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I adore "The Cafe" and it is yet another episode of the third season that rides the show's newfound momentum very well. It is an excellent follow-up to "The Parking Garage" that returns the show to a more familiar narrative with multiple storylines that intertwine both effortlessly and quite naturally and it's also an episode where all its constituent parts are highly entertaining.

Probably the thing "The Cafe" is best known for is the introduction of the beloved character of Babu Bhatt, superbly played by Brian George, and while the entire Babu storyline is entertaining and very well done, my favourite aspect of this episode has always been George.

Yes, Brian George is hilarious and his transition from a restauranteur who is amicable to one who is cynical, frustrated and cold is hilarious (I especially adore how he just carelessly draws out a seat for Jerry during his second visit inside the restaurant) and Michael Richards shows some of his ability for physical comedy but I have always been very much a fan of George Costanza here in this episode. He opts to cheat on an IQ test, embarrassed about his lack of intelligence, even when the girl he's dating (whom he is doing this for as a favour to her) could not be less concerned about IQ tests. If the idea of George using Elaine to cheat on an IQ test to impress his girlfriend isn't funny enough, the direction it takes when the plan does not smoothly follow through is hilarious. The scene in which he continuously lies, almost in a pathological manner, to his girlfriend after he returns the paper (drenched in coffee, sandwich stains) is absolutely genius. Jason Alexander is on top form here and I absolutely adore the way he plays that scene in particular, and the means with which he lies is fantastic. For every question the girl asks, he almost responds with another question or a half answer, just enough time to contemplate where he will next take the lie. It's brilliant comedy, it's classic George Costanza and in my opinion, it's pure 'Seinfeld'.

"The Cafe" is excellent. Something prevents me from giving it the nine stars this time around that I had always given it but my enjoyment was not much less. Every storyline works very nicely here and the means with which they come together is yet another example of 'Seinfeld' writing at its best. Every character gets something great, George the most in my opinion, and arguably even more importantly, Elaine is becoming more and more a pivotal character in the series.

"The Library" might not be quite as polished as 'Seinfeld' episodes down the road but it is well remembered as a high point in the show's early years. This is where 'Seinfeld' was finally coming into its own and it's all on display in this fairly tightly woven twenty two minutes. There's very little that drags and while it is fondly looked back on for the character of Bookman, brilliantly played by the great character actor Phillip Baker Hall, it is entertaining all-round.

The episode begins with high pace and it sustains it quite well throughout the episode. What follows Seinfeld's opening stand-up piece is a phone call that Jerry receives from the New York Public Library whereby he receives the odd and distressing news that a book that he borrowed that he supposedly returned, is overdue and he will be met with a lengthy fine. The episode kicks itself into gear immediately and that too is refreshing and from here on in, the episode is an entertaining ride all the way through. Watching Kramer entice deeply buried feelings of love and lust in a lonely librarian is hilarious, as is the payoff later on where Kramer embarrassingly succumbs to tears while reading the librarian's poetry efforts. Michael Richards again nails the role and he makes even solitary phrases like 'memory burn' in this episode hilarious and memorable unto themselves. The character, the dynamic he adds to the show and the performance are all now at that ideal level.

While at the library, George discovers that his former gym teacher whom he had fired (according to Jerry, George 'sang like a canary') is now a destitute living outside the library. This is the sort of storyline that the show has done a number of times where George, either through no fault of his own or through a fault, has terrible consequences for someone else. It was present in the second season episode, "The Busboy" and will continue to make its presence known throughout the series. While the laughs on George's end may be a tad lacking compared to some of his more powerhouse performances this season, it's still very entertaining and it adds the classic 'Can'tstandya' to the 'Seinfeld' dictionary.

There's also Elaine, who gets the smallest role this episode albeit a still entertaining piece where she has trouble at work with her boss and fellow employees, who for some inexplicable reason seem to harbour feelings of resentment towards her. It's a very small story that gets a neat and amusing payoff later in the episode but arguably this storyline is most significant because it is early signs of Elaine's character becoming a more focal element of the series. Here we see her professional life and much like earlier in the season in "The Truth" where we saw her domestic life, it adds vitality to the character that makes her feel real, which is obviously of vital importance going forward with the series.

I enjoy "The Library" a lot even if my enjoyment does not quite match the reputation it has earned for itself. Phillip Baker Hall and his iconic character of Bookman is the obvious highlight of this episode but it manages to be entertaining beyond a powerhouse guest performance and character. I just don't *quite* consider it to be amazing.

"The Dog" frequently finds itself sitting near the bottom of most 'Seinfeld episodes ranked' type lists and has generally earned a reputation as one of the show's worst episodes something I personally do not subscribe to.

Had "The Dog" appeared in the first or even second season, I have a strong feeling that the episode could and would rank among the lesser efforts of the show but here in the very good third season that finally gave 'Seinfeld' both life and an identity as a show very much its own, I think this episode is certainly elevated as a result.

The weakest parts of the episode for me personally are the titular dog that finds itself a resident of Jerry's apartment and the dog owner, a British drunk who for whatever reason does not really seem to fit in the world of 'Seinfeld'. He's not the only character in my opinion who feels a little disconnected from the universe of 'Seinfeld' (there's a lot of characters in later seasons too but especially in the first and second seasons) in my opinion.

This episode is renowned for the awful sound design of the dog barking and while it certainly is not great and is rather grating, it's almost as if writer Larry David is self-aware, especially when Jerry almost bluntly at one point declares whether or not he really thinks of his new co-resident as a dog. It works nicely, whether intentional or not, as an acknowledgement to something otherwise so absurd that it could barely be justified.

Most of the things that surround the dog are very good in my opinion. I adore finally seeing an episode outside of season two's "The Revenge" where George and Elaine actually share screentime on their own. Some find this storyline very much shoehorned into this episode and consider George and Elaine's awkwardness among one another inconsistent as far as continuity goes. To my memory, the only real occasion where they spent time alone up to this point was in the aforementioned "The Revenge" but that was a case where the two were working towards an end goal (George wanting to slip a mickey into his old boss) and in my opinion justifies the storyline here. It feels fairly organic and both Jason Alexander and Julia Louis Dreyfus have a fantastic rapport on-screen. It's so great to see Elaine finally get the screentime she deserves having so often received the shorthand treatment in the first two seasons where she barely ever got any screentime on her own.

The George and Elaine angle is such a fun dynamic to this episode and they play both the friendship angles (humourously, their friendship is found through making fun at their mutual friend Jerry) and the awkwardness of being in one's company so magnificently. I laughed quite hard in the scene in Jerry's apartment where George and Elaine re-tread previous grounds where George attempts to mock Jerry's way of vomiting!

Kramer has a bit of a storyline too where he attempts to break up with a girl, especially after Elaine and Jerry mention how dull she is, and ends up getting back together with her. It's really pushed to the side here but in my opinion that storyline is completely warranted in this episode, if only for Kramer's 'monologue' where he first breaks up with the girl and subsequently begs to be taken back. Michael Richards simply nails the physical humour.

I enjoy "The Dog" quite a bit. There's a lot of great dialogue that is typically 'Seinfeld' in nature. The morality discussion that Jerry and George engage in as their waiting at the movie concession stand is particularly funny and oddly riveting 'Seinfeld' dialogue. Almost everything that surrounds the dog here, in my opinion, is absolutely 'Seinfeld' and I enjoy it for the most part.