The Junk Mail

"**The Junk Mail**"
"The Junk Mail"
Seinfeld episode
Episode no.	Season 9; Episode 5
Directed by	Andy Ackerman
Written by	Spike Feresten
Production code	905
Original air date	October 30, 1997
Guest appearances
	Wayne Knight as Newman; Jerry Stiller as Frank Costanza; Estelle Harris as Estelle Costanza; Patrick Warburton as David Puddy; Laurie Taylor-Williams as Rhisa; Dana Gould as Frankie; Richard Kuhlman as Man; Wilford Brimley as Postmaster General Henry Atkins; Toby Huss as Jack; Montrose Hagins as Old Woman; Peggy Blow as Mail Clerk; Clement Blake as Dirt Person #1; D.A. Johnson as Dirt Person #2; Ruth Cohen as Ruthie Cohen (uncredited); Renee McClellan as Post Office Customer (uncredited);
Episode chronology
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	Seinfeld (season 9)
	List of episodes

"The Junk Mail" is the 161st episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. It was the fifth episode of the ninth and final season. The episode aired on October 30, 1997.^[1]

Plot

Jerry's childhood friend Frankie Merman (Dana Gould) promises to get Jerry a new car as a thank you for a show he did for Frankie's car dealership. George prepares for his weekly call to his parents. Kramer plans his revenge on Pottery Barn because of the overabundance of catalogs they have sent him in the past month. Elaine is back with David Puddy, but after having a "love at first sight" encounter with diner patron Jack (Toby Huss), she plans to keep Puddy in reserve until she finds out if the new guy can "handle the workload".

Kramer gets deluged with more catalogs and plans to stop the mail. George's parents cut him short on his weekly phone call. The "car" Jerry gets is a van and not the Saab he had hoped for. Frankie reminds him of the childhood dream they had where they got a van and toured the country. Jerry does not want the van, but does not want to hurt Frankie's feelings by refusing to take it. (Frankie's childhood nickname was "Fragile Frankie" due to his penchant for emotional extremes, a trait that does not appear to have changed in adulthood.) George pops in on his parents and reminds his parents that they didn't call him back, but they have to leave right away. Kramer bricks up his mailbox, but that does not stop his mail from being delivered to Jerry's mailbox.

Jerry plans to sell the van; Kramer helps him out by composing a classified ad that cites "interesting trades considered." Kramer goes to the post office to cancel his mail permanently. Newman confesses to him that no one really needs mail but that there is a greater conspiracy at work.

George demands to know what is going on with his parents; they tell him they are cutting him loose. George is not ready for abandonment; he plans to date his cousin Rhisa as a means of getting his parents involved in his life. While going through an old VHS tape, Jerry discovers an old commercial that features Jack as "The Wiz", a mascot for the electronics store of the same name. Meanwhile, Kramer wants Jerry's van and offers Anthony Quinn's old T-shirt as an "interesting trade".

Elaine, after seeing Jack as "The Wiz", wants Puddy back but is rejected by him. Kramer uses the van to launch his anti-postal campaign, upon which Frankie becomes distraught after discovering that Jerry sold the van to Kramer. George schemes to have his parents catch him making out with his cousin; however, George's cousin is into their relationship, much to his discomfort. Jerry searches Central Park for Frankie, who has gone to dig a hole and sit in it. Meanwhile, George parks the van there and Frankie finds it and yells "Is this Seinfeld's van?! Seinfeld's van! Seinfeld's van!", which George mistakes as "Son of Sam". Because of the yelling, the Costanzas find the van and begin having sex in it. Jerry goes to apologize to Frankie and helps him out of the hole. They and George and Rhisa see the van "rocking"; they open it up and see the Costanza's "in flagrante delicto". Frankie advises Jerry that he must sell the van after seeing what they saw, to which Jerry agrees.

Newman tries to warn Kramer to stop his anti-postal campaign, but the latter is captured and intimidated by the Postmaster General Henry Atkins (played by Wilford Brimley, with the scene a parody of his role in the climactic scene of Absence of Malice). Atkins persuades Kramer to receive his mail again; as he leaves, he sees Newman being led into the room with a metal bucket over his head and his hands zip tied together who then says to Kramer, "Tell the world my story." Jack, Elaine's new boyfriend, gets his second piece of good news in one day: he is "The Wiz" again and she is taking him back. George is with his parents who describe the lovemaking and they prepare to do it again, much to George's disgust.

