The Plot: It starts out with Jerry finding a box of
items he inherited from his grandfather.
He was supposed to send it to his parents in Florida, but had forgotten
about it in storage for years. Inside
the box is a tiny statue of a female.
Upon seeing it, George remarks that it looks just like a statue his
parent had when he was a kid. George tells
a story of using the statue like a microphone to sing “MacArthur Park” and dropping
it. His parents never forgave him for
shattering it. He and Kramer fight over
the statue, ultimately deciding the ownership issue by a game of “inka dink” (A
variation of “eeny meeny miny moe”, but I have never heard of this game). George wins the statue, and Kramer is left
with a bunch of vintage clothes and a hat.
He casually remarks that the outfit will make him look like Detective Joe
Friday from Dragnet. While the morons are playing inka dink, Jerry notices that
his apartment is filthy. Elaine is
working with a writer from Finland, Rava, who offers her boyfriend (Ray) to
clean his apartment.
Ray
does an amazing job cleaning the place, even going as far to clean the bottom
of the egg cups in the refrigerator and cleaning the little space between the
refrigerator and the counter. Later,
Jerry and Elaine are at Rava and Ray’s apartment and Jerry notices the same
little statue. Jerry freaks out thinking
Ray stole it from him. Jerry confronts
Ray at Monk’s and Ray denies taking the statue, but can’t come up with where he
acquired it. This causes a falling out
between Elaine and Rava.
The
episode ends with Kramer donning his vintage detective clothes and going to
Rava and Ray’s apartment. Pretending to
be a police officer, he takes the statue from Ray and threatens him with arrest
if he tells anyone. Kramer comes back
and presents George with the statue and as he’s leaving Jerry’s, he pats George
on the back causing him to drop the statue and see it shattered once again.
Fun Facts:
- This is the first of many episodes where we are introduced to a dysfunctional writer that Elaine is forced to work with. Future episodes with Jake Jarmell and Yuri Testikov.
- Jan Leeves, who appears in a very memorable episode later in Season 4 auditioned for the role of Rava.
- Both Hank Azaria and Tony Shalhoub auditioned for the part of Ray.
Favorite
Quote:
JERRY: So, where's this
boyfriend of yours? I can't wait much longer. I've got a flight.
ELAINE: Oh, probably caught
in traffic.
RAVA: Or maybe he's dead.
JERRY: So what do you
write, children's books?
Favorite Scene: When
Jerry confronts Ray about the statue, he does it at Monks. With Ray and Jerry in one booth, George sits
in the booth behind them, eavesdropping on the conversation, unable to
contain his anger at the excuses Ray keeps throwing out. Finally, George explodes, turning around to
confront Ray himself, “That’s it, I can’t take it anymore. You stole the statue. You’re a thief. You’re a liar.” “Who is this,” exclaims Ray. “I’m the judge and the jury pal. And the verdict is…guilty!!”
The Lesson: “The Statute” presents an interesting lesson
for entrepreneurs. Once you launch a
company and you attempt to build that business into a sustainable enterprise,
you constantly come across vendors, service providers, partners, and others you
might be important elements in the growth of your company. But it’s important to look at those people
carefully. From time to time you may
encounter individuals who take short cuts.
Individuals who are unethical.
Individuals who view you as a target.
Make no mistake, these people can help you and your business. They may be able to clean the space between
the refrigerator and the counter. They
may be able to do things for you that no one else can do. But deep down, they can also be a thief. You can’t allow your business to be dependent
on someone who you can’t trust. No matter
how much they might help you, as Joe Friday will not always be around to rescue
you.
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