Jerry buys a new car from Puddy at a dealership. George gets into a fight with a mechanic over a Twix bar. Elaine and Jerry become frustrated with Puddy’s obsession with high-fives. Kramer and a salesman go on a road trip.

Written by: Steve Koren
Directed by: Andy Ackerman

This whole episode feels like something of a throwback for this show – while it doesn’t all take place in the one location (let alone the one set), Kramer’s story is still thematically tied into it (almost like he’s taking the location with him, which is very Kramer). I do enjoy that the show has no trouble moving characters around for the plot – with Puddy becoming a salesman despite that not really making any sense – and then happily making comedy out of how that doesn’t really make any sense. The writers have gone on board to clarify that they did sometimes use Puddy as Elaine’s boyfriend purely because everyone – fan and crew alike – agreed Patrick Warburton’s performance was insanely funny, and rightfully so, and I suspect this is the most blatant case of that.

George’s story is where the majority of the meat of the episode is; in some ways, it’s quite forward thinking in reflecting the ‘hangry’ idea that would become quite popular from about 2000 or so. A younger, stupider version of me would have found George’s behaviour unrealistic in this episode, particularly him creating an elaborate system to trap, uh, somebody in and prove them morally wrong; sadly, that’s behaviour you see all the time (particularly in questions of either politics or justice), where they create what they assume are simple and elegant solutions that will give black and white answers (think of the three strikes system as a random example). You’ll see them in businesses and local governments, of course.

Kramer’s story is fun in seeing a normal person suddenly get caught up in his weirdness; the salesman is distinct from that intern he took on earlier in that he starts in a regular space and ends up gradually pulled into Kramer’s obsession, and it’s hilarious to see someone go, step-by-step, into his world. What always kills me about Michael Richards’s performance is that he plays Kramer as completely without artifice or guile (which only makes Kramer’s general sense of artifice even funnier); whatever he’s doing, Kramer is a true believer (great little note when the salesman points out Kramer seems to be sponging off Jerry, to which he responds: “Well, I make it up to him in other ways.”).

Meanwhile, Jerry and Elaine really have the same story here in how they react to Puddy’s high fives. Obviously, Julia Louis-Dreyfus gives the superior performance here (though I’m a sucker for Jerry being forced into the George position in the ‘Who is this?’ phone bit), which gives the greater meaning to the joke, to wit: Elaine and Jerry are driven by a belief in dignity. There’s technically nothing wrong with what Puddy does, and, in a material sense, he’s been giving them exactly what they asked for. As we’ve discussed, however, Jerry and Elaine believe in being a kind of person – behaviour being judged not on its consequences, but on the symbolism of the act. On the one hand, you could see this as the hunter-gatherer brain soaking up tradition and looking to replicate it to be part of the group; a different way of looking at it is that Jerry and Elaine are seeking dignity, to feel uplifted by their environment on some spiritual level, and obviously they’re very silly for demanding that.

TOPICS O’ THE WEEK

• “When are they gonna have the flying cars already?” / “They have been promising that for a while.” Amazing how this conversation has barely aged a day. All we need is Jerry pointing out no sane person would let idiots – especially George – drive a flying car.
• “I see, so you’re his mana–” / “Neighbour, that’s right.”
• “Where are we going?” / “Just a little place I like to call… you’ll see.” Absolutely incredible delivery there.
• “Remember: no rust-proofing. Commit to nothing. If you have to speak, mumble.”
• “What do you think the Nazis were doing? The Heil Five.” / “Isn’t that from your act from like, ten years ago?” / “It was a good bit in the Eighties and it’s still relatable today.”
• “Can I interest you in a little supplemental restraint?”
• “Hey, can I have my dollar back?” / “It’s wrinkled. It’s worthless.”
• “You’re both attracted to each other, right?” / “Yes.” / “Clearly no one else can stand to be around you, right?”
• “That undercoating, that’s a ripoff, right?” / “Oh, we don’t even know what it is.”
• “Well, that’s a weird thing to say.” This gets used in memes a lot, so I forgot that this is in response to the salesman feeling like he can do anything.

Biggest Laugh:

Next Week: “The Reverse Peephole”