It would be impossible to picture Seinfeld without Elaine Benes. Jerry’s smart friend and ex-girlfriend has a great sense of humor, an interesting publishing career, and those trademark awful dance moves. Whether she’s on yet another bad date or hanging out with her pals, Elaine is always entertaining.

Elaine can be seen as the show’s protagonist and no matter what her storyline is, there are many times when fans can see themselves in her character arc. On the other hand, sometimes she makes strange decisions that not many people would think are a good idea.

10 Related: Hated Going To Parties

Some Seinfeld episodes will always be relatable and one of the best is season 3’s “The Stranded.” Jerry and Elaine worked out a signal so they could leave a party early, but they got stuck there and asked Kramer to rescue them.

Elaine seemed to hate parties, especially if she didn’t know many people there and had to make awkward small talk. Seinfeld often showed the total misery of talking to strangers and not having any idea what to say. Fans can relate to Elaine here as she would prefer to hang out with her friends at Jerry’s apartment or Monk’s any day.

9 Didn’t: Broke Up With People Without Having A Real Reason

Elaine is famous for dumping people for silly reasons, and this doesn’t make her very relatable.

Being single can be really difficult, especially when friends and family are coupled up, and if someone would make a great partner, it seems strange to break up with them for not writing down punctuation or being too sweet. Elaine was right to have high standards, but in some cases, she might have found happiness with someone if she had gotten to know them better and given them more of a chance.

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8 Related: Felt Intimidated By Her Family

An evening snowfall ruined Jerry’s fancy and expensive new jacket after he met up with George, Elaine, and Elaine’s dad.

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Elaine wanted her friends to join her as she was intimidated by her father, and this is something that viewers can sympathize with. Many people have at least one family member with whom they don’t get along or feel nervous about spending time with because they can be judgmental or harsh. While Elaine could make some strange choices on Seinfeld, her attitude toward her dad was understandable, as he was definitely intense.

7 Didn’t: Made Up A Co-Worker

In season 8, Elaine made up a co-worker called Susie, and while this was hilarious, this isn’t easy to relate to.

Telling a small and unimportant lie to spare someone’s feelings is fine, but lying about a co-worker is too much. Although Elaine had a great publishing career, she did act strangely at work in later seasons, and things got even worse when she said that Susie killed herself. It’s hard to imagine why she would go that far and take things in such a disturbing and offensive direction.

6 Related: Wanted To Move Apartments Many Times

Whether dealing with a terrible roommate or a dog that never stopped barking in the middle of the night, Elaine was always in the market for a new apartment.

This makes the character easy to relate to, as even if someone loves where they live, a new, shiny, fancier home is always enticing. Elaine never had good luck with living spaces and she seemed to have to settle for whatever she could find.

5 Didn’t: Got Mad At George Because A Sweater Wasn’t Totally Perfect

In the third season episode “The Red Dot,” George was thrilled that Elaine helped him get a job, so he gave her a cashmere sweater. Elaine got upset because it had a tiny red dot, which was the reason why George was able to afford it since it was on sale.

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It seems petty to care about such a small detail, and it’s hard to root for Elaine here, as she should have thanked George and appreciated the nice gesture. He was just trying to be nice and it makes sense that he would want to get a good deal.

4 Related: Got Upset About Being Stuck On The Subway

Elaine and her friends had their own subway experiences in this season 3 episode. When the train stopped for a while, Elaine freaked out, getting more and more upset. She didn’t like being in an enclosed space with so many other people and she was nervous about being late for a wedding.

This was super relatable, as no one likes being stuck on the subway or any kind of public transportation. It can definitely be tough to stay calm when there’s no way of knowing how long the delay will last. Many people have been in the same situation as Elaine.

3 Didn’t: Hated Celebrating Birthdays At Work

In the season 9 episode “The Frogger,” Elaine became frustrated with celebrating birthdays at work, and she didn’t want to keep putting on a happy face and eating cake.

This is tough to relate to, as most people would agree that it’s fun to take a break and celebrate someone’s birthday, and most people enjoy having a delicious slice of cake.

2 Related: Had A Streak Of Bad Luck

George had many sad things happen to him, and it often seemed like nothing good would ever happen to him. Sure, sometimes these bad days were a result of his poor decisions, but other times it was just bad luck.

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In the season 5 episode “The Opposite,” Elaine felt that she and George had switched places as she had all his bad luck. She had to move out of her apartment and Pendant Publishing went out of business. Everyone can relate to Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

1 Didn’t: Became Obsessed With A New Yorker Cartoon

While Elaine was the focus of hilarious plotlines, this one involving a cartoon stands out for being a bit strange.

After seeing a cartoon in The New Yorker where a cat told a dog “I enjoyed reading your email,” Elaine became so obsessed that she couldn’t interpret the meaning that she actually went to the offices. The editor wasn’t sure what the cartoon meant, and Elaine had the chance to create her own cartoon. This was an odd storyline as Elaine became too upset about something that was so insignificant.

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About The Author


Aya Tsintziras
(1742 Articles Published)

Aya Tsintziras is a freelance writer who writes about pop culture and TV. She has a Political Science degree from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Journalism from Ryerson University. She loves coffee, reading, working out, and watching TV. She lives in Toronto with her husband.

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