Throughout its run, Seinfeld centered some of its most memorable jokes around doctors and hospitals (most notably in the Season Four episodes The Contest, The Outing and The Junior Mint), a trend that began hilariously in The Heart Attack.
As is often the case, the premise is related to one of George's misadventures: this time, he thinks he had a heart attack while talking to Jerry and Elaine. As it turns out, there was nothing to worry about, at least as far as the heart is concerned: his tonsils, which were removed when he was a kid, have grown back and are heavily inflamed. Surgery would be required, weren't it for Kramer, who is fascinated and repulsed by the subject at the same time and advises George to see Tor Eckman (Stephen Tobolowsky), a "talented" herbalist.
The show's notorious "no hugs, no learning" rule is depicted at its edgiest in this episode: while other examples of shallowness are perfectly believable, the sight of Jerry and Elaine exploiting George's paranoia to scare him borders on downright outrageous. Then again, this is Seinfeld, so such notions as rationality should be tossed outside the window, never more so than when Kramer is on screen - his description of a guy who became autistic during a hernia operation is insanely inspired and instantly amusing. Equally funny, which is generally impossible (I mean, how do you compete with Kramer?), is Tobolowsky's one-scene appearance, a mixture of all the things that make phony doctors look and sound fake, from the odd stare (the actor's trademark in later TV appearances) to the pseudo-philosophical reflections on his patients (upon learning George was born in April, he comments:"You should have been born in August").
Oh, almost forgot: this show also introduces the recurring gag of Elaine dumping her boyfriends for the silliest reasons. The crime in this case? He prefers talking about the tongue rather than jamming it down her throat (okay, maybe it's not that silly). Outstanding.
