The Junior Mint

"The Junior Mint" is the 60th episode of the American sitcom Seinfeld. It was the 20th episode of the 4th season. It aired on March 18, 1993.

Plot

"Mulva"

Having neglected to ask the name of the woman he is dating (played by Susan Walters), Jerry tries to solve the mystery. Given the clue that her name rhymes with a part of the female anatomy, Jerry and George come up with possible candidates: Aretha (for urethra), Celeste (for breast), and Bovary (for ovary). The payoff to the joke comes at the end of the episode when she presses him to say her name. Jerry guesses Mulva (for vulva), causing her to storm out of Jerry's apartment. As she is leaving, Jerry incorrectly guesses another name, Gipple (for nipple) and Loleola (for areola). Then, in a flash of insight, Jerry runs to the window and yells "Dolores!" (for clitoris). Her name is never explicitly revealed to the audience (being listed as "Mystery Woman" in the credits), but it is revealed to be "Dolores" when the character returns in season 8's "The Foundation".

The Fat Artist and the Mint Incident

Meanwhile, Elaine goes to visit her ex-boyfriend Roy (played by Sherman Howard), an artist whom she dumped because he was fat, in the hospital and, noticing that he has slimmed down (due to depression from her breaking up with him), becomes interested in dating him again. Kramer and Jerry observe the artist's splenectomy and accidentally drop a Junior Mint from the viewing gallery into the patient's body (in actuality, a Peppermint Pattie was used for filming this scene as a Junior Mint was too small for the camera^[1]). When George hears that Roy is in bad condition (after he develops an infection), he decides to spend $1900 (which he collected in interest from a bank account from the sixth grade) to buy some of Roy's art, thinking it will appreciate in value when Roy dies. Roy's condition suddenly turns around and he recovers. Although Roy attributes the change to George buying his art, the doctor attributes the limited effect of the infection to "something from above." (This marks the second time that George regrets his decision to purchase a piece of art. The first came in "The Letter", when he bought a piece of art from Jerry's girlfriend for $500.) The triangle art that George purchases in this episode can be seen on the shelves in his apartment in many subsequent episodes. As Kramer offers the doctor a Junior Mint, Elaine decides to cancel her date with Roy, whom she observes eating enthusiastically again in his hospital room after the surgery.

Lawsuit

A conversation in Milwaukee the day after the episode aired led to a lawsuit in which jurors awarded Jerold J. Mackenzie $26.6 million on July 15, 1997. Mackenzie was terminated by Miller Brewing Co. on the basis that, amongst other reasons, discussing the episode with his secretary constituted sexual harassment.^[2] Later, however, the decision was overturned by the court of appeals, and the ruling of the appeals court was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin.^[3]

Actors

A number of actors who played parts in "The Junior Mint" acted again in different episodes of Seinfeld. The woman whose name Jerry is attempting to guess was played by Susan Walters. She appeared again (though with blonde hair) in the Season 8 episode "The Foundation." Dr. Siegel is played by Victor Raider-Wexler, who also appears as a doctor in several other Seinfeld episodes. He portrayed the doctor who proclaimed Susan Ross dead in the Season 7 finale "The Invitations" and was also George's doctor in the Season 8 finale "The Summer of George". He appeared once more to testify against the "New York Four" in the finale of the show, and in those last two appearances he was given the name "Dr. Wexler."

Sherman Howard played the part of Roy, the artist. Howard is probably best known for his roles as Lex Luthor in Seasons 2 - 4 of the Superboy television series and as Bub in George A. Romero's Day of the Dead.

Episode Notes

• In the scene in which Jerry and Elaine visit Roy in the hospital (both first and second time), you can see the triangle statues they were talking about.

• Though the ending of the episode would seem to imply that the woman Jerry is dating is named "Dolores", the character is called "Mystery Woman" in the credits.

References