"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.
"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.
