1 00:00:05,914 --> 00:00:09,034 Seinfeld Explained. Season 4, Episode 20. 2 00:00:09,714 --> 00:00:10,494 The Junior Mint. 3 00:00:11,714 --> 00:00:15,014 Jerry can't remember his girlfriend's name after they've already made out, 4 00:00:15,434 --> 00:00:19,234 making it impossible to ask without revealing he doesn't know. 5 00:00:19,234 --> 00:00:24,674 Kramer accidentally drops a Junior Mint into a patient during surgery observation, 6 00:00:25,034 --> 00:00:28,814 and the mint may have saved the guy's life instead of killing him. 7 00:00:29,634 --> 00:00:34,494 George invests in a dying artist's triangle work hoping it appreciates when he dies, 8 00:00:35,114 --> 00:00:36,554 but the guy recovers. 9 00:00:37,294 --> 00:00:43,254 The episode's genius: three separate schemes backfire in perfectly ironic ways— 10 00:00:43,894 --> 00:00:45,174 the name that can't be guessed, 11 00:00:45,694 --> 00:00:47,554 the mint that can't be confessed, 12 00:00:47,854 --> 00:00:50,934 and the art investment based on death speculation. 13 00:00:52,206 --> 00:00:56,854 Jerry meets a woman at the supermarket but gets distracted and never learns her name— 14 00:00:57,454 --> 00:01:02,054 after they've already made out it becomes impossible to ask without revealing he doesn't know. 15 00:01:02,054 --> 00:01:05,514 The classic trapped-by-politeness situation! 16 00:01:05,974 --> 00:01:10,134 Meanwhile Elaine asks Jerry to visit her ex-boyfriend Roy in the hospital before his surgery. 17 00:01:10,794 --> 00:01:12,754 Wait, why is she interested in her ex again? 18 00:01:13,394 --> 00:01:19,014 She rejected Roy when he was fat but becomes interested again after seeing his illness made him thin— 19 00:01:19,394 --> 00:01:23,714 gushes at his hospital bedside about how he was HUGE, 20 00:01:24,034 --> 00:01:26,954 like blubber, she couldn't even get her arms around him. 21 00:01:27,594 --> 00:01:30,234 She's celebrating his surgery as weight-loss opportunity! 22 00:01:31,054 --> 00:01:34,594 Jerry gets invited to observe the operation and brings Kramer along. 23 00:01:34,914 --> 00:01:35,554 Oh no. 24 00:01:36,014 --> 00:01:39,254 During surgery observation Kramer offers Jerry a Junior Mint— 25 00:01:40,154 --> 00:01:42,714 Jerry refuses repeatedly but Kramer insists— 26 00:01:42,714 --> 00:01:47,014 they struggle over the candy box and a mint flies from the gallery. 27 00:01:47,514 --> 00:01:48,314 Where does it land? 28 00:01:48,974 --> 00:01:54,634 It bounces off equipment and lands with perfect precision directly into the open patient on the operating table. 29 00:01:54,634 --> 00:01:56,814 Of all places it could land— 30 00:01:57,274 --> 00:01:59,654 the ONE open body cavity in the room! 31 00:02:00,274 --> 00:02:02,094 The doctors seal Roy up without noticing. 32 00:02:02,694 --> 00:02:04,074 That's a terrible outcome! 33 00:02:04,874 --> 00:02:08,234 Meanwhile Jerry tries to get his girlfriend to reveal her name through conversation— 34 00:02:09,034 --> 00:02:13,654 she only mentions it rhymes with a female body part but won't say which. 35 00:02:14,414 --> 00:02:16,034 How is he supposed to figure that out? 36 00:02:16,774 --> 00:02:24,614 George discovers nineteen hundred dollars from a forgotten childhood savings account and decides to invest in Roy's triangle art— 37 00:02:25,394 --> 00:02:28,174 figures it'll appreciate in value if Roy dies from the surgery. 38 00:02:28,774 --> 00:02:30,574 Death as investment strategy! 39 00:02:31,274 --> 00:02:36,774 Roy's condition mysteriously deteriorates after surgery and Jerry and Kramer debate whether to confess. 40 00:02:37,714 --> 00:02:39,674 What's Jerry saying about the name situation? 