Seinfeld has a rich history of ending episodes with a big punch and a freeze-frame. It is the rare show that saw some of its best episodes in the later part of its run, a time when most sitcoms are running on steam and the promise of syndication windfalls. The Soup Nazi, A Festivus for the rest of us, and the Merv Griffin Show set in Kramer's apartment were all in the last three seasons. Comedy is subjective, and what hits for some doesn't hit for others, but one would be hard-pressed to find a more explosively funny ending than in "The Susie."
Seinfeld Season 8, Episode 15, “The Susie,” beautifully brings together and wraps up its storylines. First it brings back Mike Moffitt, five years after he got caught calling Jerry a phony. He's a newly minted bookie, which intrigues Kramer, a recovering gambling addict. Kramer being Kramer places a bet with Mike in Jerry's name, so it's technically not him gambling. The bet wins, but Mike can't pay, and Jerry accidentally slams his car's trunk down on Mike's hands, breaking his thumbs, effectively reversing the roles of bookie and deadbeat. Later, thumbs in casts and afraid, Mike offers to fix Jerry's trunk in exchange for the money owed. As he climbs into the trunk to fix it, Kramer dings Jerry's car, locking Mike in the trunk.
Elaine has a Peggy problem in more than one episode. Peggy believes Elaine to be unhygienic because she dates too many men. A designer for J. Peterman, Peggy thinks Elaine's name is Susie, but just when Elaine is about to correct her, Peggy begins some serious smack talking about this Elaine person. Elaine's Susie tries to defend Elaine to Peggy, who then doubles down and starts to call Elaine "Sooz." The only thing Elaine hates more than being called Susie is being called Sooz, and she lets Peggy know about it, leading Peterman to call a meeting between him, Peggy, Elaine and the ever-evasive Susie. Elaine masterfully runs the meeting, at least in getting the ruse past Peterman while confusing Peggy to no end.
In the car with Jerry, both blissfully unaware of the broken, frightened man in their trunk, Elaine is at a loss for what to do about Susie. Jerry tells her she must eliminate Susie. Kill her. He then laughs manically, and points out a funny bumper sticker to Elaine, who joins the cackling. Mike, in the trunk, whispers to himself, "Oh God, I'm in trouble." Elaine proceeds to tell Peterman that Susie took her own life. Peterman responds by holding a packed funeral for Susie.
The secondary plot sees the Yankees having a gala ball, and George wants to make a grand entrance. In any other episode this story and its solid punchline would have been enough to make it the main plot. But not in "The Susie." A lot of the humor from Seinfeld comes from the fact that all four main characters are varying degrees of terrible narcissists, and "The Susie" leans into that nicely.
At the funeral for a woman who doesn't exist, Peggy muses, "I guess I never met Susie," to which Jerry cheekily replies, "Sooz? I actually had a little thing with her for a while." He then gestures to Elaine, saying, "Her, too." As Peterman arrives outside, his bumper dings Jerry's and the trunk opens, finally letting Mike out. Peterman is wrapping up his eulogy in which he claimed a tryst with Susie, putting all of his stories of sexual conquest in doubt (and not for the only time in his run on the series). Mike bursts into the funeral, thumbs still in casts, and takes to the podium in a big, melodramatic reveal. "Susie didn’t commit suicide. She was MURDERED. By JERRY SEINFELD!" The room is aghast. Jerry casually turns back to Peggy and grins, "Not only that. I broke his thumbs." Then it's a freeze-frame on Jerry's toothy, Cheshire Cat grin.
Season 8 is full of classic episodes. It gave us Elaine's "dancing," Kenny Rogers' addictive red-light district chicken, and of course, "yadda, yadda, yadda." The funniest overall episode of the series can and will be debated endlessly, but this episode is just a little bit bigger. It has classic role reversal, farce, physical humor, over the top melodrama, murder and accusations, and that's just the final scene before the button. Seinfeld is a show that plays a lot of small ball with its jokes and gags, but when it swings for the fences it often scores big, and rarely if ever did it swing harder than "The Susie."