Analysis

The episode contains various allusions to William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Like Hamlet, it revolves around madness and troubled parent-child relations (with George's suspicions against his parents echoing Hamlet's distrust of Gertrude and Claudius), the scene in the park is reminiscent of the graveyard scene in Hamlet, and Newman's line, "Tell the world my story", echoes Hamlet's dying words to his friend, Horatio.^[2]

References

^ "The Junk Mail" - TV.com
^ Vaught, Jennifer (Fall 2003). "Shakespeare in a Sitcom? Intertextual Allusions to 'Hamlet' in Seinfeld's Parody 'Junk Mail'". Interdisciplinary Humanities. 20: 28–37.

External links

"The Junk Mail" at IMDb

[1] "The Junk Mail" - TV.com

[2] Vaught, Jennifer (Fall 2003). "Shakespeare in a Sitcom? Intertextual Allusions to 'Hamlet' in Seinfeld's Parody 'Junk Mail'". Interdisciplinary Humanities. 20: 28–37.

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v t e Seinfeld episodes
Season 1	"The Seinfeld Chronicles" "The Stake Out" "The Robbery" "Male Unbonding" "The Stock Tip"
Season 2	"The Ex-Girlfriend" "The Pony Remark" "The Jacket" "The Phone Message" "The Apartment" "The Statue" "The Revenge" "The Heart Attack" "The Deal" "The Baby Shower" "The Chinese Restaurant" "The Busboy"
Season 3	"The Note" "The Truth" "The Pen" "The Dog" "The Library" "The Parking Garage" "The Cafe" "The Tape" "The Nose Job" "The Stranded" "The Alternate Side" "The Red Dot" "The Subway" "The Pez Dispenser" "The Suicide" "The Fix-Up" "The Boyfriend"† "The Limo" "The Good Samaritan" "The Letter" "The Parking Space" "The Keys"
Season 4	"The Trip"† "The Pitch" "The Ticket" "The Wallet" "The Watch" "The Bubble Boy" "The Cheever Letters" "The Opera" "The Virgin" "The Contest" "The Airport" "The Pick" "The Movie" "The Visa" "The Shoes" "The Outing" "The Old Man" "The Implant" "The Junior Mint" "The Smelly Car" "The Handicap Spot" "The Pilot"†
Season 5	"The Mango" "The Puffy Shirt" "The Glasses" "The Sniffing Accountant" "The Bris" "The Lip Reader" "The Non-Fat Yogurt" "The Barber" "The Masseuse" "The Cigar Store Indian" "The Conversion" "The Stall" "The Dinner Party" "The Marine Biologist" "The Pie" "The Stand In" "The Wife" "The Raincoats"† "The Fire" "The Hamptons" "The Opposite"
Season 6	"The Chaperone" "The Big Salad" "The Pledge Drive" "The Chinese Woman" "The Couch" "The Gymnast" "The Soup" "The Mom & Pop Store" "The Secretary" "The Race" "The Switch" "The Label Maker" "The Scofflaw" "The Highlights of 100"† "The Beard" "The Kiss Hello" "The Doorman" "The Jimmy" "The Doodle" "The Fusilli Jerry" "The Diplomat's Club" "The Face Painter" "The Understudy"
Season 7	"The Engagement" "The Postponement" "The Maestro" "The Wink" "The Hot Tub" "The Soup Nazi" "The Secret Code" "The Pool Guy" "The Sponge" "The Gum" "The Rye" "The Caddy" "The Seven" "The Cadillac"† "The Shower Head" "The Doll" "The Friar's Club" "The Wig Master" "The Calzone" "The Bottle Deposit"† "The Wait Out" "The Invitations"
Season 8	"The Foundation" "The Soul Mate" "The Bizarro Jerry" "The Little Kicks" "The Package" "The Fatigues" "The Checks" "The Chicken Roaster" "The Abstinence" "The Andrea Doria" "The Little Jerry" "The Money" "The Comeback" "The Van Buren Boys" "The Susie" "The Pothole" "The English Patient" "The Nap" "The Yada Yada" "The Millennium" "The Muffin Tops" "The Summer of George"
Season 9	"The Butter Shave" "The Voice" "The Serenity Now" "The Blood" "The Junk Mail" "The Merv Griffin Show" "The Slicer" "The Betrayal" "The Apology" "The Strike" "The Dealership" "The Reverse Peephole" "The Cartoon" "The Strongbox" "The Wizard" "The Burning" "The Bookstore" "The Frogger" "The Maid" "The Puerto Rican Day" "The Chronicle"† "The Finale"†
† Indicates two-part episode