"Seinfeld" The Betrayal (1997)

Director:

Andy Ackerman

Writers:

David Mandel (writer) &
Peter Mehlman (writer) ...

TV Series:

"Seinfeld" (1990)

Original Air Date:

20 November 1997 (Season 9, Episode 8)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

The infamous "backwards episode". Elaine decides to spite her old college roommate Sue Ellen Mischkie by taking her...

Plot Keywords:

Reverse Footage | Nonlinear Timeline | Eccentric | Neurotic | Stand Up Comedian

Cast

Jason Alexander	...	George Costanza
Michael Richards	...	Cosmo Kramer
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Elaine Benes
Jerry Seinfeld	...	Jerry Seinfeld
Wayne Knight	...	Newman
Brenda Strong	...	Sue Ellen Mischke
Michael McShane	...	FDR (as Micheal McShane)
Justine Miceli	...	Nina Stengle
Bart Braverman	...	Zubin Ranawat
Shaun Toub	...	Pinter Ranawat
Heidi Swedberg	...	Susan Biddle Ross
Noor Shic	...	Usha Ranawat
Jocelyne Kelly	...	Model
Brian Kaiser	...	Postman
Shelley Malil	...	Usher

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:PG (video rating)

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

The backwards episode "The Betrayal" is based on a Harold Pinter play, "Betrayal", which also uses the same gimmick. Sue-Ellen Mishkie's fiancée in the episode is named Pinter in tribute to the playwright.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the pilot episode Michael Richards' character is named "Kessler" (it would be changed to "Kramer" in the second episode) and Jerry refers to him by that name. Continuity error, possibly intentional. In episode 9.8 there is a flashback to the first meeting between Jerry and Richards' character, which occurs prior to when episode 1 takes place. Jerry says something like, ". . . you must be Kessler," and the reply is, "Actually, it's Kramer." If the conversation portrayed in episode 9.8 took place it's unlikely that Jerry would have referred to him as "Kessler" in the pilot episode.

Quotes:

Jerry Seinfeld: All right, I admit it. I slept with Nina - but that's all!
George Costanza: "That's all"? That's everything! I don't know what all the rest of it is for, anyway.

Movie Connections:

References Betrayal (1983)

A very clever parody of Harold Pinter's movie "Betrayal."

This episode is based on the movie "Betrayal" by Harold Pinter (winnerof the Nobel Prize for Literature, 2005). The movie starred Jeremy Irons and Ben Kingsley as long-time friends and business associates. As the movie opens, Irons's character meets with Patricia Hodge, the wife of Kingsley's character, to reminisce about an affair they'd broken off about a year earlier. The movie then moves backward in time until the closing scene that occurs just before Irons and Hodge embark on their affair. At every moment, the audience knows more than the characters do, which gives the story a compelling poignancy.

Seinfeld takes this conceit to hysterically funny levels by continually introducing "prior" information that makes what we just saw happen "later" all the funnier. The episode incorporates some inside jokes as well: there are several "love triangles" going on (Elaine, Susan, Pinter form one; Jerry, George, and Nina the other) and of course, the character of Pinter is an homage to Harold Pinter. The fact that they all go to India for the wedding may be a nod to Kingsley's heritage (he's half Indian).

Very creative and very funny, this episode proved that "Seinfeld" could be fresh and innovative even in its 9th season.