Seinfeldremainsone of the greatest sitcoms of all time, but its success was because it wasn’t like every other sitcom. Half-hour family comedies had long been a trope, even beforeSeinfeldcame to be, with the usual plot of a family getting into a small fight, hijinks ensuing, then at the end of thirty minutes, everyone getting back together for a big hug as the studio audience cheers. That’s a comfortable formula, but it’s not at all whatLarry DavidandJerry Seinfeldwanted for their show. Theirs was going to have no lessons learned, no growing, and certainly no hugging.
That madeSeinfeldunpredictable because it had no set formula. It was wild and could get away with a lot on network TV, but in one episode,Seinfeldbecame that typical sitcom. Season 2’s “The Deal” has Jerry and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) coming to a serious fork in the road with their relationship.It leads to a bizarre, serious change for Jerry where he shares his feelings and even changes. What’s the deal with that?
‘Seinfeld’ Took Nothing Seriously for Nine Seasons
Pretty much nothing was off-limits onSeinfeldexcept for meaningful romance. It’s saying something thatthe aloof Kramer with his wild schemes(Michael Richards) was more of the normal one, while Jerry especially, along with Elaine and George (Jason Alexander), seemed to have a new girlfriend or boyfriend in every episode.
It wasn’t just that none of these self-absorbed people could hold down a significant other, either.Seinfeldwas such an unserious show that the writers would do the worst things possible to the poor souls who had the misfortune of meeting Jerry and company. In one episode, “The Merv Griffin Show,“Jerry goes so far as to drug his girlfriendso he can play with her retro toy collection. And then there’sthe tragic Susan (Heidi Swedberg), a normal woman who just wanted to live an easy lifeand watchMad About You, only for her fiancé, George, to hate her to the point that he breathed a sigh of relief when she died after licking toxic wedding invitation envelopes. Even death itself was played for laughs. However, one episode had a scene so serious that not only was there no laughter, butfor a few minutes,Seinfeldtransformed into a romantic drama.
Larry David Calls “The Deal” ‘Seinfeld’s Only Serious Episode
Unlike mostSeinfeldepisodes,Season 2’s “The Deal,” written by Larry David, doesn’t have several interwoven plots carrying it along to the end. Jerry and Elaine are the front-and-center focus throughout. As with so many sitcoms,Seinfeldhas Jerry and Elaine as exes who are now friends, but there was none of thatwill-they-won’t-theygoing on here. If you’re expecting someFriendsorThe Office-typeromance,Seinfeldis the wrong series to get invested in. There are the slightest of teases, like Jerry begging Elaine to have sex with him when she says he never gave her an orgasm, but that’s only because he wants to prove himself — not because either has any lingering feelings. Another episode has Jerry so in touch with emotions that he asks Elaine to marry him, but when she later says yes, he’s already changed his mind. Those were comedic moments not to be taken seriously, but the same can’t be said for “The Deal.”
Here,Jerry and Elaine are on Jerry’s couch, with Elaine flipping through channels trying to find something to watch. As she’s scrolling, she reminds Jerry that her birthday’s coming up soon, before settling on a channel with a nude scene. The two begin to talk about how long it’s been since they’ve had sex, leading to a flirty exchange of smiles. After some awkwardness, they reminisce about their past sex life with each other, which leads to a “what if” about what would happen if they had sex again. Jerry’s afraid of their friendship being damaged, because “this,” the friendship, is good, and “that,” a sex life, could be good too. Butthey need to find a way to take “this” and add “that” without any trouble. Jerry and Elaine come up with a set of rules, with an agreement made that there can be no sleepovers or calls the next day.
One of the Best ‘Seinfeld’ Characters Almost Never Happened
It would have been a totally different show.
Now that they’ve made a deal, Jerry and Elaine become friends with benefits. Jerry tells George about it the next day at the diner, who finds their deal hilarious. What they’re trying is impossible! Everything is going well at first, but Elaine is quickly upset when Jerry doesn’t stay the night. Jerry then really screws up by deciding that for Elaine’s birthday, he’ll give her… cash. Between that and the card where Jerry calls her a “pal,” Elaine is hurt. Jerry wants to go back to being friends, but here’s whereSeinfeldturns into something else. It’s complete silence as Elaine tells Jerry that she can’t do it. She wants “this,” “that,” and “the other,” but Jerry doesn’t. InSeinfeld, the show about nothing, “The Deal” shows abrokenhearted Elaine ending things with the guy who is her best friend.In the DVD commentary for the episode, Larry David called it the only serious moment in nine seasons ofSeinfeld.
Putting Jerry and Elaine Back Together Would Have Been a Disaster
It only gets deeper after that when Jerry is back at the diner telling George what happened. There is no laughing it off or calling Elaine crazy like you might expect. Jerry’s shaken that he’s losing his friend. Instead ofbeing a smart aleck like he always is, a very serious Jerry says, “If I do call her, there’s no joking around anymore. This is pretty much it.” Jerry thinks she’s as “it” as it gets. His worst nightmare is bumping into Elaine years from now and discovering that she’s married. He’s going to lose Elaine if he doesn’t do something big. We don’t see Jerry’s phone call, but whatever he says, it works, becausein the last scene of “The Deal,” Jerry and Elaine are a couple again. Their happiness is so disgusting that Kramer tells them, “Boy, I really liked the two of you much better when you weren’t a couple.”
“The Deal” is not a bad episode ofSeinfeld, but the problem, if it is one, is that it doesn’t feel likeSeinfeldat all. It’s shocking to know that Larry David wrote it. It does make sense though, when you look at when it was made. The episode is not even halfway into the second season when the series was still rough around the edges and trying to figure itself out. It wouldn’t be untilSeason 4 that it really clicked. Perhaps David was feeling the pressure to put Jerry and Elaine together. If that was the case, no worries, becauseby the next episode ofSeinfeld, Jerry and Elaine are friends again, as if nothing in “The Deal” ever happened. This is becauseSeinfeld’s early episodes aired out of order from when they were filmed.
Keeping Jerry and Elaine apart was the wise choice, and not just becauseSeinfeldaimed to be different from more traditional sitcoms.Imagine if they had stayed as a couple and what it would have done to the other plot lines. We wouldn’t have all of Jerry’s girlfriends of the week, with him constantly messing it up or finding the slightest reason to get out of it. Elaine would have never met David Puddy (Patrick Warburton), thegreatest recurring partnerof the foursome inSeinfeld’s run.Elaine was always meant to be more independent— a strong woman who didn’t always need a man, and could be just as awful as anyone else.Seinfeldhad a lot of “this” and “that” over nine years, but there was no need for the “other.”
