The Rye

Elaine dates a jazz saxophonist named Johnny Germaine and admits to Jerry that she is upset because Johnny doesn’t do “everything,” a reference to oral sex; in spite of this, Jerry tells one of the band members that Johnny and Elaine are “hot and heavy.” Susan’s parents meet and have dinner with the Costanzas for the first time. The Costanzas bring a loaf of marble rye bread which, when it isn’t served after the meal, Frank takes back home. George thinks that by getting Susan’s parents out of the apartment for one evening, he can get a new rye and place it in the kitchen, making it appear as though it had always been there. Kramer has taken over a friend’s horse-drawn tourist carriage for a week and has agreed to take Susan’s parents on a hansom cab ride in the Central Park area as a distraction for George.

The plans fall apart when neither Kramer nor Susan’s parents can bear the smell emitted by the horse after consuming an entire can of Beef-A-Reeno. Meanwhile, Johnny wants to try adding something “new” with Elaine and takes her back to his place before a performance in front of some record executives. Furthermore, Schnitzer’s Bakery sells the last rye to an elderly woman (portrayed by Frances Bay) who refuses to sell it to Jerry for fifty dollars. Jerry then follows the woman down the street in order to obtain the marble rye loaf, though she still refuses to sell it. Eventually he steals it from her. By now the Rosses have returned and the only way George can retrieve the rye is by fishing it out of Jerry’s hands from a third story window and is subsequently caught by Susan and her parents. Johnny shows up late to his show with Elaine and finds he can’t play even a single bar well. Elaine sheepishly sneaks out of the club.

Read more…