invitations

Plot synopsis

George and Susan go shopping for wedding invitations and George decides to buy a cheap brand. Meanwhile, Kramer tells Jerry that the bank will offer anyone $100 if they are not greeted with a "hello" by a teller when they enter the building. Jerry and Elaine realize that once George gets married, it will just be them and Kramer. However, Elaine tells Jerry that she's tired of being single and will probably leave "the group" after George gets married. As Jerry imagines a life with just him and Kramer, he is nearly hit by a car, but is saved by Jeannie Steinman (Janeane Garofalo), a woman who he discovers to be a lot like him. They both eat a lot of cereal, even at restaurants, and enjoy reading Superman and Supergirl comic books.

Elaine wants to have a part in George's wedding, but Susan says no. Kramer, who was going to be an usher, is also told no after he calls Susan "Lily" when he bumps into her and George walking in the street. George can't believe he is actually going to go through with the wedding and desperately wants to find a way out of it without confronting Susan. Elaine suggests he try smoking in front of her, since she hates it. However, it doesn't work when George gets sick from the cigarettes. Kramer suggests a pre-nup, but when George tries this, Susan laughs it off. George realizes he is stuck.

Kramer goes to the bank and wants $100 after the teller says "Hey" instead of "Hello." He and the manager settle for $20 since he got a greeting that started with an "H". Jerry proposes to Jeannie and she accepts. He tells George that they are getting married on September 21 and that he kept his side of the pact that they originally made in the Season 7 opener, "The Engagement." Kramer, who originally didn't like Jeannie because she was too much like Jerry, has a change of heart and congratulates him, telling him he'll get to like her. Jerry starts having doubts.

George goes out as Susan stays home to get the invitations ready. As she is licking the envelopes, she notices they taste funny. The episode later cuts to a more worn-out Susan continuing to lick envelopes and finally passing out. George arrives home and finds her collapsed on the couch. He, Kramer, Jerry and Elaine all meet up at the hospital, where George is told by the doctor that Susan has died. The cause: toxic glue, as the doctor puts it, commonly found on cheap envelopes. He tells his friends, and they accept it and go to the coffee shop. Jerry, however, is now in George's role as the fiance who made the mistake of proposing before thinking. Now single again, George tries once more to start a relationship with Marisa Tomei.

Trivia

• Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, long portrayed on Seinfeld by the voice of Larry David, was said to have filmed scenes for a guest appearance in this episode, far in advance. There are two prominent theories as to why this footage didn't make it to air: either Steinbrenner disapproved of the morbid plot twist in which Susan is killed, or Steinbrenner's scenes were set in the context of George and Susan's ill-fated wedding. Given that the seventh season was originally intended to be the series' last, the show's writers probably planned on George actually getting married at one point. It was speculated that Steinbrenner would have been Elaine's date to the ceremony.

• There was a very mixed reception to the episode's ending - it generated many letters to publications such as TV Guide as to the tastelessness of Susan's demise, and the characters' hollow reactions. Seinfeld mocked the backlash in the first scenes of the following season, where Jerry and George visit Susan's grave. The two only show any emotion when they start remembering the death of Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

• Jerry and Jeannie mention that they are scheduled to be married on September 21. That would have occurred on September 21, 1996, exactly a year after the seventh season began and George proposed to Susan.

• The bank manager is played by Stephen Root, who was starring in NewsRadio (which also aired on NBC) during this time.

• This was the last episode in which Jerry would give a stand-up routine, until "The Finale" two years later.

• George smokes American Spirits.

Superman reference

During the montage, Jerry and Jeannie read Superman comic books together.