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The Race (Seinfeld)
"'''The Race'''" is the 96th episode of the ''Seinfeld'' television series, the 10th episode of season six. The episode first aired on December 15, 1994. The story follows Jerry Seinfeld (character)|Jerry as he meets an old rival, who suspects that he cheated in a high school race and wishes to re-run it. Elaine Benes|Elaine is put on a "blacklist" and finds out her boyfriend is a Communism|Communist, which sees George Costanza|George respond to a personal ad in the ''Daily Worker'' and Cosmo Kramer|Kramer, who is working as a department store Santa Claus, is eventually convinced to become a Communist by Elaine's boyfriend.
Plot
Jerry Seinfeld (character)|Jerry is excited to finally be dating a woman named Lois Lane|Lois (Renee Props). However, Jerry is stunned when he finds out that Lois works for Duncan Meyer, his old rival from high school. Elaine Benes|Elaine's complaints about her Chinese food delivery cause her to be blacklisted from Hop Sing's. George Costanza|George notes to Elaine that Ned, her new boyfriend, has a copy of the ''Daily Worker'', which prompts suspicion of Ned being a communism|communist. George is intrigued by one of the personal ads, which remark "appearance is not important". Jerry recounts his rivalry with Duncan - in a track race in ninth grade, Jerry had gotten an inadvertent Head start (positioning)|head start and won. Though he was praised for his seemingly amazing speed, only Duncan suspected something was amiss.
Lois quizzes Jerry about cheating in the race; Jerry defends his win, and Lois believes him. Ned admits to Elaine he is a Communist. George announces he contacted a girl from ''The Daily Worker''. Cosmo Kramer|Kramer gets ready for his new job as Santa Claus at Coleman's department store, with List of Seinfeld minor characters#mickeyabbott|Mickey as his elf. Lois arranges lunch at Monk's with her, Jerry, and Duncan, and Jerry knows that the subject of the race will come up. George agrees to turn up at the coffee shop, pretend he has not seen Jerry since high school, and back up his winning story.
At Yankee Stadium, George receives a call from Natalie, his personal ad girl from ''The Daily Worker''. George's secretary, Ada, overhears the conversation and suspects George of having Communist sympathies. At Coleman's, Ned gets Kramer interested in Communist practices. At Monk's Cafe|Monk's, while Duncan is protesting the race, George turns up, pretending he has not seen Jerry in years, and backs Jerry's story (while also lying about the accomplishments of his own life). Duncan still doesn't believe it, and Lois suggests that the two of them just race each other again, but Jerry refuses ("Shermanesque statement|I choose not to run"). Nonetheless, Duncan starts to call up everyone from high school to come out for the race, and Jerry gets worried the legend will die.
Kramer is taken by Ned's Communist literature, but Mickey thinks it's a bad idea. Elaine is reluctant to order dinner from Hop Sing's after her fight with the delivery man, but Ned insists, as his father spent much of his time at the restaurant after being blacklisted. At Coleman's, Kramer (as Santa) is accused by a kid of spreading Communist propaganda; Kramer and Mickey are subsequently fired. Elaine places her Chinese food order under Ned's name, but the delivery man uncovers her ruse and blacklists Ned from the restaurant too. Jerry refuses to participate in the race, until he learns that Duncan will fire Lois unless he agrees to run. The rumors of George's Communist leanings land him in Steinbrenner's office, where Steinbrenner has him go to Cuba and try to recruit some of their best baseball players.
On the street, Jerry and Duncan are lined up to race again. Duncan smugly asides to Lois that if he loses, he'll give her a two-week Hawaiian vacation. As the race is about to begin, Kramer's car backfires, and Jerry mistakes it for the starting pistol, giving him another head start. To the strains of the Superman theme, Jerry wins the race.
In Cuba, George meets with Fidel Castro, who agrees to give players to the Yankees(after hearing about George "being a Communist").
Trivia
- After winning the race, Jerry hugs Lois and then winks at the camera - the first instance of breaking the fourth wall on ''Seinfeld'', a reference to George Reeves. Jerry also acknowledges the audience in the introduction segments to "The Highlights of 100 (Seinfeld episode)|The Highlights of 100" and "The Clip Show".
- The deleted scenes on the DVD reveal an abandoned sequence in which Kramer helps George enter the Cuban embassy through a secret entrance installed during the Cuban missile crisis and slides down the chimney dressed as Santa Claus.
Superman references
- '''Jerry''': Ready to go, Lois?
- '''Lois''': You really like to say my name, don't you?
- '''Jerry''': Excuse me, Lois. Stand back, Lois. Jimmy's in trouble, Lois!
- '''Lois''': So you ''were'' the fastest kid in school!
- '''Jerry''': Faster than a speeding bullet, Lois.
- '''Lois''': Would you be able to come all the way downtown again in rush hour to pick me up?
- '''Jerry''': Well, I'd have to be Superman to do that, Lois.
- '''Lois''': So will you come to Hawaii with me, Jerry?
- '''Jerry''': Maybe I will, Lois... Maybe I will! ''at camera''.
- Jerry also wears layers of red and blue shirts in this episode, representing Superman's iconic red and blue costume.
External links
- ''The Race'' on the IMDb.com
- ''The Race'' - TV.com
- Seinfeld: ''The Race''
- ''The Race'' on seinfeldscripts.com
Category:Seinfeld episodes
Category:1994 television episodesRelated Images
Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL
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