The Puerto Rican Day

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This article is about the Seinfeld episode. For the NYC parade, see Puerto Rican Day Parade.

Seinfeld episode
"The Puerto Rican Day"
The traffic jam caused by the Puerto Rican Day parade.
Episode no.	176
Airdate	May 7, 1998
Writer(s)	Alec Berg, Jennifer Crittenden, Spike Feresten, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Gregg Kavet, Steve Koren, David Mandel, Dan O'Keefe, Andy Robin, Jeff Schaffer
Director	Andy Ackerman
Seinfeld - Season 9 September 1997 - May 1998
The Butter Shave The Voice The Serenity Now The Blood The Junk Mail The Merv Griffin Show The Slicer The Betrayal The Apology The Strike The Dealership The Reverse Peephole The Cartoon The Strong Box The Wizard The Burning The Bookstore The Frogger The Maid The Puerto Rican Day The Clip Show, Part 1 The Clip Show, Part 2 The Finale, Part 1 The Finale, Part 2
List of all Seinfeld episodes

The Puerto Rican Day is the one-hundred and seventy-sixth episode of the hit NBC sitcom Seinfeld. It aired on May 7, 1998. It was the 20th episode of the 9th and final season. The episode was their second highest rated episode of all time with 38.8 million viewers, only behind their Series Finale. It was followed by a two-part clip show and the two part series finale.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The gang tries to get back into town after leaving the Mets game early in the 8th inning, the Mets are down 9 - 0. On the highway they run into trouble with a maroon Volkswagen Golf. George comments on a new movie he saw about the Hindenburg disaster (the name of the movie being "Blimp") and the clever comment ("That's gotta hurt!!") he made during a quiet moment after the explosion. As they approach 5th Avenue traffic slows down and music can be heard, they realize they have forgotten about the Puerto Rican Day Parade. Elaine worries about getting home and seeing 60 Minutes as part of her weekend wind down. Kramer spots a way out if Jerry can worm his way over to the right. They almost make it over until they reencounter the maroon Golf. Elaine bails out of the car to find alternate transportation. George bails out of the car when he spots a theater screening the Hindenburg movie; he decides he wants to repeat his glory. Elaine decides the cab she hired isn't working, so she bails out of the cab, only to have it start moving again and again. George's attempt to be funny at the movie is undermined by a guy with a laser pointer. Kramer suggests that he and Jerry abandon his car. The man with the laser pointer (a lousy prop comic) gets all the laughs as George's line bombs and he is humiliated. Kramer cuts a deal with the maroon Golf while they are gone to get access to the short-cut when Jerry makes an apology wave. George returns to the car with the red dot of a laser pointer appearing all over parts of his body. Jerry rescinds his apology wave just as he is about to pull in the alley; Elaine arrives back at the same spot in her cab. Kramer urges Jerry to "scratch off the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number), take the plates, and walk away while leaving the car in the traffic jam- claiming the vehicle with the insurance company.

Jerry's apartment is seen, but no one is home. Elaine seeks an alternate way home. Kramer seeks a bathroom. Elaine works her way over to the parade route and looks for a way across. She leads a group of people on an escape route underneath a reviewing stand ala The Poseidon Adventure. Kramer spots an apartment for sale and poses as H.E Pennypacker, a wealthy industrialist, to get access to a bathroom. When he gets back he tells Jerry about the Mets game. Soon after, Kal Varnsen (Jerry's alias), is looking at the television in the apartment. George spots the laser guy and plans a sneak attack. Elaine's route leads to a dead end. George grabs what he thinks is the laser pointer and gets ink all over his hands. Kramer accidentally sets the Puerto Rican flag on fire and a mob of people, led by Bob and Cedric attacks him. Art Vandelay (George's alias) seeks the use of a bathroom to clean the ink off his hands and runs into Varnsen. Pennypacker joins them on the run from the mob. Varnsen wants to know who's watching the Saab factory. The mob is watching it; however, they leave it in a precarious position.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Trivia

This episode of Seinfeld has more writer credits - ten - than any other episode. As co-creator Larry David was returning to write the finale, this was the final episode for the active "after Larry David" writing staff, and thus was a group effort.
This episode had been banned from syndication until 2002, due to its showing Kramer's burning a Puerto Rican flag, which sparked outrage from anti-defamation groups. Even though the ban has been lifted, most networks choose not to air it and usually skip the episode during syndication reruns. It is rarely seen.
In this episode, Elaine reveals that she is an alumna of Tufts University.