45: Susan’s Dad Had a Gay Affair With John Cheever

“The Cheever Letters” (October 28, 1992)

Poor Susan Ross. If she only knew what her association with George Constanza would ultimately cost her, she would have run screaming. Early in the show’s fourth season, Susan got a glimpse of what George was capable of when he indirectly outed her dad — if not as gay then at least as a one-time lover of John Cheever. Mike Ciriaco joins Glen and Drew to discuss how this episode is a Seinfeld sleeper classic, both because of and in spite of how nonchalantly it deals with Mr. Ross’s sexuality.

Links, notes and sources

• Excerpt from Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s Seinfeldia on Susan’s death

• Why Susan was Seinfeld’s most tragic character

• Typical Sarah Palmer

This episode’s outro track is “Fire” by Radiorama.