None of the characters on Seinfeld are likable in any capacity. They are the worst kinds of misanthropes, always profiting joy off the misery and demise of others. Fortunately, this results in myriad instances on the classic NBC sitcom where the characters are served satisfying comeuppances. However, just because it can be fun to watch the Seinfeld foursome frequently get what they deserve, that doesn't mean it's always how the episodes shake out.
Sometimes, horrible things happen to seemingly irredeemable characters like George Costanza. While it can be easily argued that he deserves this, it's also just as easy to feel a semblance of pathos for him. Even if he's still much easier to hate.
Pitied: The Moops
Yes, George Costanza is not at his best when he bursts the Bubble Boy. However, everything that leads up to this head-shaking moment is perfectly reasonable for George, including his insistence that the Trivial Pursuit card said "Moops" and not "Moors."
After all, the Bubble Boy was incredibly rude to George and Susan before this game. He was making sleazy comments and acting like an overall brat. Who wouldn't have done what George did at that moment? It was too bad he got so much flak for it.
Worst: The Fire
There are other actions made by George Costanza where what he did what would have been done by very few people in real life. In season five's "The Fire," George flees an on-fire apartment and makes sure to be the first one to safety.
This includes pushing everyone from his path, including an elderly woman, a mother and her child, and a clown. It's abhorrent behavior from George and one of the clearest go-to examples of his ability to be easily hated.
Pitied: The Summer Of George
In "The Summer of George," when George decides to live off of severance for three months and never leave his apartment, it's clearly a gross decision. However, it generates empathy when he winds up lonely and nearly paralyzed.
Based on the year everyone just had, some people might find it easier to feel bad for George. Now, the entire world knows what it's like to be stuck in an apartment for months, repeating the same day. Granted, George chose to do that, but walking in his slippers was certainly eye-opening for many.
Worst: The Death Of Susan
Did George Costanza kill his fiancee, Susan? Well, perhaps not. Technically, a murder cannot be pinned on him, even though he certainly didn't move the needle towards preventing her death either.
What makes him most easily hate-worthy in the aftermath of Susan's death, however, is his reaction. He's largely apathetic and seemingly relieved. The levels of callousness he displayed are unforgivable.
Pitied: Cartwright
In the iconic bottle episode of Seinfeld, "The Chinese Restaurant," George spends the installment waiting to use a payphone to call his girlfriend, Tatiana, and invite her to dinner.
Every time he tries to use the phone, though, it's occupied. When he eventually gets through to Tatiana, she's left her apartment. However, he leaves a message that prompts her to call the restaurant and, in response, the host calls out, "Cartwright," rather than "Costanza." As a result, George misses the call, but it is not even close to his fault. It's a senseless moment that can easily make one feel bad for George.
Worst: Play Now
Following the "Summer of George," George ends up finding a new job at Play Now, a company that builds materials for playgrounds. Yet, in classic George fashion, he does not get the job on his own merit. Instead, he's hired because they believe that he is an individual who is handicapped.
George maintains this ruse and exploits the benefits (which he does not need) to milk his time at Play Now. It's a cringe-worthy display of George taking resources and advantages away from people who actually need them.
Pitied: Seven
Returning to George's time with Susan, the season seven episode, "The Seven," sees George telling Susan how he wanted to name his child "Seven," after Mickey Mantle's jersey number.
Of course, Susan finds the name absurd, but that's not where it's easy to feel bad for George. Instead, that comes when she tells her cousin, Carrie, about the name and Carrie decides to name her own baby "Seven," as a result. Clearly, George is not in the wrong here for wanting them to not use his dream baby name. It's rude on their part, for sure.
Worst: Neil's IV
In season eight's "The English Patient" (named for a movie Elaine hates), George ends up dating a woman named Danielle, solely because she mistook him for her real boyfriend, a man named Neil. This, on its own, is behavior to hate, but George manages to go even further.
When Danielle eventually returns to Neil, who was hooked up to many tubes and machines in the hospital as a result of burning his face, George acts petulantly to get some pitiable version of "revenge." This comes in the form of tugging out Neil's IV in the hospital. He had no idea what damage that might have caused.
Pitied: Promotion At The Yankees
In "The Caddy," George falls into inadvertent praise from George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, when he locks his keys in his car, causing the top brass to believe George is working long hours at the ballpark.
Granted, it's easy to hate George when he takes advantage of this and starts blowing off work altogether. But when he is up for a major promotion with the team and his absence from the Bronx prevents him from securing it in time, it's hard not to feel some pangs of pathos for the man.
Worst: The Human Fund
"The Strike" is the episode of Seinfeld that is best known for being the one with Festivus (if the episodes were entitled like Friends episodes are). However, the show does not arrive at Festivus without George making up a charity he dubs "The Human Fund."
This is the kind of hate-worthy action akin to lying about his abilities to get a job. It exploits and demeans people in need and is an abysmal lie that rebukes the "reason for the season." During this 1997 Christmas season, George made the world a little bit worse.