Jerry attempts to maneuver his way out of buying a jacket by pulling in Elaine to lie for him, only for her to spark a relationship with the salesman. Susan’s friend, a wig master for a local theatre production, is staying with George and shows Kramer his costuming and introduces him to his friends. George discovers his car is being used by sex workers.
Written by: Spike Feresten
Directed by: Andy Ackerman
Jerry is often considered the least interesting of the main quartet. George and Kramer are each exaggerated in their action; George is hysterical in emotion, and Kramer is absurd in goals. Elaine is more normal, in that she’s incapable of tolerating even the mildest inconvenience or threat to her ego. And, of course, all three are played by brilliant actors. I will defend Seinfeld (comedian) as a comedy performer, but Jerry (character) is harder to defend, as he comes off as smug and empty. Difficult, but not impossible – there’s a good-natured quality to the character, where his detached attitude translates to a willingness to play and experiment or to chase something down out of sheer curiosity. Jerry may be one of the purest examples of the comic foil ever put to film; there are other characters that are smarter or funnier, but few embody that sense of detachment as well as him.
His plots this episode work well as a demonstration of that; with the exception of returning the jacket, he’s mainly trying to de-escalate and avoid conflict; worded like this, I can see why people wouldn’t like him as much as the others – people tend to be attracted more to active characters over passive ones – but it works for me as a comedic contrast to the others. It feels like something only Jerry would really do. And it works as comedy because he’s thwarted almost every step of the way; I love that he attempts to turn a lie retroactively into the truth, and a comic high note is when he ends up sitting alone with the wig master, having been socially blocked into a situation he desperately doesn’t want to be in. Much of Seinfeld has been sketched in further by later works; I feel like Jerry is still untapped potential.
TOPICS O’ THE WEEK
- “Huh, then they’ll match my sneakers.”
- The minor rivalry between Craig the salesman and Jerry is so funny to me – a little grace note to the episode as they clearly loathe each other.
- “Have you slept with him yet?” / “I just met him this morning!”
- A tiny note that I find hilarious: George offers the sex worker money for her time, but asks for change from a twenty.
- I thoroughly love that George can hear “If I can’t trust, there’s no way this can work,” and convey exactly what he’s thinking to the audience by simply turning around. We know who George is at this point, and we need no more elaboration than that.
- I also love that Elaine is incredibly easy to flatter into seduction. To be clear, I’m not saying she’s slutty or easy, I’m saying she’s stupid.
- ‘Een’ is such a weird, very Seinfeldian little detail to only come up once.
- “I’m not gonna argue with the body, Jerry.”
- “Then and only then will there be a healthy exchange of sex and discounts.”
- Jerry and Kramer in the same bed is an extremely easy source of laughs. Seinfeld is far from afraid to go for a cheap laugh.
- “People are supposed to be able to get their cars!” / “Ideally.”
- “I get the feeling he doesn’t want me there.” / “He doesn’t want himself there.”
- The gag of Kramer slowly becoming a pimp is more understated than you’d expect from this show, or any show.
Biggest Laugh:
Next Week: “The Calzone”