I've been sleeping on int quite awhile (to make sure my opinion was not 100% influenced by hype) before I finally decided whether or not the finale was worthy of Seinfeld.
Here's what I finally decided:
The feelings I had all along still stand: yes, it was overall pretty good, but it had a lot of problems and was disappointing, considering the event that it was. It was okay, but not really a "classic" and not a gut-wrenching bad one either (like "The Blood").
What I didn't like: 1. Legal premise was far-fetched and hard to swallow. Of course it would be overturned on appeal; it would even be political fodder ("My opponent says he was fighting crime by prosecuting bystanders and ignoring carjackers--but I'm not afraid to take REAL crime head-on...").
2. Ending was a let-down; partly because of the nature of the characters (we never saw them really suffer, or get over anything; I realize that was the point, but it also prevented us from seeing a powerful climax), and partly due to the wimpy one-year sentence.
3. Too much hype, and the CIA-level secrecy, raised everyone's expectations way too high. I suspect the real reason the plot was kept quiet was to shield the weak ending from TV critics and preserve the high rating and maniacally high ad rates.
4. Courtroom scenes gave the "fab four" too little face time. Ditto with J. Peterman. (Anyone notice Dan O'Hurley had more dialogue on the "Ellen" finale than the "Seinfeld" finale? On "Ellen", he played a 1950's game show announcer.)
What I did like:
1. The idea of the four getting their "comeuppance", and going on trial for being themselves (even if the vehicle for that was so far-fetched).
2. The Satre-esque "No Exit" ending in the jail cell, and the implications in Jerry's standup scene that they were all suffering in prison (sodomy, death threats) and *still* not changing.
3. The idea the four could survive a prison sentence--and a near-death experience--and never change.
4. New, creative ways to use such old references as "They're real...and they're spectacular." (LOL when Jackie Chiles said that.)
- Jackie Chiles, the highlight of the episode.
- Seeing a roomful of the Seinfeld bit players all at once...
Basically, the whole episode was a combination of the "Dick Van Dyke" finale (Rob's life made into a sitcom), and the "Hawaii Five-O" finale (publicly enemy #1, Wo Fat, finally behind bars--but pulls out a file in the final shot).
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a seven.
Dixon