The Note

What better way to start with season 3 if not with one of the best episodes of the entire show.

The themes were child molestation, homophobia and insurance fraud. And how this can end up in such an amazing episode? That's the talent that lead this show to be one of the best shows ever.

An episode about getting a massage

August 27th 2023rd

What was this episode of Seinfeld about?: George gets a massage from a man

Elaine got a massage too.

Jerry gets a dentist in trouble

Kramer, off-screen, see's Joe DiMaggio eating a donut. Oh My!!

The story and the production overview: A fine like wine episode. Its funny, simple and fun. George's scene was amazing.

Highlight: "I think it moved"... Kramer looking back at George after saying something about being a stall guy.

Villain: Massage therapist for freaking out on Jerry for no reason.

Laugh meter: 10.

Overall: Great little episode

What can be learned?: Governments don't play with their money.

Verdict: Raymond!

"The Note", which is the third season premiere, is my favourite episode of the series up to this point. In my opinion, none of the previous seventeen episodes across the first two seasons (not even "The Chinese Restaurant" and "The Revenge") embodied the tone, rhythm, pace and humour that has made 'Seinfeld' such an influential piece of television.

"The Note" begins with Jerry's stand-up and one of the more impressionable ones up to this point in the series where he observes the strangeness of people constantly recommending their doctors to others as "he/she is the best, you should see them" and ponders where the 'worst' doctors are. It's probably one of the more memorable stand-up bits up to this point in the series and it effectively opens up season three with great momentum.

"The Note" was written by Larry David and directed by Tom Cherones, the man often credited with giving 'Seinfeld' its aesthetic sensibilities. This episode is right up there as David's best yet and fits perfectly in line with the 'Seinfeld' legacy of today while Tom Cherones at this point has really begun to nail the 'Seinfeld' look. Jerry's apartment no longer looks quite as pale and ghostly as it did across the first two seasons and the tone, at least on a visual level, is set into motion.

It also helps that this episode is genuinely funny and most of the humour feels well-earned and not so much on the cringe inducing end of things as was often the case in the first two seasons. George's predicament feels like a classic one for the character in retrospect and here it is played out in a really satisfying way. Jason Alexander gives one of his very best performances so far in the series and plays out the sheer awkwardness he feels to precision, especially in the scene where he receives his massage from male hands.

The most important thing to say about "The Note" is that it's funny and that is has such an eye for pacing and rhythm. Where the first two seasons often felt very stagnant, this episode feels that much more alive. The dialogue hums with such momentum and purpose, never feeling as though it is belaboured as was the case with the first two seasons, and the show has now begun to really find its voice. One notable example of this is the brief argument George and Elaine have after George discovers that his massage therapist is a man and wishes to swap with Elaine's, who is a woman. The dialogue feels absolutely palpable in that it is easy to imagine people getting into an argument like that but 'Seinfeld' being a comedy, it finds humour in the scenario.

While my memory on much of the third season is a little vague, this is definitely the season where 'Seinfeld' really begins to take on a mainstay presence and is a season filled with innumerable classic episodes.

This marks the beginning of the third season and the first solid one. On this season the Seinfeld staff starts developing the style they'll master by season 4.

Two main story lines here. Jerry having trouble with his two doctors and George getting a massage from a man and questioning his sexuality. This is the beginning of the whole homophobic thing that went on in the series (notable episode "The Outing"). Elaine and Kramer don't actually have a story line so this episode might never hit Classic level. Nevertheless, everything about George's story is.

Also, as most of the episodes of season 3, the pace is quite slow.

The beginning scene where Jerry terrifies his massage therapist with small talk, making himself appear a danger to her is really funny. It works because he is looking at the camera and can't see her expressions as he rattles on. George's reaction to the male masseuse is hilarious as well. And finally, the cheapskate efforts to get insurance to cover their sessions, getting their dentist in trouble, tops it off. And then, of course, there's Kramer.