Season 3, Episode 1: The Note

My Rating of this episode: 9/10 stars
IMDB Rating of this episode: 8.4/10 stars http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0697741/?ref_=ttep_ep1

This episode aired September 18, 1991, less than three months after the end of season 2. Season 3 on the dvd's in much closer to being in the air date order, but several episodes flip out of order throughout the season. This episode happens to actually be the true episode one of season three. So nice job dvd episode ordering team.

Jerry's storyline: Jerry freaks out his masseuse by discussing a child kidnapping during the massage and following that up with detailed questions about the masseuse's 5-year old son. Jerry gets a note from his dentist friend to recommend physical therapy so he can have his insurance pay for his massages (the dentist later gets investigated for insurance fraud).

Favorite Jerry part(s): Jerry is funny in the first scene when he goes on and on cluelessly freaking out the masseuse lady.    

George's storyline: George gets a massage from a man, and, well, the rest is George being George. George gets Jerry's dentist friend to write a note for him as well.

Favorite George part(s): George trying to switch masseuse's with Elaine prior to the man-massage is great. George explains that he is concerned that it will feel good and Elaine asks, "Then why get the massage?" George: "Exactly!" The scene of the actual massage is one of the best scenes thus far in the entire series. The following scene is of Elaine waiting for George after she clearly had a good massage. George walks, zombie-like, toward her and just hangs a direct left and walks out the door. The next scene continues with George telling Jerry about his massage from a man: "He was...touching and rubbing." He then tells Jerry "it moved." Jerry says maybe it just shifted. George says, "No, it wasn't a shift! I've shifted! This was a move!"

"I don't even like to use urinals. I'm a stall man."

George gets defensive when Jerry's dentist friend starts asking George about Evander Holyfield and whether George thinks he has a good body or if George likes him. George's odd responses prompt Jerry to ask George what's the matter with him. George says, "Nothing, why? You think something's wrong? Am I different?!"

George walks into Jerry's apartment with torn pants and a scraped knee. He explains he got it from chasing kids who called him "a Mary" after George jumped over a puddle in a feminine manner.

Kramer's storyline: Kramer sees Joe DiMaggio at a Doughnut shop and tries to break his concentration while DiMaggio focuses on his doughnut. 

Favorite Kramer part(s): Kramer has a nice scene where he tells the story of trying to distract DiMaggio by banging on the table and hollering. The episode ends with a scene where they spot DiMaggio at their coffee shop and Kramer goes right into banging on the table and yelping at him.

Elaine's storyline: Elaine also gets a note, unbeknownst to her, from Jerry's dentist friend to get massages covered by insurance (she had gotten her own note from her gynecologist).    

Favorite Elaine part(s): Elaine is funny in the scene with George prior to George's massage with the man.       

Supporting characters in this episode: No recurring characters. Raymond the masseuse is awesome though. He just smiles way big and makes George very uncomfortable the whole time.   

Favorite character in this episode: This one is a no-brainer. This is George's episode. He kills it throughout, even during the scene where he and Jerry go to apologize to Jerry's dentist friend. Maybe my favorite George episode so far. 

Final thoughts:

Nice, solid episode carried by George. The George's questioning of his heterosexuality must have been a pretty groundbreaking episode at the time and it is all done hilariously. I give in an easy 9 stars.

Season 2, Episode 12: The Busboy

My Rating of this episode: 8/10 stars
IMDB Rating of this episode: 7.9/10 stars http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0697664/?ref_=ttep_ep12

This episode aired June 26, 1991, more than one month after the previous episode. This episode is also out of order on the dvd's which has this as episode 3. This is also the final episode of the season. The dvd's have 13 episodes for season 2, but one of the episodes actually aired in season 3. Not sure on the logic with the dvd episode ordering, but wish they just put them in order.

Jerry's storyline: Jerry has no real storyline. He's just hanging out cracking jokes.  

Favorite Jerry part(s): After George is worried that he got the busboy in trouble for mentioning he put the menu too close to the candle, and Elaine is also worried for sarcastically declaring that she will never eat there again, Jerry of course has to point out, "I didn't say anything." The busboy gets fired and George and Elaine are both upset that they may have caused the firing, Jerry adds: "He's probably going to kill his family over this." George then becomes worried that the busboy will be waiting for him outside and Jerry says, "A lot of ex-cons become busboys. They seem to gravitate towards it."

There is also something about the very last scene that makes me laugh. Jerry remains unconcerned about the misfortunes of his friends. Elaine has to leave to go feed her visitor who still cannot leave to go back home because he was injured in a fight with the busboy at the end. George has to go feed the busboy's cat. Jerry stays at the café drinking a milkshake and eating a sandwich without a care in the world. A busboy comes to clear off the table and Jerry with a smile looks up at him and says, "How ya doin'?" Jerry's no-care attitude while others suffer is very funny.    

George's storyline: George unwittingly gets a busboy fired when he puts out a fire at a restaurant and mentions to the owner that the busboy leaned the menu up against the candle. Turns out the busboy's life is saved because the guy who replaces him at the restaurant dies in a gas main explosion. 

Favorite George part(s): George's concern of what Kramer will say or do during the visit with the busboy is comical. 

