S09E08 - The Betrayal
No: 164 | Season: 9 Episode: 8 | Air Date: 20-Nov-1997 | Production #908
Summary
In this unique, "backwards" episode, Jerry, George, and Elaine go to India for Sue Ellen Mishky's wedding. Meanwhile, Kramer stays behind in New York and tries to "out wish" a friend who wants him to drop dead.
Director and Writers
Director: Andy Ackerman
Writers: Peter Mehlman and David Mandel
Quotes
Elaine: (drunk and peering through the slats in Jerry's door) Goodnight, Jugdish!
Elaine: What's that smell?
Jerry: I think it's the stench of death.
George: You can stuff your sorries in a sack, mister!
Newman: I'll tell you a little secret about zip codes; they're meaningless!
Elaine (drunk): What if I got myself a nose piercing? That'd be pretty freaky!
Kramer: Does your girlfriend have to be here?
Newman: Does yours? *camera pans to Jerry*
Notes and Trivia
At the end of the episode, Jerry calls Kramer, "Kessler". This is a reference to the fact that Kramer's name was originally going to be Kessler, and that Jerry even calls him by that name in the pilot. Incidentally, in syndication, the scene is edited to remove Jerry accidentally calling Kramer "Kessler".
The backwards episode "The Betrayal" is based on a Harold Pinter play, "Betrayal", which also uses the same gimmick. Sue-Ellen Mishke's fiance in the episode is named Pinter in tribute to the playwright.
As the episode continues backward in time, Heidi Swedberg returns as George's girlfriend/fiancee, Susan, even though the character died in the Season 7 finale, "The Invitations".
There is a deleted scene where Elaine says, "I think I chipped a tooth", and then you see five minutes earlier where she rolls her head backwards with a Schnapps bottle held in her teeth.
Andy Ackerman won the Director's Guild of America Award for this episode.
Goofs
When the airplane they are flying to India on is "Somewhere between New York and India" the aircraft shown is clearly a Boeing 747. However, during the interior shots of the aircraft, it is clearly a Boeing 737 or a similar airframe.
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 |
Michael McShane | FDR |
Justine Miceli | Nina |
Bart Braverman | Zubin |
Shaun Toub | Pinter |
Heidi Swedberg | Susan Ross |
Noor Shic | Usha |
Jocelyne Kelly | Model |
Brian Kaiser | Postman |
Shelley Malil | Usher |
Bill Lee Brown | Partygoer |
Ruth Cohen | Ruthie Cohen |