode – the Drake and Tim Whately come back (the former only off screen though), Jerry makes a callback to “The Soup” when Tim offers him dinner, and of course the episode ends with George trying to get out of the relationship by offering a
menaigmenardgethree-way. - Kramer’s story elevating Risk into a stupid action story is great. In a lot of ways, Kramer takes himself the most seriously out of all the characters.
- Great moments in blocking: Kramer’s cartoonishly ramrod straight leg as he uses it to sweep Jerry’s stuff off his table. Newman using his head to block Jerry from closing his door.
- “Oh, I’m looking right at you, big daddy!”
- “Perhaps it’s an homage.”
- Jerry’s observation that repeating the name of the gift means he doesn’t like it is actually pretty astute.
- “If you’re getting him anything for his birthday, I’m a large.”
- “I would drape myself in velvet if it was socially acceptable.”
- “Are you even vaguely familiar with the concept of giving?”
- Bryan Cranston is so funny as Tim because he’s almost impossible to read. There’s moments like his visible disappointment when he realises Elaine won’t sleep with him, but otherwise he’s all charm with no clear depth.
- Poignant moments with George Costanza: “He’s gone, now I’m the man.” / “That’s not a good role for you.” / “No, it’s not.”
- Great double-ending of different plots coming together with Jerry going to the game with Newman and George potentially getting a three-way he doesn’t want (which carries across multiple episodes!).
Biggest Laugh:
Next Week: “The Scofflaw”