Again, this has spoilers.
Seinfeld is a great show. However, not all Seinfeld episodes are equally good, and this one marks a low point. It was originally produced for Season 2 (and I watched it where it appears on the Season 2 DVDs), but Larry David was not happy with the episodes, and did not let it air until the middle of Season 3. After having watched the episode, it's hard not to agree that there's just something not right about it.
But first, let's try to remember what makes Seinfeld interesting to put this in perspective. There were comedy shows and sitcoms before Seinfeld, but Seinfeld opened up some new frontiers in the comedy genre. Before it, sitcoms were always about families: they centered around the living room, with the boring clutsy father with the newspaper on the couch, the long-suffering wife hovering in the background, and the kids buzzing around making noise. Now, families can be interesting, but this show was the first where all of the main characters were adults. It was the first to spend significant amounts of time looking at the dating scene. It was brave enough to talk about "nothing", and thereby open its eyes to everyday life.
But in this episode it doesn't work. One of the drawbacks of Seinfeld is the constant *negative thinking* of the characters, (George is probably most spectacular in not believing in himself, but Jerry can be pretty cynical too) and in this episode that is especially bothersome. Seinfeld was the first show to spend this amount of time on the dating game, so of course there's gonna be an episode about a party. But the problem is, they write if off as a problem before it even starts, which is stupid. Jerry sounds like a moron complaining that girls are everywhere, so why go to a party, *even though the girl buying cough medicine in the drugstore isn't there to get picked up*. Later, at the actual party-- which Jerry and Elaine take turns mocking and saying that it's pointless-- George gets lucky with a girl, and gets to take her home. But it's so bizarre, because you hardly see George and the girl together at all, you only see George talking with Jerry with her. And then you see George and the girl leaving together briefly, but only so that Elaine can accost the girl about the (real) furs she's wearing-- which I read as, sex appeal! oh no, not that. Basically, most if not all of the main characters present are acting like real downers, not party people at all. (George sleeps with the girl, but later convinces himself that it was a mistake, with his chronic negative thinking.)
The episode title, "The Stranded", refers to the fact that Jerry and Elaine had to wait at the guy's house after everyone else had left, because they had to wait for Kramer to pick them up. (George took the car.) And, as you might expect, needed to get rescued by Kramer was something of an adventure. But after this incident of being The Stranded at the party, the episode starts to *lose direction*. Jerry unexpectedly meets up later with the guy who threw the party, and he ends up getting him in trouble, and George picks up on a little dispute he had earlier in the episode, and pursues it until he gets himself in trouble too. So, haha, they're both in trouble. But although the writing here certainly could have been *worse*, it makes even the rather short twenty minutes or so of one of these things seem to drag on for longer than it seems like it should. There's no amusing synchronicity of what it's like at it's better moments, or a common thematic link-- "The Chinese Restaurant" even has unity of place, but "The Stranded" is about an event (a party) that ends when maybe half the episode is over, and then just sorta dithers on in an occasionally unbelievable way, (George really did what? *who* showed up again?), before finally petering out.
If you asked Larry David what he didn't like about the episode, I'm not sure whether or not his reasons would sound like mine or not-- or even if there really are other, better reasons why the show doesn't work-- but basically the show leaves you with a *feeling* that it *doesn't quite work*, you don't quite want to buy it, and I think that this is the feeling that Mr. David had.
It's a mediocre episode of a very good show.
(7/10)
Seinfeld is a great show. However, not all Seinfeld episodes are equally good, and this one marks a low point. It was originally produced for Season 2 (and I watched it where it appears on the Season 2 DVDs), but Larry David was not happy with the episodes, and did not let it air until the middle of Season 3. After having watched the episode, it's hard not to agree that there's just something not right about it.
But first, let's try to remember what makes Seinfeld interesting to put this in perspective. There were comedy shows and sitcoms before Seinfeld, but Seinfeld opened up some new frontiers in the comedy genre. Before it, sitcoms were always about families: they centered around the living room, with the boring clutsy father with the newspaper on the couch, the long-suffering wife hovering in the background, and the kids buzzing around making noise. Now, families can be interesting, but this show was the first where all of the main characters were adults. It was the first to spend significant amounts of time looking at the dating scene. It was brave enough to talk about "nothing", and thereby open its eyes to everyday life.
But in this episode it doesn't work. One of the drawbacks of Seinfeld is the constant *negative thinking* of the characters, (George is probably most spectacular in not believing in himself, but Jerry can be pretty cynical too) and in this episode that is especially bothersome. Seinfeld was the first show to spend this amount of time on the dating game, so of course there's gonna be an episode about a party. But the problem is, they write if off as a problem before it even starts, which is stupid. Jerry sounds like a moron complaining that girls are everywhere, so why go to a party, *even though the girl buying cough medicine in the drugstore isn't there to get picked up*. Later, at the actual party-- which Jerry and Elaine take turns mocking and saying that it's pointless-- George gets lucky with a girl, and gets to take her home. But it's so bizarre, because you hardly see George and the girl together at all, you only see George talking with Jerry with her. And then you see George and the girl leaving together briefly, but only so that Elaine can accost the girl about the (real) furs she's wearing-- which I read as, sex appeal! oh no, not that. Basically, most if not all of the main characters present are acting like real downers, not party people at all. (George sleeps with the girl, but later convinces himself that it was a mistake, with his chronic negative thinking.)
The episode title, "The Stranded", refers to the fact that Jerry and Elaine had to wait at the guy's house after everyone else had left, because they had to wait for Kramer to pick them up. (George took the car.) And, as you might expect, needed to get rescued by Kramer was something of an adventure. But after this incident of being The Stranded at the party, the episode starts to *lose direction*. Jerry unexpectedly meets up later with the guy who threw the party, and he ends up getting him in trouble, and George picks up on a little dispute he had earlier in the episode, and pursues it until he gets himself in trouble too. So, haha, they're both in trouble. But although the writing here certainly could have been *worse*, it makes even the rather short twenty minutes or so of one of these things seem to drag on for longer than it seems like it should. There's no amusing synchronicity of what it's like at it's better moments, or a common thematic link-- "The Chinese Restaurant" even has unity of place, but "The Stranded" is about an event (a party) that ends when maybe half the episode is over, and then just sorta dithers on in an occasionally unbelievable way, (George really did what? *who* showed up again?), before finally petering out.
If you asked Larry David what he didn't like about the episode, I'm not sure whether or not his reasons would sound like mine or not-- or even if there really are other, better reasons why the show doesn't work-- but basically the show leaves you with a *feeling* that it *doesn't quite work*, you don't quite want to buy it, and I think that this is the feeling that Mr. David had.
It's a mediocre episode of a very good show.
(7/10)