Kramer's storyline: Kramer goes with George to the busboy's apartment because George wants to apologize. They accidentally leave the door open and the busboy's cat escapes and is lost. 

Favorite Kramer part(s): As George is in the middle of apologizing to the busboy, Kramer out of nowhere says in way crappy Spanish, "Hablo Espanol?" Then says a sentence in Spanish that ends with him saying "waterbed" in English.

Kramer also breaks the busboy's lamp. He carefully puts the broken piece back on the lamp, slowly pulls his hands away, and looks back at the busboy and says, "Yeah?"  

Elaine's storyline: A guy Elaine had met comes to stay with Elaine for a week and Elaine can't wait for him to leave.    

Favorite Elaine part(s): Elaine's best moment is when she wakes up late and frantically tries to pack and dress the guy so they can get to the airport. He asks about his brown sweater and she starts running in place in a panic and ends up shoving one of her own brown sweaters into his suitcase.

Elaine also has a great re-telling of her drive to the airport: "They say nobody has ever beaten the Van Wyck..."      

Supporting characters in this episode: No recurring characters. Just the busboy and Elaine's out-of-town visitor.   

Favorite character in this episode: Each character is decent, but I like Jerry in this one. He is almost always at his best when he is off to the side making sarcastic comments and lighthearted good ones while the others have some crisis to deal with.  

Final thoughts:

This is the episode where George's knowledge of toilets is first mentioned. He tells Jerry to say anywhere in the city and George will tell him the best public toilet in the area.

I recollect hearing from somewhere that this is the episode where Larry David realized how great it is to have multiple storylines intertwine at the end. This happens at the very end when the busboy gets into an altercation in the hallway outside Jerry's apartment with Elaine's visitor. It's obviously not the best intertwining in Seinfeld history, but it was the beginning of what the show excelled in, the intertwining storylines. It's a decent episode, and Jerry makes me laugh enough for me to give it 8-stars.

Season 2, Episode 11: The Chinese Restaurant

My Rating of this episode: 9/10 stars
IMDB Rating of this episode: 8.9/10 stars http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0697675/?ref_=ttep_ep11

This episode aired May 23, 1991. This episode is also out of order on the dvd's which has this as episode 6.

Jerry's storyline: Jerry, George, and Elaine wait an entire episode for a table at a Chinese Restaurant and do/say funny things. Jerry had told his Uncle that he had a stomachache in order to get out of having dinner with him because Jerry wanted to go watch Plan 9 from Outer Space on the big screen with George and Elaine. Of course their names are called instantly after they finally choose to leave.

Favorite Jerry part(s): Jerry's best part is when he bumps into a lady he recognizes, but doesn't know where he recognizes her from. She starts talking to him asking him how he is doing and Jerry keeps giving awkward non-specific answers while Elaine enjoys observing Jerry squirm a little.   

George's storyline: Goes to dinner with Jerry and Elaine. George spends most of the time concerned about contacting his date "Tatiana".

Favorite George part(s): George gets frustrated with a guy on the pay phone who won't get off. George expresses his anger to Jerry: "And look at his little outfit. It's all so coordinated, the little socks match the little shirt. I really hate this guy."

George with the classic line after Elaine asks him if she should take the bet from Jerry to go randomly eat food off of someone's table: "For fifty bucks? I'd put my face in the soup and blow."

The best laugh for me is when George does not get the phone because a lady swoops in and gets it right before he does. He is visibly frustrated as he walks away and loudly declares for all to hear: "You know, we're living in a society! We're supposed to act in a civilized way!"

George misses Tatiana's return call: "She called. I missed her. He yelled Cartwright." Jerry: "Who's Cartwright?" George: "I'm Cartwright." Jerry: "You're not Cartwright." George: "Of course I'm not Cartwright!"  

Kramer's storyline: None

Favorite Kramer part(s): N/A 

Elaine's storyline: Goes to dinner with Jerry and George. Spends most of the episode very famished.    

Favorite Elaine part(s): "Did you ever notice how happy people are when they finally get a table? They think they're so special because they've been chosen. It's enough to make you sick."

Elaine floats a theory that it should not be first come, first served but based on who's hungriest.

She has several other good bits including a commentary about how exciting it was when your parents first take you out to eat and how now she just feels like a hog waiting for them to fill up the trough.    

Supporting characters in this episode: No recurring characters. The Chinese Restaurant guy is fantastic.  

Favorite character in this episode: I really like George in this episode, but I got to give this one to Elaine, her first time winning the favorite character for me. She gets more and more frustrated the hungrier she gets as they continue to wait and is really funny in this episode, easily her best yet. 

Final thoughts:

Kramer does not make an appearance in the episode which is a shame because he has been on a role lately. The only other episode at this point to not feature one of the main characters was the Pilot episode which did not feature Elaine.

Larry David's voice can clearly be heard as one of the people asking what Elaine said when she approaches the table for Jerry's bet.

This is a very good episode and is unique in that the entire episode all takes place in that one small waiting area which I believe was fairly groundbreaking at that time for a sitcom to do such a thing. It is the perfect example of why Seinfeld is referred to as a show about nothing. I could easily give it a 10, but opted to give it a 9 largely based on no Kramer. It's a great episode and has always been one of my favorites from the early Seinfeld episodes and is considered one of the show's "classic episodes".