The Slicer

“The Slicer” is the seventh episode of the ninth and final season of Seinfeld, and the 163rd episode overall. This episode first aired on November 13, 1997. It was written by Darin Henry, Gregg Kavet and Andy Robin and was directed by Andy Ackerman.

Plot[]

Elaine has a nightmare where she, George, Jerry, and Kramer all share a bed, but is awakened by her next door neighbor's alarm clock. George applies for an interview with Kruger Industrial Smoothing and gets the job, but notices in Mr. Kruger's office a picture of Kruger and his family at the beach with George in the background.

George tells Kramer and Jerry at the coffee shop about the "boom box incident" that occurred in the summer of 1989: George was at the beach and the Kruger family came up next to him. After returning from swimming in the surf, George found all his things gone. After screaming at the Kruger boys, he got so angry he threw their boom box into the ocean. Moments later, he found his things in the water and realized that the tide, not the boys, had taken them out. The Kruger father demanded George pay for the boom box, so George gave him a fake address.

Now, George is worried that he will be fired once Kruger recognizes him from the picture. Kramer suggests sneaking the picture out and getting George's image airbrushed out. George takes to the idea and leaves.

Kramer is annoyed at the shoddy slicing of the meat in the sandwiches he eats, stating that he "hasn't had a decent sandwich in 13 years." He solves his problem by getting a meat slicer.

Elaine can't sleep because her neighbor forgot to turn off the alarm clock before leaving for Paris. Kramer tells her that the same thing happened to his friend Lomez, so Lomez blew his neighbor's circuit.

The next day, George goes to pick up the picture, but finds out Kruger was airbrushed out instead of him, since the photo clerk didn't recognize George with a full head of hair. Kramer blows Elaine's neighbor's circuit, but her neighbor's cat starts whining because shutting off the power also shut off its automatic feeder. Jerry tells Elaine his date with a doctor, Sara Sitarides, didn't go well because she kept making him feel like "if I don't save lives, I'm worthless." Elaine then reveals that Sara is a dermatologist. Jerry gets annoyed at this, not considering a dermatologist to be a "lifesaver." George convinces him to go on a "revenge date" to tell her off.

Elaine and Kramer go back to Elaine's apartment with the meat slicer and feed the cat under the door. Elaine borrows Kramer's slicer, but uses it for slicing other things, and gets a piece of her heel stuck in it. Jerry's revenge date doesn't go well when a man comes up and thanks Sara for saving his life from skin cancer. George goes back to the Foto Hut, and finds himself airbrushed out, and only a drawing of Kruger back in.

When Elaine drops by to pick up pliers to remove the heel from Kramer's slicer, she explains to Jerry that Sara goes by offices screening people for skin cancer (that's how she saved people's lives). George plots to set up a screening at Kruger's (after Jerry apologizes to Sara) so he can get a photo of his boss without his shirt on (as he was in the beach photo) to put back in. Kramer goes to Elaine's to pick up his slicer. She gets the heel out, but dings up the blade in the process. When Kramer picks it up, she slams the door before he can complain about the damage. Trying to get back into Elaine's apartment, he accidentally pulls off her doorknob, trapping her inside.

Jerry gets hives on his jaw. Kramer thinks Sara gave it to him when he apologized to her. He goes down to Kruger's - where Sara is going the cancer screening - to accuses her, which causes her to leave. Kramer comes along to pick up with blade. Kruger comes in for his screening and mistakes Kramer for the doctor since he is wearing his butcher's coat. Kramer takes a photo of Kruger for George, but finds a mole on Kruger's right shoulder.

George gets the picture fixed and Kramer starts getting into dermatology. While flipping through one of Kramer's medical books, Jerry finds a section on his condition and deduces that his hives came from an allergic reaction to benzene, commonly used as a metal cleaner; Kramer had been using Jerry's hand towel to clean his slicer blade. George returns to work and suggests Kruger see a dermatologist about his mole, but finds Kruger isn't worried about it. Because the mole looks the same in the 1989 photo, he concludes it hasn't grown. Kruger then tells George about the day in the photo, when he and his sons took this "pear-shaped loser's clothes and threw them all in the ocean." Enraged, George reveals how he removed himself from the photo. Kruger is surprised but indifferent to George's deception, and keeps him as an employee.

Kramer, George and Jerry camp outside Elaine's apartment, feeding her under the door until the locksmith arrives to fix the doorknob. Jerry sees another dermatologist, who prescribes aloe for his hives.

Notes About Nothing[]

This episode makes another reference to Kramer's fear of clowns.
Kramer marks George "in his chart", a reference to the Season 8 episode The Package.
This is the first appearance of Kruger, whom would be George's boss for the remaining episodes of the season.
George's flashback is set in 1989, the year of the Seinfeld Chronicles. The flashback depicts George with a full head of hair, while in Chronicles, he is starting to bald.
In the scene where Kruger is discussing the day at the beach and holding the beach photo, George can actually still be seen in it.

Season Nine Episodes