The Shower Head

"The Shower Head" is the 16th episode of the 7th season of Seinfeld and the 126th overall. It premiered on February 15, 1996. It was written by Peter Mehlman and Marjorie Gross and was directed by Andy Ackerman.

Plot[]

Del Boca Vista and Anti-Semites[]

After leaving their condo in "The Cadillac", Jerry's parents (Morty and Helen) come to New York and move into Uncle Leo's apartment, while Leo moves in with his new girlfriend, Lydia. Jerry gets annoyed by his parents calling him regularly because they are now in his local calling area. At Monk's he encourages Uncle Leo to break up with Lydia, thinking he'll move back into his own apartment, forcing his parents back to Florida. Uncle Leo calls the cook an anti-Semite for overcooking his burger.

George, after talking to Jerry about the "buffer zone" Jerry usually enjoys with his parents living 1,200 miles away in Florida, takes it to heart and shows his own parents, Frank and Estelle, the brochure that Morty had about a new condo development called Del Boca Vista that he and Helen plan to move to. George tries to convince them to move there.

Jerry prepares for an appearance on the Tonight Show, where Morty and Helen run Frank and Estelle. Frank says they're considering moving to Del Boca Vista, but Morty claims there are no available condos there. Frank sees this as a challenge. On the Tonight Show, Jerry tells Jay Leno about Uncle Leo and how he blames all his misfortunes on anti-Semitism. Leo and Lydia watch the show. Lydia laughs at Jerry's story, prompting Leo to call her an anti-Semite, and break up with her.

Leo moves back to his apartment, forcing the Seinfelds to go back to Florida as planned. However, Frank tells Morty that he and Estelle are going to Del Boca Vista. Morty, citing Jerry's concept of a buffer zone, announces he and Helen can't go back, and move into Jerry's apartment. Jerry tells Leo to reconcile with Lydia, so that his parents can go back to Leo's apartment. However, when low-flow showerheads are installed in Leo's apartment building, the Seinfelds cannot stand to remain there. The Costanzas end up not going, unable to bear being away from George, leaving the Seinfelds free to leave for Florida.

Opium[]

Elaine takes a urine test in order to go to Kenya with her boss, Mr. Peterman. She tests positive for opium. Elaine insists she has never taken drugs, but when a frantic Kramer shows up at her office begging her to let him use her normal-pressure shower, Peterman mistakes him for a drug addict and fires Elaine. Peterman once had a bad experience with opium himself. Elaine realizes that the opium is coming from the poppy seeds in her favorite muffins. She persuades Peterman to let her take the test again, but a half-hour before the test she realizes that a piece of chicken she ate at Jerry's apartment had poppy seeds on it. She then asks Helen for her urine sample and passes it off as her own. It tests negative for opium, but Peterman, giving Elaine her job back, reports that the lab results suggest she has the metabolism of someone Helen's age, so Elaine cannot go to Kenya.

Low-flow shower heads[]

Jerry's apartment building has new shower heads installed, but they are low-flow, upsetting Kramer, Newman and Jerry, who can't properly wash out their shampoo, leaving their hair, as well as that of Morty and Helen, looking bedraggled. Newman receives a tip for black market Yugoslavian shower heads, so he takes Jerry and Kramer to his client's van. Kramer chooses a high pressure shower head used for elephants, which forces him out of the tub when he uses it.

Notes About Nothing[]

This is the first time Del Boca Vista is mentioned.
The theme of a place having absolutely no homes left to rent is continued from "The Maestro". There it was the whole of Tuscany; here it's Florida housing development Del Boca Vista.
Jay Leno appears in this episode as himself.

Quotes[]

For this episode's quotes, see The Shower Head/Quotes.

Season Seven Episodes