The Jacket (Seinfeld) - Plot

Plot

When Jerry Seinfeld is shopping for clothes with Elaine Benes, he finds a suede jacket that he likes. He has doubts about buying the jacket because it is very expensive and has a candy stripe lining. He eventually decides to buy it. When Jerry is at home watching television, his neighbor Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) comes in and likes the jacket, he is even more impressed when he discovers the price by reading the label. Kramer persuades Jerry to give him his old leather jacket as he will no longer be using it.

The following night, Jerry, Elaine and their mutual friend George Costanza have dinner with Elaine's father, writer Alton Benes. While preparing for the dinner, George arrives at Jerry's apartment with the song "Master of the House" from the musical Les Misérables stuck in his head. George and Jerry are both very nervous to meet Alton because he is such a famous author. When they are about to leave, Jerry puts on his new jacket. George is very impressed and attempts to get Jerry to reveal its cost. Kramer enters the apartment and asks for two minutes' help guarding his illegally parked car as he carries down some doves that he is looking after for a magician friend. However, they refuse to help because he often underestimates how long things take to do.

George is still singing as they enter Alton Benes's hotel. Elaine has not arrived yet, so they sit down with her father and nervously order drinks. They have an awkward conversation with him; Alton asks who is the "funny guy" (Jerry), to which George says it's Jerry. Alton then recalls about a funny guy in Korea who got his brains blown out over the Pacific and that "there's nothing funny about that". Jerry (frightened) eventually goes to the bathroom, abandoning George (also frightened), who attempts to compliment Alton about his book, Fair Game. George gets uncomfortable and tells Alton he has to make a phone call. He meets Jerry in the bathroom and both mention how terrified they are because of Alton; they decide to go home if Elaine does not show up in the next ten minutes. When they return, Alton receives a message from Elaine, who will arrive in thirty minutes, which worries them both.

When Elaine finally arrives, she explains that Kramer promised her a lift if she would wait in his car for two minutes. He returned over twenty minutes later, and the car had been towed for being illegally parked. She was eventually forced to walk to the restaurant. Alton, returning from the bathroom, greets Elaine and tells Jerry and "chorus boy" George that they are going to a Pakistani restaurant five blocks away. On their way out, they notice it is snowing. Jerry knows snow would ruin his suede jacket and asks Alton if they can take a cab, but Alton replies that it is only a few blocks away. George suggests that Jerry could turn the jacket inside out, but because of the candy stripe lining, Alton notices and tells him to turn it back, saying he looks "like a damn fool" and that he's "not going to walk down the street with me and my daughter dressed like that." George then reminds Jerry that the restaurant is only a few blocks away; Jerry, reluctantly, puts his jacket back to normal.

The next day Kramer notices Jerry's jacket hanging in the bathroom, badly damaged by the snow. Kramer takes it, chiding Jerry for not turning it inside out. Elaine arrives, and tells Jerry that her father had a good time. She explains how he usually hates everyone but liked Jerry, as he reminded him of a certain "somebody" from Korea; she then mentions that he thinks George is gay because "he pretty much thinks everyone is gay." Meanwhile, as Alton drives home, he finds himself singing "Master of the House" as well.