21st episode of the 5th season of Seinfeld
"The Hamptons" is the 85th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, the 21st episode of the fifth season.[1] It aired on May 12, 1994.[1] The episode follows the main characters' misadventures during a weekend visiting friends in the Hamptons: everyone but George sees George's girlfriend topless on the beach, Elaine is puzzled by a man's use of the word "breathtaking", Kramer steals lobsters from a commercial fishing trap, and George is a victim of penile shrinkage when Jerry's girlfriend sees him changing after he had been in the pool.
Plot
Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer travel to East Hampton for the weekend to see Elaine's friend's new baby; they are joined by Jane, George's new girlfriend, and Rachel, whose father is allowing her to see Jerry again after Jerry gave him kishka to atone for his behavior in "The Raincoats". George is excited about Jane coming along, thinking she intends to have sex with him for the first time. Jane goes topless in front of Jerry, Kramer, and Elaine while George is out to get tomatoes. Elaine is thrilled to be described as "breathtaking" by the baby's doctor, Ben, until he uses the same adjective to describe the baby, who Elaine thinks is ugly.
Kramer returns from a beach expedition with enough lobster for everyone and tells George they saw Jane topless. George is infuriated at Jerry about this, and demands to see Rachel naked as recompense. After being warned by Elaine that Rachel is changing, George barges into her room, but Rachel has only dropped her pants. After George excuses himself, Rachel, following incorrect directions to the baby's room, accidentally barges in on him undressing and laughs at the size of his penis. George tries in vain to convince Jerry to explain to her that, having just gotten out of the pool, he was a victim of "shrinkage". At dinner Rachel declines to eat the lobster, since it is not kosher. Kramer reveals he got the lobster from a commercial lobster trap. This outrages their host Michael, whose father was a commercial fisherman.
Elaine asks Ben in private about his use of the word "breathtaking"; he answers that "sometimes you say a thing like that just to be nice", leaving her even more confused about his intentions. Rachel tells Jane about George's penis size, prompting Jane to drive back to New York in the middle of the night. At breakfast, George gets revenge on Rachel by serving scrambled eggs made with lobster. When she storms out of the kitchen, he goes after her ostensibly to apologize, and this time successfully sees her naked. Police investigate the lobster poaching, and Michael directs them to Kramer. Unable to pay the $1,000 fine, he must pick up garbage on the side of the road as a means of community service. On the way home, Jerry, George, and Elaine stop at the tomato stall again, where Rachel throws a tomato at George.
Influence on popular culture
The episode has been credited with giving "new meaning to the word 'shrinkage'".[2] Seinfeld writer Peter Mehlman took credit for introducing the word, with Larry David encouraging him to use it in the episode; inversely, Mehlman gave David credit for "sponge-worthy", the catchword from "The Sponge" in the seventh season.[3] The word was later used in a Budweiser commercial, cited as a testament to the show's influence.[4]
References
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