The Betrayal
Encyclopedia
"The Betrayal" is the 164th episode of the NBC
sitcom Seinfeld
. This was the eighth episode for the ninth and final season. It aired on November 20, 1997. The episode is colloquially referred to as The Backwards Episode
due to its use of reverse chronology
, starting with the final scene and playing in order backwards. The episode can be played in "correct" order (chronologically) on the DVD release of season 9.
, George
, and Elaine
return from their disastrous trip to India
that they don't want to talk about. Sue Ellen Mischke calls her wedding off, and Nina (Justine Miceli
) hates George but is not interested in Jerry. George finds out that Jerry slept with Nina and that Elaine had slept with the groom. Kramer
and FDR (Franklin Delano Romanowski) settled their scores with a snowball. Jerry "schnapps
" Elaine to find out why George is so bitter about him. Kramer tries to out-wish FDR.
Elaine, Jerry, George and Nina arrive in India, where Elaine discovers that the groom, Peter, also named Pinter, is a man whom she has slept with and that they are the only people from the United States who are attending the ceremony. Kramer is angry with Newman because he didn't use his birthday wish to save Kramer from FDR. By offering schnapps
to Elaine, George finds out the secret she is keeping about Jerry and Nina. Elaine buys tickets to India to spite Sue Ellen by showing up at her wedding.
Kramer tries to get Newman
to use his birthday wish to protect Kramer from FDR. Elaine discovers that Jerry and Nina have just slept together. Elaine meets the parents of Sue Ellen's fiancé who try to convince her not to go to India for the wedding; after all they aren't even going. Jerry and Nina suffer an awkward pause in their conversation, causing them to have sex on Jerry's counter.
Kramer confronts FDR about his birthday wish. Elaine's mail from India is an "unvitation" to Sue Ellen's wedding in India to someone whose name seems familiar to her. George asks Jerry to call Nina about setting them up on a date and realizes he must wear his Timberlands every time he sees her. Jerry and George are walking down the street and they run into Nina, an old girlfriend of Jerry's whom he never slept with. Kramer attends FDR's birthday and FDR gives him the evil eye right before blowing out the candles on his cake. Elaine receives an item in the mail from India.
Two years earlier, Jerry tells George and Susan that Nina might be the one; he's very impressed when she mentions something he's never heard of, called "e-mail"; Kramer nails FDR in the back of the head with a snowball; Elaine is dating an Indian man named Peter at this moment.
Eleven years earlier, new resident Jerry tells his neighbor across the hall, whom he calls Kessler (the name on the buzzer), that phrase, "What's mine is yours", gives reason to why Kramer will frequently goes to his apartment later on.
's play (and film) Betrayal
. The debt to Pinter's play appears in the episode's title, "The Betrayal", in the use of reverse chronology, which mimics a prominent feature of Pinter's play, and in the choice for the first name of the groom, Pinter Ranawat, whose wedding Jerry and his friends travel to India to attend. The episode develops motifs relating to the theme of betrayal, exposing various betrayals in the plot. In one segment of this episode, Jerry betrays George by having a relationship with George's girlfriend, Nina, while it turns out that Elaine has previously had an affair with Peter, named Pinter in India, who is marrying her rival friend, Sue Ellen Mishke. The backward chronology begins in India, ending in Jerry's very first meeting with Cosmo Kramer
in his apartment, eleven years earlier.
closing logo twice: once during the start of the episode, since the episode goes backward, and another to end the episode.
Susan Ross, despite having died at the end of Season 7, makes a return appearance in this episode. She appears during a brief flashback to "two years earlier", during the time when she was still alive, and when she and George were engaged. She also provided the phrase George claims he owns: "You can stuff your sorries in a sack, mister." In "Notes About nothing", this flashback supposedly took place between "The Secret Code
" and "The Pool Guy
" in terms of the timeline. Also at the time revealed by Peter Mehlman in the "Audio Commentary" and Heidi Swedberg in "Inside Look" that she already had her head shaved for another episode in a different show so she has to wear a wig for this appearance.
Mike McShane
apparently makes his final brief appearance as FDR in "The Wizard", talking to George as a hot dog vendor while Mr. and Mrs. Ross come out of the store.
Vegtable Lasagna aka Magnus seen in "The Butter Shave
" in a deleted scene makes a final brief appearance next to Elaine on the plane.
