An Analytical Episode Guide to :
Season 5, Part 4
Episode 17, Season 5
The Wife
Plot Summary-When Jerry gets a deal on dry cleaning; his new
girlfriend pretends to be his wife to also get the discount. Kramer dates an African
American girl while George is caught urinating in the shower. The man who
caught him is the same man Elaine is interested in, whom she gets all kinds of
mixed messages from. Needing rest Kramer goes to a tanning booth, where he
falls asleep.
Best Quote-“Do the medical journals mention anything about
standing in a pool of someone else’s urine?”…Jerry
Nitpick of the episode-What Elaine sees in the boring guy
she is interested in is beyond me. As for George and what he does in this
episode…..think I’d better not go there (no pun intended).
Seinfeldism of the episode-Jerry’s coat is made of gore-tex
Deleted Scenes-None for this episode
Episode Fun Fact-The woman Jerry meets in the dry cleaner
had her dialogue dubbed over to her give her a more exotic feel.
Final Thoughts-Kramer’s story is probably one of his worst
in the whole series. The thing with the quilt is lame, he doesn’t have another?
And then what happens after he goes tanning…gee, didn’t see that coming! It’s predictable
and dumb, not to mention borderline offensive. Thankfully we have George and
Elaine who are really funny discussing whether or not it’s ok to go to the
bathroom while showering. Also, watching Jerry and his girlfriend act like an
old married couple is definitely lots of fun. There story is very clever. I
like how Uncle Leo pops up just long enough to complicate the situation.
Grade=B-, Kramer really brings this one down
Episode 18, Season 5
The Fire
Plot Summary-George has a girlfriend with a child. At a
birthday party, George sees a fire and proceeds to storm out as he tramples
over everyone. Kramer’s coffee table book is being produced by his new girlfriend
Toby who is a rival for Elaine’s job. When Kramer takes Toby to an important
show of Jerry’s, she heckles him so bad that he ends up having a bad review in
Entertainment Weekly. As revenge, he decides to go to where she works and
heckle her.
Best Quote-“This is like working with a contestant from the
Price is Right”…Elaine on Toby
Nitpick of the episode-Wow! You know, sometimes you try to
defend George and the things he does but how do you defend this one? He sees
smoke and flies out of the place, stepping on children and even pushing an old
lady aside. This is his lowest moment, but because it’s Seinfeld we love it.
The worst part is he actually tries to defend himself, the scene with Jerry
afterward is perfect the way Jerry comments on it.
Seinfeldism of the episode-George can’t believe no one has
heard of Bozo the Clown
Deleted Scenes-Elaine discovers Jerry heckled Toby and a scene
with Kramer finding the toe
Episode Fun Fact-The monologue Kramer gives about his
experience on the bus was supposed to be filmed, but the creators realized the monologue
was sufficient.
Final Thoughts-Funny episode, which is amazing because
George is horrible and Kramer’s story is farfetched. But it works because we
love George at his worst and this is as bad as he gets, and Michael Richards
knows how to sell a crazy story. I was very happy to see Jerry tear into Toby
after she has ruined his performance, she really deserved it. She didn’t deserve
what would later happen to her, but since Jerry didn’t mean to cause her to
have an accident we don’t think any less of him.
Grade=B+, not much substance but the funny stuff is really
funny
Episode 19 & 20,
Season 5
The Raincoats
Plot Summary-Elaine’s boyfriend Aaron takes an odd interest
in Jerry’s parents. Jerry tries to find time alone with his girlfriend, but his
parents are in town waiting to go on a Paris trip, Kramer goes into business
with Jerry’s father selling vintage raincoats. George tries to get out of a big
brother program and determine why Jerry’s parents don’t seem to want to spend
any time with his own. George sells his father’s clothes, but they are infested
with moths and end up burned by the owner of the vintage store. The moths also
disrupts Morty and Kramer’s business deal.
Best Quote-“They had plans huh? They were busy? They were
busy with their big plans!?”….George
Nitpick of the episode-Gotta go along with the crowd. Who
makes out during Schindler’s List? What amazes me is that the film is easily
three hours, and Jerry indicates he and Rachel were making out that whole time.
Wow, that’s a long time to make out with someone!
Seinfeldism of the episode-Elaine’s boyfriend is a close
talker
Deleted Scenes-The last scene was longer as the guy who
leads the big brother org gets the postcard from George, with a Florida
postmark.
Episode Fun Fact-Reportedly while making Schindler’s List,
Steven Spielberg would watch Seinfeld after he was done filming. This makes
sense, filming that movie had to be depressing I can see him needing an escape.
That is why the movie gets a special mention in this episode.
