Whelp, I finished the series today, and man that Finale was underwhelming. I think the first 20 minutes or so were actually pretty good and felt like a normal episode. Once they got arrested, it kind of went downhill from there. Just a whole bunch of callbacks and rehashing old jokes by bringing back a parade of characters. Jackie sleeping with Teri Hatcher was a surprise, I definitely forgot about that. The judge being named Arthur Vandelay was meh, but George's mom propositioning him in order to be lenient was a surprise. Apparently it didn't work though, since they got a 1 year sentence.
I did think it was funny that Ted Danson's name came up again when George was complaining about the plane. He of course made the same kind of complaint back in season 4 when negotiating the pilot with NBC, comparing the paltry $13,000 to what Ted Danson makes per episode of Cheers. I'm sure Larry David had something to do with it, since Ted is on Curb as himself.
There were some funny parts, but it was mostly the 4 of them and Jackie reacting to witnesses and testimony. We already know a lot of that stuff isn't socially acceptable and the issues with the things they do, so throwing it back in the character's faces just isn't funny on its own. I think where they really missed the mark was not having any sort of testimony from the 4. Elaine could have tried to play it smart and deflect responsibility, Jerry should have been trying to point out the absurdities and make some awkward joke that doesn't fly, George should have been on that stand getting very upset and Kramer should have been last and screwed it all up somehow. It's too bad they didn't go with more of the main characters and less of the extras, plus I would have loved to see Frank Costanza up there on the stand testifying as to why his son doesn't deserve this treatment.
Anyways, it's not the worst finale in sitcom history, but it's certainly not a great one. I don't think it's nearly as bad as people seem to recall, but there was a lot of different ways they could have gone instead. Honestly I think doing a normal show with nothing special would have been the best option and fit the show better. End with them debating a random social topic in the coffee shop and fade to credits would have been great.