The Apology (Seinfeld) - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

David Sims of The A.V. Club wrote, "Kramer decides to live in his shower because it's Kramer and he does silly things like live in the shower. I do like the setup he creates for himself—it reminded me of George's under-desk paradise when he worked for the Yankees," referring to the episode The Nap. Sims added, "The only real misfire in The Apology is Jerry's naked girlfriend of the week who is naked so much that Jerry becomes desensitized to it. This is just a concept that never gets going, as right as Elaine may be about how male nudity is always 'bad naked'." Sims chiefly discusses the guest actors: "If nothing else, this is a great Puddy episode... Puddy is the hero of The Apology—and that's in an episode where James Spader guest stars. Spader is a funny actor for Seinfeld to feature in its ninth season, but his turn here comes at the start of his fallow period, after he was in Crash and then basically never appeared in a commercial movie again, but well before his career revival in The Practice and Boston Legal. He's actually perfect casting for the role of sarcastic recovering alcoholic Jason Hanky—it's never hard to buy Spader as a jerk, and his recovery clearly hasn't quite cured him of his jerkdom. So we're sort of on George's side, even though his problem with Hanky is pretty dumb, and (surprisingly for season nine) very Larry David..."

Siyumhaseinfeld writes, "This great Top 50 ep has such classic scenes and oft quoted lines as "Hanky, others.", germaphobe, man you're currently sleeping with, Rum Raisin, Metlife windbreaker, good naked - bad naked, and the whole stapler butt thing is just great. A welcome addition to the Top 50." For clarity, these are the lines Siumhaseinfeld refers to:

• George: Oh, hello, Hanky, others.
• Elaine: She's this crazy woman who is convinced that my germs make her sick. Puddy: Oh, germophobe. I know what that's about.
• Peggy: Elaine, it was very nice of you to bring the man you're currently sleeping with over to talk to me, but I assure you, I don't have any problem with germs. Puddy: Don't you? ... I know it looks bleak. I've been there. Ten years ago waking up in bed next to a woman like this would've sent me running for the Phisohex. Peggy: Really? Puddy: I still have trouble looking at those disgusting old bedroom slippers she slogs around in. Elaine: Hey, I've had those since college. They're bunnies. Puddy: They're bacteria traps. Peggy: So you just learned to live with it? Puddy: For the most part. Elaine: OK, we're broken up for the rest of the day.
• Hanky: I'm not sorry. I was never sorry. It was cashmere. I hate Step Nine! Where's that Rum Raisin? Where is it? Can't find anything. I need a drink.
• George: I had to walk around for the rest of the party in some cheap Metlife windbreaker. Now, it is payback time.
• Jerry: But the thing you don't realize is that there's good naked and bad naked. Naked hair brushing, good; naked crouching, bad.
• Elaine: Yeah, let me tell you something: this is all in her mind, OK? She is insane. She thinks I made her sick because I coughed on her doorknob, rubbed her stapler in my armpit, and put her keyboard on my butt. Yeah, she's a wacko.

AllRovi wrote, "The Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step plan is the motivating factor of this episode. But there's more, much more... (Did we say Alcoholics Anonymous? It should have been R.A. -- "Rage Anonymous.") The Orange County Register summed up the episode in its critique: "Except for the typically stupid Kramer subplot, not bad."

Social science writer Eric Horowitz explains the dynamic situation between George and Hanky: "From Hanke's point of view, he doesn't need to apologize because there was no mistake. His priority was to not let George ruin his sweater, and he took what he felt was the course of action that would best accomplish that. Why would he apologize for something he would do again? George, on the other hand, wants an apology specifically because Hanke displayed so much intent in his refusal. If Hanke accidentally wronged him it would be fine. It's Hanke's belief that he did nothing wrong that makes George so infuriated. The same fact — that Hanke knew exactly what he was doing — causes opposite reactions. It makes George crave an apology, but it takes away Hanke's reason to apologize. It turns out that the tiff between George and Hanke may be a fairly accurate representation of human nature. According to some new research, the intentionality of an action causes the perpetrator and the victim to feel differently about a potential apology. The study, which was led by Joost Leunissen of Erasmus University, is based on the idea that a victim's desire for an apology stems from feeling angry and wanting assurance the transgression won’t happen again. In contrast, perpetrators want to make an apology when they feel guilty and want to signal they were happy with the status quo of the relationship."