Season 2
EPISODE 6
THE EX-GIRLFRIEND
FIRST AIRED 1/23/91 WRITERS David/ Seinfeld DIR. Cherones
SYNOPSIS Jerry develops a "psychosexual" need for George's ex, Marlene
(Tracy Kolis). Elaine gets into the first of many paranoid confrontations, this time with
a neighbor who has stopped saying hello. HISTORIC MOMENT Our first glimpse of Jerry
in his car. (These people regularly drive in Manhattan? They truly are nuts.)
Kramer inaugurates two trademark obsessions: fresh fruit and golf. CRITIQUE The
series' most multifaceted (if not most engaging) narrative so far—a sign of things to
come. B
EPISODE 7
THE PONY REMARK
FIRST AIRED 1/30/91 WRITERS David/ Seinfeld DIR. Cherones
SYNOPSIS At his elderly cousin Manya's 50th-anniversary party, Jerry makes a
disparaging remark about people who had ponies as kids. When Manya, a former pony owner,
takes offense, then proceeds to drop dead, Jerry is racked with guilt. INTRODUCES
Barney Martin as Jerry's father, as well as the delightfully cantankerous uncle Leo (Len
Lesser), avid fan of cousin Jeffrey (someone whom, along with much-mentioned Kramer bud
Bob Sacamano, we will never see. Says Seinfeld: "They've become too large in our
imagination for anyone to fill those shoes"). CRITIQUE Seinfeld at its
mordant best. A-
EPISODE 8
THE JACKET
FIRST AIRED 2/6/91 WRITERS David/Seinfeld DIR. Cherones
SYNOPSIS Almost as inexplicable as Jerry's shelling out countless hundreds for
a simple suede jacket is the enveloping sense of confidence it bestows upon him. Both are
imperiled by the arrival of Elaine's irascible novelist father, Alton Benes (Lawrence
Tierney). HISTORIC MOMENT Establishes Elaine's first job (manuscript reader at
Pendant Publishing) but little else about her immediate family. A few things we will
learn: She's from Towson, Md., has a sister in St. Louis, and an uncle who worked in the
Dallas book depository with Lee Harvey Oswald. CRITIQUE Jerry and George's
torturous hotel-lobby meeting with Mr. Benes is a squirm-inducing joy. B+
EPISODE 9
THE PHONE MESSAGE
FIRST AIRED 2/13/91 WRITERS David/Seinfeld DIR. Cherones
SYNOPSIS A blown invitation for "coffee" and an unreturned phone call
from a could-be-girlfriend prompt George's insecurities to run amok. Jerry dates, then is
dumped by, a woman because she's a fan of a Dockers commercial (ironically, he gripes,
"They're talking about nothing!"). CRITIQUE The first of two consecutive
and classic George angst-fests, as Jason Alexander—master of frantic
venom—begins to make the character his own. B+
EPISODE 10
THE APARTMENT
FIRST AIRED 4/4/91 WRITER Peter Mehlman DIR. Cherones
SYNOPSIS Jerry offers to hook Elaine up with a dirt-cheap apartment in his
building, then immediately reconsiders. George, believing women to be more attracted to
married men, sports a wedding band. HISTORIC MOMENTS The premiere of Elaine's
patented "Get out!" shove, and the much-referred-to "pop-in"
(unexpected visits—as in, Elaine will be popping in all the time if she moves
upstairs). CRITIQUE George's profound self-hatred is now in full bloom
("Please, a little respect, for I am Costanza, Lord of the Idiots!"). Kramer's
input, meanwhile, remains limited to off-the-wall, often annoying cameos. Which reminds
us: Why in the world has Alexander been denied an Emmy, while Richards has scored two? B+
EPISODE 11
THE STATUE
FIRST AIRED 4/11/91 WRITER Larry Charles DIR. Cherones
SYNOPSIS Elaine's editing of arrogant Finnish novelist Rava (Nurit Koppel)
leads Jerry to a housekeeper: Rava's flakily high-brow beau, Ray (Michael D. Conway). When
a family memento (coveted by George) disappears, Kramer plays cop to get it back from Ray.
CRITIQUE Even Seinfeld's bit players must have some grounding in
reality—you need to love to hate them. Ultimately, there's no redeeming comic
payoff to Rava's and Ray's weirdness. C-
EPISODE 12
THE REVENGE
FIRST AIRED 4/18/91 WRITER David DIR. Cherones SYNOPSIS
George quits his job at Rick-Bar Properties when he is banned from the executive toilet,
then reconsiders. When the boss won't rehire him, George enlists Elaine to "slip him
a Mickey" at a company party. Jerry and Kramer pursue a vendetta of their own at the
Laundromat. INTRODUCES Newman, sort of: He's heard but not seen as he threatens a
suicidal leap—from the second floor. CRITIQUE Although neat for its parallel
plotting and George's hilariously clueless career chats with Jerry, "Revenge" is
not so sweet. C
EPISODE 13
THE HEART ATTACK
FIRST AIRED 4/25/91 WRITER Charles DIR. Cherones SYNOPSIS
After watching a TV show on heart attacks, suggestible George believes he's having one;
when a hospital visit proves it's just tonsillitis, miserly George opts for Kramer's
holistic healer, Tor Akman (Stephen Tobolowsky), and finds you get what you pay for. CRITIQUE
What Seinfeld excels at is finding the eccentric in the apparently normal. A kooky
New Age doctor? That's hitting the broad side of a barn. D
EPISODE 14
THE DEAL
FIRST AIRED 5/2/91 WRITER David DIR. Cherones SYNOPSIS
Couch-bound and bored watching the "naked station," Jerry and Elaine decide to
have sex—albeit with friendship-protecting ground rules. All is well until Elaine's
birthday, when Jerry must come up with a gift appropriate to their now-nebulous
connection. CRITIQUE Jerry and Elaine's circuitous verbal dance pondering the
relative worth of "that [sex] versus this [the friendship]" is sublime. The
show's ability to be both explicit and vague will become a hallmark. B+
EPISODE 15
THE BABY SHOWER
FIRST AIRED 5/16/91 WRITER Charles DIR. Cherones SYNOPSIS
Two absurdly disparate events—a baby shower and an illegal cable-TV installation
(engineered by Kramer)—converge in Jerry's apartment on a fateful Saturday. And
George has a bone to pick with the prospective mommy, an egocentric performance artist who
once humiliated him with chocolate syrup. CRITIQUE After a promising opening, this
baby quickly degenerates into heavy-handed farce. D
EPISODE 16
THE CHINESE RESTAURANT
FIRST AIRED 5/23/91 WRITERS David/Seinfeld DIR. Cherones
SYNOPSIS En route to a Plan 9 From Outer Space screening, Jerry, George,
and Elaine wait for a table in a Chinese restaurant. CRITIQUE The epitome of the
show-about-nothing concept. George is at his pressure-cooker best, but it's
Elaine—famished and in high dudgeon—who is the centerpiece. A-
EPISODE 17
THE BUSBOY
FIRST AIRED 6/26/91 WRITER David/Seinfeld DIR. Cherones
SYNOPSIS George inadvertently gets a busboy (David Labiosa) fired, then
haplessly tries to make amends. Elaine reluctantly entertains a guest from Seattle
("He's a wonderful guy, but I hate his guts," she says with characteristic
irony). HISTORIC MOMENTS First reference to Kramer as the K-Man. We learn that
George went to fat camp. CRITIQUE Aside from one physically inspired moment of
Elaine mania, there's nary a laugh in this loser. D
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