The Cadillac - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

The AV Club community gave the two-part episode an A- grade. David Sims discusses Del Boca Vista politics at length:

The Cadillac is a cautionary tale — Jerry means well to surprise his parents with a new Cadillac bought with all the money he's making as a comedian, but it only raises suspicion in the condo community. Later, he stops them from going to the early-bird special because he doesn't want a steak dinner at 4:30, but that just ostracizes the poor Seinfelds from their snippy friends.

JERRY: (bewildered) Four-thirty? Who eats dinner at four-thirty?
MORTY: By the time we sit down, it'll be quarter to five.
JERRY: I don't understand why we have to eat now.
HELEN: We gotta catch the early-bird. It's only between four-thirty and six.
MORTY: Yeah. They give you a tenderloin, a salad and a baked potato, for four-ninety-five. You know what that cost you after six?
JERRY: Can't we eat at a decent hour? I'll treat, okay?
HELEN: You're not buying us dinner.
JERRY: (emphatic) I'm not force-feeding myself a steak at four-thirty to save a couple of bucks, I'll tell you that!
HELEN: All right (sitting on the couch), we'll wait. (pointedly) But it's unheard of.

Sims continues,

Much like The Pen, this Seinfeld-and-David-scripted episode's message is simple: don't fuck with these crazy old people. Sure, much of what Jerry says is rational. And sure, even the old people have a certain logic to them from time to time. But there's an element to the retirement community that Jerry just simply can't understand, nor should he want to, and his efforts to fix the problems he's caused only make things worse. "You could put a fence around these condos and call it an insane asylum and nobody would know the difference!" he cries. Even though, in reality, Jerry could easily produce documentation showing he bought his dad the car and Morty wasn't stealing anything, the audience accepts that that's now how things work around here. Klompus' accusation snowballs quickly, and there's nothing Morty and Helen can do about it once that Cadillac is parked in their driveway, a monument to arrogance in their neighbors' envious eyes... Of course, Jerry isn't helped by the fact that he actually assaulted and robbed one of the condo board members on a New York City street in The Rye. Sure, all he took from her was a marble rye, but that was not his finest hour.

Sims was less impressed by the George/Marisa subplot, saying, among further comments, "This is George at his worst — he's not just being a bad person, he's also not very good at it. Sometimes, his deviousness is pretty impressive, but this is not one of those times, and it's amazing it takes Susan so long to figure out he's lying about something. Ultimately, Tomei's appearance and everything around it ends up disappointing — it's a glorified B-plot when it shouldn't be, and it wraps up too quickly with George just getting his comeuppance from both ladies with none of his usual deviousness."