In this case, though, I consider it justifiable and completely proportional revenge for wrecking his relationship for no good reason. I was cheering when he put on the lobster bib.
Not that I’m approving of the action but Jerry was in desperate straights and the old lady was being completely unreasonable. I think Jerry even offered her $100 for the one loaf. She could’ve gone back to the bakery the next day and gotten ten loaves if she wanted.
As for the worst thing any of them did, I have to go along with their reaction to Susan’s death. I realize none of them really liked her (and she didn’t like them) but that was cold.
Dire straights? As best I can remember, George’s parents had acted like jackasses and taken home a loaf of bread they brought to a dinner. Instead of just apologizing for his parent’s, he concocts a scheme to divert the parents while smuggling a new loaf into the house before they notice. That’s… not really my idea of dire. Unless I’m misremember something.
That part always annoys me. Perhaps Babu could be upset at all of Jerry’s bad business suggestions, but how is it Jerry’s fault that the mailman delivered Babu’s renewal form to the wrong mailbox and Jerry was traveling so didn’t get it in time?
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Summer of George!
I daresay misappropriating a mail truck to take advantage of Michigan’s ten-cent aluminum deposit probably comprised a federal offense.
Agreed. Babu is an ungrateful jerk.
What do you mean “besides the final show”? Staying out of that guy’s life was the best thing any of them ever did.
Not realizing that fact is why the last episode sucked.
Susan was the strangest character on the show to me. I think that for the most part, one of the great things about the show were the characters that popped up to support the main 4. George’s parents, Jerry’s parents, David Puddy, Kruger, J. Peterman, etc. Susan was not attractive, not funny, had a dead, monotone voice, and in my opinion was fairly asexual. The fact that she was on the show for so long mystifies me to this day. Her parents were great characters, but Susan (don’t know her real name) was a bad casting decision.
But George’s reaction to her death wasn’t funny. It was despicable. And the reactions of the other 3 were also bizarre. They could have cared less. I guess that was in keeping with the underlying character of each person on the show, which is why the end episode was an interesting attempt to point out the shallowness of each of the characters.
I know George was supposed to be Larry David in real life, but Jason Alexander strikes me as an annoying, arrogant little shit. Or maybe he just plays that character very well. But his appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm are supposed to be him, and he still comes off as a tool.
I still watch the show when I can, though! Last night, I got to see Susan’s mother say to Frank Costanza at dinner “something’s missing alright.”, one of my most used lines from Seinfeld.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the episode. You may be right. Didn’t he immediately go out and ask out…who was that actress chick?
Marissa Tomei.
I thought he went out with Marisa Tomei before Susan died.
That’s way too literal an interpretation. George was in a sense Larry David’s avatar, but to say that it was him “in real life” is not true.
Jason Alexander is supposed to be himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm in the same sense that Larry David, Ted Danson, and all the others are supposed to be themselves. That is, not really.
Marissa Tomei.
I found it funny. Especially Elaine’s “I’m… sorry?” reaction.
He did but she dumped him when he told her he was engaged. Then it showed him phoning her at the end of the episode where Susan died.
He called her after Susan died and tried to set up a date. It couldn’t be for the next day, with the funeral and all, but maybe afterward-
- and she hung up on him.
Didn’t Elaine hire a hit man to kill a dog?
She hired Newman and Kramer to kidnap the dog.
[QUOTE=gustav]
Dire straights? As best I can remember, George’s parents had acted like jackasses and taken home a loaf of bread they brought to a dinner. Instead of just apologizing for his parent’s, he concocts a scheme to divert the parents while smuggling a new loaf into the house before they notice. That’s… not really my idea of dire. Unless I’m misremember something.
[/QUOTE]
Apologizing for your parents’ behavior would be something many people would do but don’t forget this is George we’re talking about. George thought (correctly as it turned out) that Susan’s parents didn’t like him and he didn’t want to leave himself in an awkward situation that could’ve alienated him from them any further. Also, George was still so afraid of his parents that he lacked the will to apologize for them since they’d inevitably find out he “badmouthed” them behind their backs.
As for Jerry, he was George’s best friend and had to help get him out his jam. That’s what best friends do. (And $100 for a $9 loaf is still a helluva deal. As I said earlier, the old lady could’ve gone back the following day and got 10 or 11 loaves.)
I don’t know if it was a bad casting so much as the character simply being a bland “normal” person surrounded by comic neurotics (i.e., a foil). She wasn’t supposed to be one of “funny” ones. In fact, you can argue that like Frank Grimes on “The Simpsons”, Susan in the end existed to demonstrate what likely would happen to a “real-life” person in the “Seinfeld” universe.
Usually the Seinfeld gang gets paid back when the are rude and uncaring.
Jerry gets illegal cable, but the installer gets mad and breaks the TV.
George doesn’t care when Susan dies, then is forced to find out what he would’ve got from marrying her, he no longer gets, AND THEN has to be the one to distribute it.
Elaine has the dog kidnapped, but like the proverbial cat it just comes back.
Kramer steals lobster and the guy rats him out.
Jerry steals a loaf of rye and the lady is a member of the board which impeaches his father. (In that case the lady got what she deserved. He did offer her $50 for it :))
I didn’t think George’s reaction to Susan’s death was odd. He obviously didn’t love her. He didn’t even care for her. Sure he lived with her but that was all fake. If a stranger died, you’d show just as much emotion as George, and that was the point, Susan and George were just strangers to each other.
I stand corrected. It was $50 rather than $100. That was still enough for five loaves with $5 left over.