Jerry, Kramer, and Newman’s building has new low-flow showerheads installed, and none of them are satisfied with this. Jerry’s parents are staying in New York while waiting for the embarrassment from the previous episode to blow over, and Jerry schemes to get them back to Florida while George schemes to convince his parents to move to Florida. Elaine wants to go to Africa with Mr Peterman, but he believes her to be an opium addict.
Written by: Peter Mehlman & Marjorie Gross
Directed by: Andy Ackerman
I have had it argued to me that spite is the best motivation for anything, and all the people who tell me this come off like the Costanzas in this episode. It’s not quite true to say that they’re incapable of feeling joy; we’ve seen them take pleasure in things, even if those things are insane. But we see them only really motivated to Florida when they realise the Seinfelds don’t want them there – making a major life decision purely out of spite! And what makes this so funny is how many people actually do these kinds of things, where the only real pleasure they seem to get is when they’re getting one over one somebody in some way – even bringing a bread to a party back in “The Rye” was about some neurotic manipulation. Happiness, to me, is about expressing something internal; an act of creation. Seinfeld is goofy and about banality, but I think it knows this – Jerry can be happy because he’s doing standup all the time, giving him the freedom to do all the dumb shit he does.
Meanwhile, both Jerry and George are indulging in manipulation here, which is interesting to me – it’s rare that Seinfeld ever does thematic resonance, mainly because it’s not actually trying to say anything, but it works here because it’s funny as hell in different ways. Uncle Leo is very easy to flatter and manipulate, at least for Jerry; I think it’s that Jerry is just thoughtful enough to come up with things that are both funny and would work on Leo. Meanwhile, the Costanzas are both too self-absorbed and too paranoid for George’s manipulation attempts to work; it’s only once someone else manages to fix the problem that George’s magic starts to work (“So, Georgie, are you gonna come to visit us?” / “Every chance I get!”).
TOPICS O’ THE WEEK
- “You know how it gets there? Like 150 degrees! Your skin is gonna be simmering with boils!” There’s a lot of really funny word choices this episode – ‘simmering’ is the word of the day here.
- “Uncle Leo’s having regular sex?” / “Yeah, I know, it devalues the whole thing.”
- Elaine realises the Costanzas probably should have moved to Florida by now, and I love that George is genuinely perplexed and has never once considered this (“What the hell are they still doing here?”)
- “The point I was making before Goebbels made you hamburger is this:”
- I enjoy Peterman’s full-throated belief in anything he does – it’s a good contrast from the detached irony and manipulation of everyone else.
- There’s a throwback to “The Pool Guy” when Jerry drops “You’re killing independent Jerry!”
- “Jerry really doesn’t wash this very well.” / “PICK A GLASS, MRS SEINFELD!” It kills me how Elaine is so bad at keeping her cool in a situation.
Biggest Laugh: I love that this turns exposition into a great joke.
Next Week: “The Doll”.