Final Thoughts-Well, this episode has lots of problems. I never understood why Morty had to cancel his
trip. I mean, the raincoats weren’t going anywhere. Why not go back to New York
after and take care of it? Or have Kramer do it alone and then work out an
arrangement so Morty got his cut? And the fact that Rudy changed his mind
suddenly is hard to swallow. We see him tell Kramer, after Rudy burned the
clothes, to let him know when the jackets arrived…so he was still interested
then! What made him change his mind by that last scene? Oh I know because if he
had said something at that point the Seinfeld’s would have gone on the trip, of
course. The kid who George is supposed to look after’s father happens to live
in Paris? Please! Klompas not being able to get into the garage is lame, the
key didn’t work? What, this complex they live in doesn’t have an office with
extra keys? Why is Rachel so aggravated at Jerry because his parents are in the
way, the Seinfeld’s are only there for three days, she lived with her father! I
think you get the drift. Lots of plot holes and inconsistencies. The show had
to be stretched to make it an hour, and it shows. Take the totally pointless scene
where Kramer and Morty argue over Kramer’s cut. However, it’s not as bad as the
next one hour episode. The funniest moment has to go to Aaron, who does a
parody of the speech at the end of Schindler’s List. “I could have done more; I
could have done so much more!” That alone is worth checking the episode for; the
guy was nuts but in a very funny and watchable way.
Grade=C+, Not the worst episode by far but a little tighter writing may have helped this one
Episode 21, Season 5
The Hamptons
Plot Summary-On a trip to the Hamptons, Elaine tries to
determine if a doctor likes her or not. Kramer steals lobster right out of the
ocean. George is seen naked by Jerry’s girlfriend, which wouldn’t have been so
bad if he hadn’t just been swimming in some very cold water. George’s
girlfriend walks around topless for no apparent reason.
Best Quote-“I don’t know how you guys walk around with those
things”….Elaine
Nitpick of the episode-So apparently none of the doors in
this place have locks, since they are opened while people are changing at least
three times.
Seinfeldism of the episode-George suffers from shrinkage
Deleted Scenes-None for this episode.
Episode Fun Fact-Of course, the actress who played George’s
girlfriend wasn’t really totally topless when they filmed the scene.
Final Thoughts-There is
some funny moments with the shrinkage thing, but overall this is a really weak
episode. This is one time when George’s neurosis is just plain annoying. Why
does he punish Rachel at the end, it was his girlfriend who ran because of here
say without so much as talking about it with George. I admit she may owe him an
apology but she didn’t deserve what George did to her with the eggs. And then
he walks in on her….He comes off as a total jerk! Kramer is also awful; he
breaks the law and gets busted for it. Funny?? The ugly baby gag is funny, at
first, but by the time Kramer reacts to him the joke isn’t funny anymore.
Elaine wondering if the doctor likes her or is just being nice is filler, and
Jerry really has nothing to do but sit back and observe.
Grade=C-, a couple classic lines does not a good episode
make
Episode 22, Season 5
The Opposite
Plot Summary-George realizes every decision he has ever made
in his life was wrong, so he starts doing the opposite which causes him to
finally have good fortune including a new job and his own place. Juji fruits
affect Elaine’s relationship, and her job. She also gets evicted. Jerry
realizes he always evens out no matter what, and Kramer’s coffee table book is
published so he starts the book tour with Live with Regis and Kathie Lee!
Best Quote-“My name is George. I’m unemployed and live with
my parents”…..George
Nitpick of the episode-Kind of hard to defend Elaine in this
one. First of all, what did she think would happen as she scarf’s juji fruit
down in front of her hospitalized boyfriend? However, while you can blame her
for what happens with Mr.Lipman (what was stopping her from running after him?);
she doesn’t deserve the entire blame. While it’s nice that Lipman is so
concerned about germs, considering how important this merger was I would have
just wiped my hands on pants and shook the guy’s hand!
Seinfeldism of the episode-In the end Elaine discovers that
the worst has happened, she’s turned into George! I had never heard of Juji
fruits until this episode. Still haven’t tried them.
Deleted Scenes-After breaking up with Rachel, we see Jerry
immediately meeting someone else thus breaking even once again. We also had more
of George doing the opposite. More of George talking about doing the opposite
and Tina had a longer list of complaints for Elaine.
Episode Fun Fact-the line from George's angry rant at the
movie theater – "...we're gonna
take it outside and I'm gonna show you what it's like!" – is taken
almost verbatim from Buddy Rich. Also the last time we see Rachel, who is the
longest lasting relationship Jerry will have on this show lasting three
episodes!
Final Thoughts-I love the scene where Kramer tells Jerry he
is going on Regis and Kathie Lee, Jerry’s responds that he’ll loan him his
puffy shirt. That’s a great little callback. The other classic scene is the
opening one in the coffee shop when Jerry encourages George to do the opposite.
What a great episode, and great way to end the season! It’s so much fun to
watch George and Elaine basically change places. The scene with Regis and
Kathie Lee is clearly fake. For one thing, they more than likely wouldn’t have
him on in the first place being an unpublished author, new authors rarely have
book tours, and the applause the audience gives is clearly for the actor not an
unknown author no one’s ever heard of. We even see Kathie Lee chuckling away at
the end, just having fun. But it’s so cute I enjoy it anyway. George is so
great being the opposite of himself. At this point we knew enough about George
to get a real laugh watching him not react the way we expect him to. I worried that this may last into the next
year and thankfully it didn’t. What did last was George’s job with the Yankees,
and this is the first time we see Steinbrenner on the show. I was glad they
moved George out of his folk’s house, as funny as it was for a few episodes I
think it would have started getting old. It is nice to see Elaine get the short
end for once. Jerry is really good in this episode, being confident in himself
and his good fortune.
Grade=A, Great way to
end the season!
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