. This "forward" version has never aired on television.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sitcom Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
. This was the eighth episode for the ninth and final season. It aired on November 20, 1997. The episode is colloquially referred to as The Backwards Episode
The Backwards Episode
Quite a number of television shows have had episodes which were narrated in reverse chronology, due possibly to narrative style, some sort of time travel mechanism, or a character who perceives time passing in the opposite direction...
due to its use of reverse chronology
Reverse chronology
Reverse chronology is a method of story-telling whereby the plot is revealed in reverse order.In a story employing this technique, the first scene shown is actually the conclusion to the plot...
, starting with the final scene and playing in order backwards. The episode can be played in "correct" order (chronologically) on the DVD release of season 9.
Plot
JerryJerry Seinfeld (character)
Jerome "Jerry" Seinfeld is the main protagonist of the American television sitcom Seinfeld . The straight man among his group of friends, this semi-fictionalized version of comedian Jerry Seinfeld was named after, co-created by, based on, and played by Seinfeld himself.The series revolves around...
, George
George Costanza
George Louis Costanza is a character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Jason Alexander. He has variously been described as a "short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man" , "Lord of the Idiots" , and as "the greatest sitcom character of all time"...
, and Elaine
Elaine Benes
Elaine Marie Benes is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Elaine's best friend is her ex-boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld; she is also good friends with George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer...
return from their disastrous trip to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
that they don't want to talk about. Sue Ellen Mischke calls her wedding off, and Nina (Justine Miceli
Justine Miceli
Justine Avignon Miceli is an American actress. She was born in Sunnyside, Queens, New York. Miceli studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Early in her career, she acted in television commercials, off-Broadway shows, and traveled with touring theater companies. She appeared on...
) hates George but is not interested in Jerry. George finds out that Jerry slept with Nina and that Elaine had slept with the groom. Kramer
Cosmo Kramer
Cosmo Kramer, usually referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Michael Richards...
and FDR (Franklin Delano Romanowski) settled their scores with a snowball. Jerry "schnapps
Schnapps
Schnapps is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage. The English word schnapps is derived from the German Schnaps , which can refer to any strong alcoholic drink but particularly those containing at least 32% ABV...
" Elaine to find out why George is so bitter about him. Kramer tries to out-wish FDR.
Elaine, Jerry, George and Nina arrive in India, where Elaine discovers that the groom, Peter, also named Pinter, is a man whom she has slept with and that they are the only people from the United States who are attending the ceremony. Kramer is angry with Newman because he didn't use his birthday wish to save Kramer from FDR. By offering schnapps
Schnapps
Schnapps is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage. The English word schnapps is derived from the German Schnaps , which can refer to any strong alcoholic drink but particularly those containing at least 32% ABV...
to Elaine, George finds out the secret she is keeping about Jerry and Nina. Elaine buys tickets to India to spite Sue Ellen by showing up at her wedding.
Kramer tries to get Newman
Newman (Seinfeld)
Newman is a recurring character on the television show Seinfeld, played by Wayne Knight from 1991 until the show's finale in 1998.-Background:...
to use his birthday wish to protect Kramer from FDR. Elaine discovers that Jerry and Nina have just slept together. Elaine meets the parents of Sue Ellen's fiancé who try to convince her not to go to India for the wedding; after all they aren't even going. Jerry and Nina suffer an awkward pause in their conversation, causing them to have sex on Jerry's counter.
Kramer confronts FDR about his birthday wish. Elaine's mail from India is an "unvitation" to Sue Ellen's wedding in India to someone whose name seems familiar to her. George asks Jerry to call Nina about setting them up on a date and realizes he must wear his Timberlands every time he sees her. Jerry and George are walking down the street and they run into Nina, an old girlfriend of Jerry's whom he never slept with. Kramer attends FDR's birthday and FDR gives him the evil eye right before blowing out the candles on his cake. Elaine receives an item in the mail from India.
Two years earlier, Jerry tells George and Susan that Nina might be the one; he's very impressed when she mentions something he's never heard of, called "e-mail"; Kramer nails FDR in the back of the head with a snowball; Elaine is dating an Indian man named Peter at this moment.
Eleven years earlier, new resident Jerry tells his neighbor across the hall, whom he calls Kessler (the name on the buzzer), that phrase, "What's mine is yours", gives reason to why Kramer will frequently goes to his apartment later on.
Inspiration
"The Betrayal" alludes overtly to Harold PinterHarold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
's play (and film) Betrayal
Betrayal (play)
Betrayal is a play written by Harold Pinter in 1978. Critically regarded as one of the English playwright's major dramatic works, it features his characteristically economical dialogue, characters' hidden emotions and veiled motivations, and their self-absorbed competitive one-upmanship,...
