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Another solid entrance in Season 4 streak of great episodes.

Something I got while watching this episode is how disconnected Kramer's life is in this couple of episodes with the rest of the gang. He always has an unrelated story and the rest has a somewhat connected story. It's not that it hurts the episode but it definitely hurts Kramer's relationship with the gang.

This episode feels like a filler but it is a great one. I say filler because nothing transcendental to the arc really happens or nothing memorable happens. Jerry and George start writing the sitcom and that (with the addition of the cabin's aftermath and Kramer's story with the Cubans) is the only bit of continuation we get.

That being said it has the side story of Jerry's situation with Elaine's secretary and that provides one of the best conversations of the season.

My gosh she gets crushed over everything. How does she survive in The New York hell hole?

March 20 2023rd

What was this episode about?: Letters are read out loud for some unexplained reasons.

Jerry talks clean and deals with a snowflake.

Elaine deals with her sensitive snowflake assistant.

Kramer wants cigars.

Story and the production overview: a filler episode for advertisements that don't matter anymore.

The only interesting saga is the dirty talking segment.

This episode was pure filler.

Highlight: Jerry and George struggling to write... George reading on the show... Dirty talking... And the ending.

Laugh meter: 8

Villian: Snowflake assistant

Girlfriend attractiveness level: she was hot a good 10.

What can be learned?: don't date sensitive people.

Verdict: Just a filler episode.

Although not exactly a two-parter, The John Cheever Letters follows the tradition of previous Season 4 episodes by harking back to plot elements from the show preceding it. Incidentally, it also follows the tradition of being very, very amusing.

The continuing story is that of the burned cabin, from which only a box of letters - correspondence between Susan's father and famed writer John Cheever - has been saved, making for an awkward first encounter between George and the Rosses (played by Twin Peaks stars Warren Frost and Grace Zabriskie). In other news, Kramer makes a contact for obtaining (illegal) Cuban cigars, and Jerry offends Elaine's assistant with an apparently off-color remark about the woman's underwear. In other words, business as usual.

Once again, the combination of "hot" material (just wait 'til you see how the Cheever subplot pays off) and the right guest stars is an essential ingredient for the episode's success: Frost and Zabriskie, best known for their work with Lynch, are allowed to try something quite different for a change and effortlessly become one of American TV's funniest married couples, with the promise of delivering more of the same in future installments. But one shouldn't forget the regular players. In fact, Jerry's panties remark and subsequent talk with George about women is the usual spot-on gag factory, while Elaine's closing remark is one of the finest in the entire series. No wonder people actually started watching it during this season...

I like the bit where they found all those incriminating letters

Jerry makes a mistake and gets Elaine's assistant angry. And she quits. Elaine makes him call her and make up. They go on a date where things get hot and heavy but Jerry make a stupid remark (which makes no sense), and she is furious. But the highlight is George going to dinner at the home of his girlfriend. In the previous episode, Kramer burned down the cabin with one of his Cuban cigars, but the father hasn't heard this. George is his incredibly insensitive self, despite what seems like a tragedy. A bit later, Jerry and George go back to the apartment and a delivery guy brings some partially burned letters. They are letters from the novelist John Cheever revealing the father is gay. It is just a hoot.