Coming after what's generally considered to be the peak of Seinfeld, Season 6 was a bit of an underwhelming followup, not because it's bad, but because it's kinda boring.
Season 6 of Seinfeld strikes a pretty solid balance between Season 4's heavy arc-driven nature and Season 5's standalone nature, pretty much revolving around the fallout of The Opposite. George is trying to adjust to his new job at the Yankees, while Elaine is struggling to pick her life back up after losing pretty much everything. I think this works pretty well for the show, as it can keep a standalone formula while also having a solid amount of plot progression culminating in a rewarding finale. This season also contains the show's 100th episode, so what would Seinfeld do for such a massive occasion? Well, they'd do an hour-long clip show, of course. I'd mark this as one of the show's worst episodes, but I'm not even sure if it counts. But despite this massive low point in the middle of the season, Season 6 doesn't really have any high points to even it out.
My biggest problem with Seinfeld's sixth season is that it's boring. There are solid episodes, and several funny jokes, but there wasn't a single episode that I genuinely loved. I think the lack of experimentation definitely holds this season back, I don't think there was a single episode that really tried to break new ground in the way that episodes like The Chinese Restaurant, The Contest, and The Mango did. It felt like the people behind the show were so confident in their formula that they lost the willingness to experiment, resulting in a season that just felt like it was going through the motions. Don't get me wrong, Season 6 was still fun, but by Seinfeld standards, it's just so average.
There aren't many highlights this season, but there are a few episodes of note:
The Chinese Woman: This episode was generally pretty average, but I want to give particular mention to "The Cape", who this episode should really be named after. It's one of my favorite jokes in the series, if anything because seeing Larry David pose in a cape is so hilariously dumb, I can't help but love it.
The Race: I adore this episode's main storyline about Jerry participating in a race. The Superman references, the hilarious ending, the fact that Jerry actually wins for once. The subplots aren't as amazing, but it's hard to really care with a main storyline this much fun.
The Switch: Cosmo! This episode is legendary for the sole reason that we finally learn Kramer's first name. But even aside from that moment, I love the subplot about Jerry's "non-laughter" girlfriend, along with his attempt to scare her off by proposing a threesome. This was just a generally entertaining episode and formed the high point of the season along with The Race.
The Jimmy: Jimmy is one of my favorite side characters of the show. I love his attitude, and I love the confusion he causes by referring to himself in the third person. We also get some great guest stars in the form of Bryan Cranston and Mel Torme, it's a great time all around.
Overall, Season 6 of Seinfeld wasn't necessarily a bad season, but it was fairly dull and unmemorable compared to the rest of the show.
3/5 Stars
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