. The debt to Pinter's play appears in the episode's title, "The Betrayal", in the use of reverse chronology, which mimics a prominent feature of Pinter's play, and in the choice for the first name of the groom, Pinter Ranawat, whose wedding Jerry and his friends travel to India to attend. The episode develops motifs relating to the theme of betrayal, exposing various betrayals in the plot. In one segment of this episode, Jerry betrays George by having a relationship with George's girlfriend, Nina, while it turns out that Elaine has previously had an affair with Peter, named Pinter in India, who is marrying her rival friend, Sue Ellen Mishke. The backward chronology begins in India, ending in Jerry's very first meeting with Cosmo Kramer
Cosmo Kramer
Cosmo Kramer, usually referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Michael Richards...
in his apartment, eleven years earlier.
Kramer's storyline
On the "Audio Commentary" with David Mandel and Peter Mehlman, the development is quite different. Originally Kramer's story is he's also involved as part of the trip to India. Then Peter Mehlman suggested based on his own experience that he attends a birthday party in which a person makes a wish. Mandel and Mehlman finally settled because of the lollipop gag and the character Newman involved, the storyline for Kramer is trying to aviod the wish from the FDR that he's going to "drop dead".Other Notes
This was the only episode to use Castle Rock EntertainmentCastle Rock Entertainment
Castle Rock Entertainment is a film and television production company founded in 1987 by Martin Shafer, director Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Glenn Padnick and Alan Horn. It is a subsidiary of Warner Bros...
closing logo twice: once during the start of the episode, since the episode goes backward, and another to end the episode.
Deleted scenes
- George, staying in India for a few days, is trying to walk off the need to go to the bathroom.
- Before Elaine hands out the plane tickets, George and Nina are hanging out together; also noting the Timberlands he's wearing at the time.
- Kramer, coming back to greet Jerry, George and Elaine after the Sue Ellen wedding incident, bumps into a kid who gives him the evil eye before he blows out his candles on his birthday. Because of this, he runs out of the restaurant fearing it will happen again.
- After George says in the plane "Jerry Seinfeld's a funny guy", Elaine confirms to Nina that she put the story about Jerry and Nina sleeping together "the vault". Then she takes "Vegetable Lasagna" or Magnus'pillow realizing she is sitting next to him.
Continuity
Jerry mistaking Kramer's name as "Kessler" is a reference to the "The Seinfeld Chronicles" where Kramer's character was originally named Kessler. The episode also gives us a clue as to why Kramer always helps himself to anything in Jerry's apartment.Susan Ross, despite having died at the end of Season 7, makes a return appearance in this episode. She appears during a brief flashback to "two years earlier", during the time when she was still alive, and when she and George were engaged. She also provided the phrase George claims he owns: "You can stuff your sorries in a sack, mister." In "Notes About nothing", this flashback supposedly took place between "The Secret Code
The Secret Code
"The Secret Code" is the 117th episode of NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 7th episode of the 7th season. It aired on November 9, 1995.-Plot:...
" and "The Pool Guy
The Pool Guy
"The Pool Guy" is the 118th episode of NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the eighth episode of the seventh season. It aired on November 16, 1995. The end credit states "In Memory of our Friend Rick Bolden"; Rick Bolden was one of the musicians who worked on the show's theme song.-Plot:Elaine befriends...
" in terms of the timeline. Also at the time revealed by Peter Mehlman in the "Audio Commentary" and Heidi Swedberg in "Inside Look" that she already had her head shaved for another episode in a different show so she has to wear a wig for this appearance.
Mike McShane
Mike McShane
Michael "Mike" McShane is an American actor, singer, and improvisational comedian who first became known through his appearances in the early 1990s on the British version of the television show Whose Line Is It Anyway?-Biography:...
apparently makes his final brief appearance as FDR in "The Wizard", talking to George as a hot dog vendor while Mr. and Mrs. Ross come out of the store.
Vegtable Lasagna aka Magnus seen in "The Butter Shave
The Butter Shave
"The Butter Shave" is the 157th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. It is also the first episode of the ninth and final season. It aired on September 25, 1997.-Plot:...
" in a deleted scene makes a final brief appearance next to Elaine on the plane.
Forward chronology
This episode's inclusion on the Seinfeld Season 9 DVD is accompanied by a special feature that allows the viewer to watch the episode front-to-back with normal chronology, preceded by a brief introduction from writer David MandelDavid Mandel
David Mandel is an executive producer and director of Curb Your Enthusiasm , and one of the producers of the teen-comedy Eurotrip. He was a writer for Seinfeld during its seventh, eighth, and ninth seasons. He is also one of the creators of Clerks: The Animated Series, and he was a writer for...
. This "forward" version has never aired on television.