Jerry’s girlfriend convinces him to start showing his emotions more. Frank Costanza starts a computer business and hires both George and Lloyd Braun as his salesmen, putting them against each other. Elaine discovers she has Shiksa Appeal. Kramer installs a screen door on his apartment and becomes preoccupied with a simulacrum of the small town life.

Written by: Steven Koren
Directed by: Andy Ackerman

The further I’m getting into season nine, the more convinced I am that “the post-David seasons are too wacky” is more true for the eight season. This episode in particular really does feel like it was plucked out of the middle seasons with one sole exception. Jerry’s plot about finding and expressing his feelings is the best expression of the show’s more meta side so far; it takes a basic observation about the show – Jerry is detached, often cartoonishly so – and brings out some extremely funny behaviours and plotting. What’s great is that Jerry almost outright says at the end that the detachment is stupid and what makes him funny; that what’s funny and what’s socially acceptable or smart are often incompatible. It’s about as explicit as this show will ever get that these characters are meant to be laughed at and nothing else.

Elaine’s plot also fascinates me, especially in this context. We essentially see her get sexually assaulted twice, and I leave the morality of how it’s framed to others; it’s not saying this is okay, but it’s not not saying it’s okay, and I don’t know how many people in that situation would try to patch up the kid’s religion. But there’s something very Seinfeld to me in how Elaine does try to fix the situation; there’s a common fallacy called the ‘attribution error’, in which one blames other’s actions on their character and one’s own actions on the situation. If someone yells at a retail worker, it’s because they’re a Karen; if I yell at a retail worker, it’s because I had a bad day. It’s not quite the same thing here, but there is something in how Elaine is taking complete responsibility for a situation, as if she’s the only one with both the ability and responsibility to control what happens – and, pertinently, as if people will listen to what she has to say.

Kramer’s story is funny to me because it shows how much of what he does is an act of play. We usually think of him as a hustler and a schemer, but what he’s really doing is acting out the idea of a hustler and schemer; any actual success is secondary to playing out the action. You might think this wouldn’t be true for a guy putting a screen door on his city apartment, but if anything it’s even more true – his goal is to replicate the experience of a small town in the least appropriate setting possible. That’s pretty basic comedy, of course; Rowan Atkinson one said comedy is when something is too big, too small, or in the wrong place.

Finally, George’s plot is running on a very old-fashioned Seinfeld idea: dumb shit that actually happened to the writers. Steven Koren’s father did exactly what Frank does here, yelling out a serenity phrase to control his anger, and apparently much of the Frank/Estelle dialogue is lifted straight from his parents. In terms of real world relevance, it very much ties into this amusing idea of psychological tricks – something still common, of course. Recently, I’ve learned that gratitude journals, while having a modest effect, aren’t as life-changing as they’re made out to be, which is very similar to how trigger warnings were found to have limited positive effect a few years ago. The basic connecting thing here – connecting it to Seinfeld and “The Serenity Now” – is that no trick will overcome human motivation to get what one wants.

TOPICS O’ THE WEEK

• “So what do you care what she thinks?” / “Good body.”
• “You’ve heard me yell.” / “Not really. Your voice kind of raises to this comedic pitch.”
• Kramer laughing when Jerry yells at him is so iconic that I forgot the context.
• “Two months ago, I saw a provocative movie on cable TV. It was called The Net, with that girl from The Bus.”
• “One percent?! They can kiss one percent of my ass!”
• “I’m open! There’s just nothing in there!”
• “I’m a man!”
• “You are thirteen and I am in my early… twenties!”
• “Jerry, you’ve been yelling at me all afternoon.” / “Well, I don’t think more flan is the answer!”
• “It’s like Andora’s box.” / “That was the mother on Bewitched. You mean Pandora.” / “Yes, well, she had one too.”
• “I’m not buying a computer from you.” / “There’s porn.” / “Even so.”
• “Hey Braun. I got good news and bad news, and they’re both the same. You’re fired.”
• “Serenity now, insanity later.”
• “He’s incorrigible.”
• “Oh, please don’t tell me you love me again, I can’t handle it.”
• Great blocking: Indicating that Elaine has disappeared with an empty rocking chair.
• “All my darkest fears and everything I’m capable of.” / “Yikes. Well, good luck with all that.” This and “I tell ya, I don’t see it happening,” are incredibly iconic and happen within seconds of each other.
• “You know, all these years, I always wanted to see the two of you get back together.” / “Well that’s because you’re an idiot.”

Biggest Laugh:

Next Week: “The Blood”