The Virgin

Hello there. This was just a fine-okay episode or an Okay-fine episode.

March 21st 2023rd.

What was this episode about?: Jerry dates Fraser's girl.

George self sabotages a relationship.

Elaine is childish.

Kramer eats pea pods.

Story and the production overview: Only a fine-okay episode.

Georges saga carries this episode.

Though Susan's fate will be much worse.

Highlight: George Kissing Susan during the meeting... George's stupidity paying off.

Villian: George. George is basically his own Villian. Always never satisfied with what he has.

Laugh meter: 7

Girlfriend attractiveness level: Fraser's girl is a good 7.2

What can be learned?: Take advice from R. Kelly. Keep it on the down low.

Verdict: An episode worth watching again.

George begins feeling his oats when his phony writing career attracts a young woman. But he is involved with Susan and Jerry points out that he is no longer available. The other person who comes into the picture is Jane Leeves, who played Daphne on Frazier. She is so incredibly pretty and Jerry is interested, but she admits things haven't worked out in the past because she is a virgin. Elaine steps in to terrify her even more with her words of advice about men. Meanwhile the guys are having an awful time coming up with a pilot script for the NBC show. During a meeting, George makes a big mistake. Also, Kramer continues to interrupt every time things get going. Apparently, this episode leads to a fantastic one. Can't wait.

The tenth episode of Seinfeld's fourth season is best remembered as the one that sets up the classic installment The Contest, which aired the following week. Nevertheless, it's perfectly enjoyable as a standalone piece of comedy, and one of the best chapters in the NBC storyline.

George and Jerry have to come up with an idea for their pilot project, and struggle to do so because of Kramer's constant interruptions. Eventually, they figure out something just hours before the meeting, which partly goes down the drain when George has the brilliant idea of kissing Susan in front of everyone, thus exposing their inappropriate relationship. Back at home, Jerry has more surprises in store as he discovers that the girl he's dating, Marla Penny (Jane Leeves), is still a virgin, which makes for a few awkward moments when Elaine comes up to the apartment to discuss her latest sexual mishaps...

Mixing realistic comedy and pure zaniness, The Virgin is great in providing insights into the frustrating realm of TV writing (although George's lack of experience in the field kind of adds extra layers of difficulty), paired with the cruel reality of corporate politics when Susan gets in trouble. The best moments, however, remain those featuring Marla, mixing a sweetness of sorts with a cruder brand of humor and showing Leeves' pre-Frasier comedic abilities (the episode aired several months before the intellectual sitcom made its debut). Smart and fun, in equal measure.

Jerry meets a young woman who turns out to be a virgin, and is not sure how to proceed from this point. Her situation doesn't seem to originate from religious beliefs. It's more like this is how life turned out and now at her age it has become an awkward situation when she starts a relationship.

Elaine tries to give her some pointers from her great body of knowledge, but just tends to frighten her by telling her that men change completely afterwards and are always looking for ways to not spend the night.

George has an interesting take on the situation - He's completely anti-virgin because, he says, virgins always remember their first time and George says that he wants to be forgotten. Who would think that George would have so much in common with golden age film star Kay Francis, who said she couldn't wait to be forgotten.

Now we get the "creme de la creme" of Season's 4 streak of great episode. This episode begins the mini-streak of four continuous classic episodes that includes The Contest, The Airport and ends with The Pick. All amazing episodes.

Apart from being great on its own, this one does a lot of job tying things together. On one side, it continues the arc of the season (the creation of the pilot) and gives substantial material to the arc (Susan getting fired, the conception of the pilot's story) and on the other side we get two stories that will set up two mini arcs respectively. One being the incident with Ping and the other being Jerry starting a relationship with Marla The Virgin.

As an individual episode it has great memorable moments and big laughs throughout. Jerry and George have a great conversation about George's relationship with Susan, we get a delightful George's reaction to Susan getting fired.

In summation, a great episode that apart from being amazing on its own, gains more credit for its importance in the season.

PD: loved the little detail of Elaine not getting the door opening. Little eggs that make the show much more realistic.