"The Abstinence"

Just a couple things to discuss (or start the discussion of) regarding tonight's (11.21) episode of Seinfeld:

1) It was fantastic! The plot came together beautifully and each character played out the story fully.

2) The subplots added to the main plots at the end were great (Kramer's lawsuit, George's having of the sex, Elaine's getting dumped, & Jerry's chat w/ Letterman)

3) I loved the return of Sue Ellen Mishke, the "braless O'Henry Bar heiress" and Elaine's desperate attempts to one-up her. Elaine's dumb phase was hilarious, too. I cracked up with her clapping lethargicly at the tires.

4) I hope this episode was good enough to tide many viewers over for a few weeks (at least next week, with NBC's showing of Home Alone for Thanksgiving). Also, for the finale of sweeps, they probably will show at least 2-3 reruns before a new ep., which may be aired a little before XMAS.

5) And finally, a little shameless self-promotion: Rate this episode, among other things at http://www.mosquito.com/~uofmich/seinfeld.html

6) Responses; what'd everybody else think? There was a surprisingly lot of talk about sex, etc. but it was hilarious. The "cabbage demonstration" of George's brain reminded me of when Kramer did Leonardo Da Vinci's sleeping trick of sleeping 15 minutes of every 3 hours ("my brain... is mossy") also, Kramer's billboard ad reflected his calvin klein ads from a few seasons ago. Elaine's pleading of Jerry to have sex w/ her was really great

There was a surprising amount of characters or issues brought back:

this ep. relied heavily upon old issues, but the plot, etc. were full of new, great ideas

• Jerry's agent
• Kramer's billboard advertising
• Sue Ellen Mishke
• Elaine trying to sleep w/ Jerry
• and many others that i can't think of right now

Overall Grade: A

Seinfeld has definitely returned after a few bad episodes at the season's start, and has steadily climbed uphill. coupled w/ the reruns, many recently being broadcast for the 1st time, Thursday night is a fantastic evening of Tv. Thats all for now, -Brendan

I thought it was really good. It affirms Seinfeld's rebound from the bad episodes of this season, which bottomed out in the lame episode "The Fatigues" (which, I think, should have been called either "The Mentor" or "The Protoge") and stagnated with the mediocre "The Checks." However, the past two episodes have been great. "The Abstinence" was great except I do agree they talked about sex too much and Elaine's stupidity was a bit too exaggerated, as was George's at the end of the show. Kramer's plot couldn't have been more perfect, although by now we know to expect him to screw up Jackie's case.

Brendan Putnam wrote:

It wasn't a bad episode..but I don't agree with you on Elaine wanting to have sex with Jerry was great..I didn't like that part..or with Kramer..that just shows that she'll have sex with just about anyone.

Quoth [email] (Ben B):

(SNIP)

But remember, her mind was clouded (a la Mandrake the Magician) at the time, right?

I don't agree with you on Elaine wanting

What's wrong with her wanting to have sex with Jerry? They've done it before. 38 times, to be exact. Kramer, on the other hand . . .

Todd

In article , [email] (Todd) writes:

...has never had sex with Jerry but they did sleep together

:-)

It Shrinks...???

Just Me, Lisa

 [email]
* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Get the honey!"

                 ------------------------- "Fatso"

[email] (Todd) wrote:

Do you have sex with any of your best friends? If there wasn't anything wrong with it, why did Jerry get that look on his face?

[email] wrote:

Elaine will only have sex with someone if she considers them to be 'sponge-worthy'.

"If we weren't meant to eat animals, why are they made of meat"

Stan

[email] wrote:

Yeah, but it didn't really show..she had enough sense to beg Jerry for it..

wanting

She wanted her mind back - she didn't really care about the sex itself (she told Jerry he could read the paper).

And I think it showed that her mind was clouded when she was captivated by those spinning tires.

In article , [email] says...

That was the whole point of the episode; George, a man, became smarter, while Elaine became stupider since a woman, Jerry explained, can get sex any time, while a man spends all his time figuring out to get sex, and so when he turns his mind to other things he becomes a genius, while the opposite goes for a woman.

Why didn't she just masturbate like in "The Contest"?

In article , "John \"SNAP!!!MAN\" Thorpe" writes:

Sometimes...it's just not the same thing!

It Shrinks...???

Just Me, Lisa.

[email] wrote:

I don't think it was at that time..she had enough sense too beg jerry and she wasn't acting goofy that I noticed at the time.