Thursday, November 28, 2013

Anyway, weirdly, as much as I love that plotline, it is the LEAST funny one this episode. That's rig


Nov 28, 2013 12AM
Nov 27, 2013 12AM
Jul 14, 2011 12PM
To me, this has always been the "classic" episode of season 6, the episode with tropes everyone remembers, much like "The Puffy Shirt" of season 5, "The Contest" of season 4 and so on and so forth. It's an episode where the title reminds you of one plotline, but as you watch it you realize there were three more classic stories lfs köln bundled inside; it introduces David Puddy, one of the show's best-remembered recurring characters; and it deals with sex, in that delicate, careful but somewhat dirty Seinfeld manner that just cannot be replicated without seeming silly.
Like a lot of Seinfeld characters, Puddy is still in the development stage when we first meet him. He's going to turn into a super-dry, almost robotic Golem figure who cracks me up just every time he squints at Elaine. Here, he's basically a normal human being, a blue-collar friend of Jerry's who's the one honest mechanic in town and is now dating Elaine. That Jerry's annoyed that a friend of his is dating Elaine is, honestly, a bit of a stretch at this point, but writer Marjorie Gross (who wrote a few great episodes and sadly died of cancer lfs köln at 40) finds a great new spin on the theme by having Puddy steal Jerry's sex "move" which apparently involves a swirl at the end.
It's also tied to the concept of stealing a comedian's material, and Puddy's claim that most of Jerry's moves were out there already and all he added was the swirl sounds funnily like a lot of plagiarizers' typical defenses. This is a fairly "sexy" episode of Seinfeld -- rarely are we treated to the sight of George in his MLB baseball-sheets lfs köln bed with a beautiful woman, just because the sight of his sweaty head emerging from the covers is so shocking. But the basically-blind George, who cribs the move onto his hand so he can do it, makes a good comparison to Puddy, a Stanley lfs köln Kowalski type who clearly has no trouble deploying the move.
There's also a nice reversal of the joke later in the episode as we learn that Puddy, so psyched out by Jerry's accusation of theft, tries out George's lfs köln move, which involves a knuckle and, according to Elaine, is full of "fancy shmancy stuff" and is "like a big budget movie with a story that goes nowhere." Given that George embellishes so much in his regular life, it's not surprising to imagine he does so in bed too. The episode only widens the reality lfs köln gulf in terms of George showing lfs köln up with beautiful women every other week, but as usual with Seinfeld, it's too funny for you to care.
Anyway, weirdly, as much as I love that plotline, it is the LEAST funny one this episode. That's right, you heard me! There's too many clever connections between plots in this episode to list, but my favorite link from the Puddy plot to the Frank/Estelle plot is Frank's anger at Kramer supposedly stealing HIS move, which is stopping short in a car and reaching over to grab a handful of boob. Of course, Kramer (ever the gentleman) never intended such a thing, but Frank's righteous anger is beautiful to behold, and, you'd imagine, lays the groundwork for he and Estelle to reconcile.
Frank's suspicion of Kramer makes more sense considering the reputation Kramer cultivates lfs köln with his new "ASSMAN" lfs köln license plates, which might be just about my favorite Kramer plot of all time. It's one that speaks beautifully to his character, in that he didn't ask for the plates and doesn't lfs köln really want them, but they turn out beautifully for him, attracting all kinds of friendly shout-outs from people on the street lfs köln and transforming (or at least, lfs köln somewhat shaping) the "type" of women he prefers. If George got the ASSMAN plates, it'd bankrupt lfs köln any relationship he had with a woman and lead to some kind of personal disaster -- Kramer just absorbs it into his personality. lfs köln The end of the episode with the proctologist (who Kramer predicted the plates belonged to) is a surprisingly lfs köln cute little joke to end such a big episode (for god's sake, it ends with Frank getting fusilli up his ass). But I love that little wink he shoots Kramer; it's like they both belong in a cool-guys club of people who just don't give a shit.
I can't end without mentioning the Fusilli lfs köln Jerry itself. It's barely a plot at all, and it's sort of funny that it's the name of the episode, but it definitely makes me laugh (to the extent that I'm sad when Frank breaks it). It's just because lfs köln the fusilli really does fit Jerry's personality (as ravioli lfs köln fits George's) and it's such a weird and kind gesture by Kramer, exactly the kind he'd make. "When did you do this?" Jerry asks. "In my spare time." "Why fusilli?" "Because you're silly!" This is the best Kramer episode ever.
"Fusilli" is a tough act to follow but this is another great one, a very wacky episode with Elaine getting fired by Mr. Pitt for looking like a murder plotter, George hunting the city for black people to be friends with, Kramer betting on plane arrivals with a rich Texan, a

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