zwolanerd

Seinfeld is my favorite show. Doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen it, if I stumble upon an episode, I’ll watch it. I love the characters (although if the show were just George, I wouldn’t watch it), I love the situations, I even love how Jerry can’t keep a straight face, even though I hate that exact quality in SNL actors.

I love all the big moments, but there are these little tiny moments every now and then that slay me – the way something is phrased, the intonation, the pause before a reply, all those little things you catch when you’ve seen a show a grillion times.

In episode 22 of season six, Puddy and Elaine are dating and Jerry gets tickets to a hockey game. Before they leave, Puddy paints his face to support his team, the Devils. The makeup is quite fantastic, and if was an average dude on his own coming up with that, you’d be pretty impressed. Elaine and Jerry are more what you’d call aghast. Their worlds don’t really allow for someone who not only paints his face for a hockey game but also scares random priests while wearing the face paint.

After there’s been a little time for this all to soak in, Elaine can’t take it.  “I can’t be with a face painter!” But she doesn’t come right out and tell him. No, first she sits through Puddy talking about how much he loves dip and how he thinks people should eat more dip and it should be a main meal. The camera cuts over to Elaine while he’s talking, and she is making this face:

This face says, “This is the last straw, I can’t deal with it, and I can’t even understand how I got to this point with a guy who paints his face and loves dip this much.” It’s the only time in the whole series I remember Elaine making this particular face, and I just love it.  She can’t have had any delusions about Puddy before all of this, they’ve been together for a little while already. And the thing is, even after the face painting and her making this face, they still get together several more times. It’s a great sub-arc for Elaine, really, but this face right here – I love it.

Tags: Favorite Things, Seinfeld

Written by: Mark