41 00:02:40,554 --> 00:02:42,254 Jerry tries the introduce-yourself trick— 42 00:02:42,874 --> 00:02:45,974 sends both George and Kramer to meet her so she has to say her name— 43 00:02:46,514 --> 00:02:48,894 but both fail to execute the simple task. 44 00:02:49,434 --> 00:02:50,714 How do they mess that up? 45 00:02:51,214 --> 00:02:55,134 George just stands there and Kramer introduces Jerry instead of himself. 46 00:02:55,714 --> 00:02:59,354 He's working SO much harder to avoid awkwardness than just being awkward! 47 00:03:00,054 --> 00:03:02,954 Jerry gets caught rifling through her purse when she goes to the bathroom— 48 00:03:03,474 --> 00:03:05,314 trying to find ID or credit cards— 49 00:03:05,694 --> 00:03:09,654 then tries to see an autograph in her playbill but it's signed to her uncle. 50 00:03:10,394 --> 00:03:12,154 Every scheme fails differently! 51 00:03:12,854 --> 00:03:15,654 George suggests increasingly absurd rhyming names— 52 00:03:16,274 --> 00:03:19,454 confidently declares "Mulva" as if he's solved it, 53 00:03:19,754 --> 00:03:22,114 then later suggests "Gipple" and other nonsense. 54 00:03:22,834 --> 00:03:25,094 They're thinking of completely the wrong anatomy! 55 00:03:25,854 --> 00:03:28,114 Meanwhile Roy makes a miraculous recovery— 56 00:03:28,854 --> 00:03:35,594 the doctor suggests something from above saved him right as Kramer offers him a Junior Mint praising how refreshing they are. 57 00:03:36,274 --> 00:03:37,594 The oblivious irony! 58 00:03:38,494 --> 00:03:40,354 The doctor's closer to the truth than he knows— 59 00:03:41,074 --> 00:03:43,994 the mint apparently acted as antibacterial agent. 60 00:03:44,454 --> 00:03:45,314 But it's too late! 61 00:03:45,684 --> 00:03:48,434 The girlfriend realizes Jerry doesn't know her name and leaves— 62 00:03:49,014 --> 00:03:51,714 he desperately shouts wrong guesses as she's going: 63 00:03:51,714 --> 00:03:59,434 "Mulva! Gipple! Loleola!"— then finally figures out "Dolores" which rhymes with clitoris. 64 00:03:59,694 --> 00:04:02,534 The answer clicks only AFTER he's lost her! 65 00:04:03,154 --> 00:04:06,334 Roy credits George's art purchase with inspiring him to get better— 66 00:04:06,874 --> 00:04:09,314 promises he'll never forget what George did for him— 67 00:04:09,934 --> 00:04:14,374 so George is stuck with nineteen hundred dollars of unwanted triangle art FOREVER. 68 00:04:15,134 --> 00:04:17,994 His cynical death-speculation completely backfired! 69 00:04:18,374 --> 00:04:20,494 And the obligation to pretend gratitude. 70 00:04:21,034 --> 00:04:24,914 The investment based on someone dying gets destroyed by that person surviving! 71 00:04:25,514 --> 00:04:28,374 Jerry and Kramer's accidental contamination becomes a miracle— 72 00:04:29,094 --> 00:04:31,554 the mint saved Roy's life rather than killed him— 73 00:04:31,994 --> 00:04:35,094 which destroys George's entire investment scheme. 74 00:04:35,594 --> 00:04:37,214 The mint is the unlikely hero! 75 00:04:37,914 --> 00:04:42,874 Kramer's innocent enthusiasm for refreshing candy vindicated as medical intervention. 76 00:04:42,874 --> 00:04:45,894 Three separate disasters— the name that can't be guessed, 77 00:04:46,274 --> 00:04:47,614 the mint that can't be confessed, 78 00:04:48,114 --> 00:04:49,554 the art investment based on death— 79 00:04:50,074 --> 00:04:52,434 all backfire in perfectly ironic ways! 80 00:04:52,774 --> 00:04:55,614 And the Junior Mint saves everyone except George. 81 00:04:57,274 --> 00:05:02,134 Jerry's elaborate avoidance schemes guarantee worse outcomes than simple honesty— 82 00:05:02,914 --> 00:05:07,454 working harder to prevent awkwardness creates comprehensive disaster. 83 00:05:08,414 --> 00:05:12,794 George's mercenary opportunism backfires through ironic survival— 84 00:05:13,234 --> 00:05:18,194 the investment based on someone dying gets destroyed by that person living. 85 00:05:19,094 --> 00:05:28,154 And Kramer's innocent enthusiasm accidentally saves a life while "Mulva" and "Dolores" become cultural landmarks for anatomical confusion.