The Opera

George has tickets to opening night at the Met. He got them from Susan but she can't go. Things work out to where George, Elaine, Jerry, and Kramer are going, though Jerry puts up a hissy fit. It is revealed that Elaine has been dating Crazy Joe Davola who has just threatened Jerry with the big kibosh. When everyone is scared, it is revealed that the tickets are worth a small fortune, so George (anything for a buck) Costanza and Kramer begin to scalp their tickets. Suddenly, Susan, who thought she would miss this night, shows up because her flight is cancelled. Anyway it gets even more interesting. Another funny thing is that Kramer's Cuban cigars were all burned in the fire and he goes to the Cuban embassy to gets some more, with hilarious results. Superb comedy.

For me, this one was on the verge of being a 7, but it ultimately got the 8 rating.

For continuity of Season 4's world creation terms, we got the ending of Elaine's relationship with Crazy Joe Davola. Here Davola gets a lot of screen time and that, at times, can get a little underwhelming. Aside from that, we don't get any continuity of the actual arc of this season (the pilot) and we get just a Susan cameo in the end.

As many episodes of Seinfeld, The Opera revolves around a singular story for the four characters. It's not a bottle episode like The Parking Garage or The Subway, but the episode is all about that one event. And we finally got a more connected-with-the- gang Kramer. Up until this point in the season, Kramer's story lines developed outside and unconnected with the rest of the main protagonists. Here he is a main element in the story.

Getting technical, I believe there two things that made me hesitate about its rating. One being the somewhat cinematic style and the other being the fact that it isn't quite that memorable. Aside from the two part cinematic nightmare that was the season's opening episode, the cinematic style in directing decisions was complete erased with classic Seinfeld style coming back. But here it appears again (subtly). We get really anti-climatic editing decisions (concerning Davola's lifestyle) and weird scenes that are downright out of place (Davola fighting a street gang). Aside from that, the other problem is that there aren't a lot of memorable scenes or just really funny ones. It is a entertaining episode, there's no denying, but Seinfeld is comedy so if there are no funny scenes, there's something missing.

Having said that, and aside from Davola's anti-climatic side story, this is a very well handled episode and fits just right in Season 4's streak of great episodes.

He was a mad man. Running chaos through season 4.

March 20th 2023rd. This review was written.

What is this episode about?: Davola is off his meds.

Gang goes to an opera

Kramer and George sell tickets

Elaine and Jerry Seinfeld come to realize only Joe stands between them.

Story and The Production Overview: Great episode. The mild violence really made this episode great to watch.

Highlight: George wearing his tight tuxado. He looked like a batman villian.

Villian: Joe Davola.

Girlfriend Attractiveness level: N/A...

Laugh meter: 6. Though still a good episode.

What can be learned?: Stay clear from Joe Davola

Verdict: 1 crazy episode.

The opera is good the bugs bunny song sung by Jerry is great

Ah, opera: a wonderful cultural event to savor and treasure as one of the most meaningful experiences of your life... if this were an episode of Frasier, that is. But since this is Seinfeld, it means the opera is used in a rather different way to serve the crazy plot machinations of writer Larry Charles.

In fact, the opera is more of a punishment for Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine who, due to a series of customarily preposterous circumstances, have to endure a night of music and clowns. However, Jerry has an even bigger problem: his nemesis "Crazy" Joe Davola (Peter Crombie) has left a threatening message on his answering machine, and Elaine is dating a guy named Joey, who just happens to be the same Crazy Davola...

Opera and stalking: two completely unrelated topics that come together to great effect on television, all for the sake of good, clever laughs. The way Charles and director Tom Cherones depict one of the highest art forms would normally be enough to grant the episode a classic status (and watching the gang's behavior in that context is always a joy), but the real kicker is the payoff to the Davola subplot, with Crombie giving a truly manic and hilarious performance. Funny detail: the character's name comes from one of Larry David's friends...