Season 3 is where the Seinfeld series really gets into its upswing and becomes genuinely entertaining in that quirky way the series is known for. The prior seasons had flashes of greatness, but the cynical humor and trivial plotlines really become the central element in season 3. The characters also begin acting more like themselves as viewers know them and Jerry begins to learn to act, though he still has some awful line deliveries. The guy is a comedian, give him a break. The plotlines grow a lot darker in this season, in fact it's one of the most dire seasons, involving a suicide and a neo-nazi book writer mixup.

The characters acting like themselves is the most important. George slowly transforms into a shrewd, pathological liar who always comes up as a loser and yet probably has a better batting record than most all the same. Kramer always speaks his mind, has no understanding of social constructs, doesn't legitimately do anything with his time and yet doesn't seem to care. His behavior is best exampled in the episode where blatantly tells a woman to get a nosejob while everyone else spits out their coffee at his faux pas. More suprising is that after she gets the nose job, which is really a reverse makeup transformation, she looks much better, with the show's moral ambiguity making it more entertaining than it should. All the characters are best detailed in The Subway episode, one of the series' best episodes. It also has a strange plot twist, not one common for a sitcom, which features a blind man in the subway actually being an undercover cop scouting for crime. The twist is good because it occurs as Kramer is escaping from a betting track from a criminal who wants to rob him. George also lies his way into a woman's hotel room, only to get chained up. The funnier twist is that she opens his wallet to find only eight dollars. Elaine's plotline is the only weak one here, since she's just stuck in the subway and it involves a lot of unfunny screaming. Jerry has no plotline, he's just talking to a man on the subway who happens to be naked for about five minutes at a time.

The Parking Garage is also good. The good joke here is that Elaine can't seem to find a single person willing to help her drive around and look for her car. Jerry gets caught urinating (Which is really kind of sick considering it's an indoor parking garage) The Pen is the weirdest episode. It takes place in Jerry's parents' retirement home and it centers around a man forcing Jerry to take a pen and then throwing a fit when he wants it back. The whole thing erupts with Jerry's father losing his election with the Condo Association.

The Suicide is more like a Curb Your Enthusiasm plotline (Fitting since George is supposed to be the Larry David character). After a man at a hospital jumps out of a mental ward and lands on his car, he still wants the bill paid by the hospital. It's hilarious because you know it's wrong to a certain degree, but at the same time, you can see where he's coming from. The Limo might be the weirdest episode in the entire series run. It's just so oddly disconnected and plays almost like a drama. After George and Jerry feign being people for a free limo ride, it turns out that it's a trip to an arena for a famous nazi writer. This episode is weird for a number of reasons, including the incendiary characters playing it like a very serious drama. They even get guns pulled on them. It's by far the most bizarre plotline. One of the writers, he's like a fat guy with a beard, is inordinately cynical and you can tell when one of his plotlines has crept in because they involve things like violence and death a whole lot more. Overall this is a great season, but the show reaches its classic status around season four.

Recommended: Yes