"The Robbery" doesn't entirely work for me since it is still a somewhat stilted and awkward affair but it is worth noting that Kramer is finally realized in this episode. He's no longer so aloof that he's a shut-in as he was portrayed in the pilot but rather someone who operates on some seeming level of normality. Even if everything that happens in his own world is bizarre and inexplicable, there's a slightly more grounded appeal to Kramer here which is part of what makes him so delightful. He's more sociable in how he's presented and the fact that he left the door to Jerry's apartment open, which was subsequently robbed, is hilarious as is the manner with which it was presented. It's but one brief moment in this half hour episode but it filled me with a sort of delight.
Matt Goldman furthers on David and Seinfeld's small work on the character in "The Stakeout" and while 'real estate agent' George is not a character to whom I have any particular memory or prior feelings, he is well portrayed here. There is a sense of George as someone who feels pathetic, so much so that he finds and offers Jerry a wonderful apartment and then begins to desire it himself. That's a classic George Costanza moment but here it doesn't quite reap the laughs for me.
If there's a character that I still feel is a bit lacking in the qualities that make them who they are later on, it's Elaine. Many of her lines continue to fall flat for me and while Julia Louis Dreyfus is fine, there just is not much for her character as of yet.
Jerry is the straight man and both this episode and its predecessor have sufficiently portrayed him as the mostly straight man. He's generally fairly comfortable around women, leaves a mostly normal life and often cracks weak jokes.
"The Robbery" has a nice ending that as another user stated here, really enforces the spirit of the show as one in which its characters never grow. There's no real sentimentality in this episode and if anything, the characters begin to act in a more selfish tone as would become the norm with the show and a large reason behind its legacy.
The issue that I find reviewing the early episodes of the show continues in that much of my criticism helms from the fact that I cannot help but make comparisons to the show that it goes onto become, the show I love, and in doing so, most of my criticisms are drawn out of context. "The Robbery" is mildly amusing but in my opinion, a slight step down from its predecessor. Seinfeld is finding its way slowly but surely however.
Matt Goldman furthers on David and Seinfeld's small work on the character in "The Stakeout" and while 'real estate agent' George is not a character to whom I have any particular memory or prior feelings, he is well portrayed here. There is a sense of George as someone who feels pathetic, so much so that he finds and offers Jerry a wonderful apartment and then begins to desire it himself. That's a classic George Costanza moment but here it doesn't quite reap the laughs for me.
If there's a character that I still feel is a bit lacking in the qualities that make them who they are later on, it's Elaine. Many of her lines continue to fall flat for me and while Julia Louis Dreyfus is fine, there just is not much for her character as of yet.
Jerry is the straight man and both this episode and its predecessor have sufficiently portrayed him as the mostly straight man. He's generally fairly comfortable around women, leaves a mostly normal life and often cracks weak jokes.
"The Robbery" has a nice ending that as another user stated here, really enforces the spirit of the show as one in which its characters never grow. There's no real sentimentality in this episode and if anything, the characters begin to act in a more selfish tone as would become the norm with the show and a large reason behind its legacy.
The issue that I find reviewing the early episodes of the show continues in that much of my criticism helms from the fact that I cannot help but make comparisons to the show that it goes onto become, the show I love, and in doing so, most of my criticisms are drawn out of context. "The Robbery" is mildly amusing but in my opinion, a slight step down from its predecessor. Seinfeld is finding its way slowly but surely however.
