Seinfeld: Male Unbonding Review

POTENTIAL SPOILERS:

Now this is what we're talking about. The look, the theme, the characters. A big blueprint for what Seinfeld would become. It was a gamble to make four more episodes. Note that I am going by production order rather than when these episodes originally aired. So onto Male Unbonding, the only episode without "The" in it. (I think Seinfeld should have let the writers come up with some creative episode names. Some of them during its run are B-plot and not the main focus)

It's a Jerry episode for the most part, but with Kramer creating the reason for it. Jerry gets a call from a friend since childhood, Joel Horneck, who talked to Kramer. The comedian cannot stand the guy as he complains to his neighbor and George. An idea to end the friendship is skeptical but tried. Joel, played by Kevin Dunn, is a huge prick with a very short attention span. He doesn't care for what Jerry says and harasses a waitress at the coffee shop. Jerry decides to end it, but it backfires, resulting in his "friend" crying and tries to make amends.

Throughout the episode after that, Jerry tries to do whatever he can to avoid Joel. For the most part it works. George's story is pretty small, but he does serve as an important part of Male Unbonding. He has a decent relationship with a woman that goes south following an incident at a theater. However, he is the main reason for Jerry wanting to end the friendship with Joel. Not much else is there for him other than rolling coins from a huge jar of change and flipping out on Jerry for giving up tickets to the Knicks game.

Kramer, much like the pilot, has very small screen time. As mentioned, talking to Joel over the phone is the catalyst for the episode. This is also the episode with mentions of Kramerica Industries and a pizza place where people can make their own pizza, ideas that would resurface when the show got big. This is also the first produced episode with Elaine Benes. Like Kramer, she doesn't have much screen time as well. She has no story other than helping Jerry with his problem with Joel and hearing the sob story.

As I watch this, you can see the stuff that got Seinfeld and Larry David's feet wet. They needed a good impression and hit it out of the park. The characters feel a bit like what millions would watch throughout the years. It's got the stuff that they obsess over such as the relationships. Really, the only thing that isn't good is the lack of both Kramer and Elaine in the episode. Even George a little bit, but that part is minor. Despite that, it was a step in the right direction back in 1990. It's another solid episode in it's very short first season.

Score: 7 out of 10

Next week, Jerry decides to stake out a woman he saw at a get together.