10 Experimental TV Episodes You NEED To See

7. The Betrayal - Seinfeld

Community Paradigms Of Human Memory
NBC

Seinfeld certainly wasn't the first sitcom to tinker around with non-linear presentation - take Red Dwarf's unforgettable "Backwards" - but Seinfeld's ninth season episode "The Betrayal" is perhaps this concept's most inspired iteration.

A glorious homage to Harold Pinter's similarly-premised play Betrayal, The Betrayal unfolds in reverse-order, beginning with the story's chronological final scene and working its way backwards.

The episode starts with the gang returning from Sue Ellen's (Brenda Strong) wedding in India and unfurls in reverse from there, resulting in a slew of shenanigans including Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) getting wasted on peach schnapps, Kramer (Michael Richards) faking his death to avoid the wrath of FDR (not that one), and George (Jason Alexander) refusing to go to the toilet for the entire trip.

The Betrayal is actually a relatively polarising episode in the Seinfeld fandom, yet for a series to come up with something so structurally inventive in its final season is nevertheless majorly laudable.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.