"The Finale, Part 2” is the final episode of Seinfeld. It is also the twenty-third episode of the ninth and final season of Seinfeld, and the 180th overall. This episode first aired on May 14, 1998.
Plot
Jon Hayman portrays the prison guard who escorts Jerry off the stage. “All right, Seinfeld, that’s it. Let’s go.”
Picking up where Part 1 left off, the New York Four are arrested for making fun of, and videotaping, a robbery. As they are in jail, they get Kramer's lawyer, Jackie Chiles, to help them. All of the Seinfeld characters, major ones, minor ones, and even one-timers, return to tell how they are jerks. Kramer shows his video and the fat man tells his story as the trial starts as Judge Arthur Vandelay (George smirks at his name) proceeds. The trial soon gets heated up when most of the characters start to tell their story, such as The Soup Nazi (whose full name is revealed as Yev Kassem), Mr. Bookman, the rabbi from Elaine's apartment, the pool guy, Marla Penny, Mabel Choate, and more. The next day, it is determined that the gang is guilty and will spend a year in jail. As the four are led to their jail cell, Jerry and George talk about their first words about a button in George's shirt that was mentioned in "The Seinfeld Chronicles". The gang talks about this as the show ends. The final scene is of Jerry performing a comedy act for the prisoners. Kramer is the only one laughing at his jokes, as the rest of the prisoners are booing him. Larry David (albeit offstage) is one of the haters. He yells to Jerry, "You suck! I'm gonna cut you!" Jon Hayman, the man who played Donald Sanger, is now the prison guard. He gets the penultimate lines as he escorts Jerry offstage, "All right, Seinfeld, that's it. Let's go." Appropriately, Jerry gets the last line, "You've been great." That, my friends, is the end of Seinfeld.
Characters Testifying Against the Gang
- Mr. Pitt
- Mabel Choate
- Babu Bhatt
- Joe Bookman
- Sidra Holland
- Donald Sanger
- Officer Vogel
- George Steinbrenner
- Marla Penny
- Leslie
- Dr. Wexler
- Marcelino
- The Soup Nazi (Yev Kassem)
- Mr. Hoffman
- Lola (Wheelchair Woman)
- Parking Garage Guard
- Detective
- Overweight Victim
- Arnold Deensfrei (Deleted scene)
- Poppie (Deleted scene)
- Ramon (Deleted scene)
- Mr. Lippman (Deleted scene)
Trivia
- This is the third most-watched television finale of all time, following the second most, Cheers, and the most, M*A*S*H.
- It cost $30,000,000 to have a commercial in this episode.
- When this episode originally aired on NBC, another television station that often showed classic shows, TV Land, paid tribute by not programming any shows opposite it, instead just showing a still shot of a closed office door with a hand written note that said "Gone watchin' Seinfeld -- Back in 60 minutes."
- This episode was criticized by many for portraying the main characters as bad people with no respect for society, and for mocking the audience who tuned in to watch them every week.
- The U.S. West Coast airing of the finale of Seinfeld coincided with the death of Frank Sinatra. Sinatra's ambulance was able to make it to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in 10 minutes in very light traffic, due to many in Los Angeles being indoors to watch the show.
- This is the only Seinfeld episode to bear the Seinfeld URL during the Castle Rock logo.