The Bris
"The Bris" | |
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Seinfeld episode | |
Episode no. |
Season 5 Episode 5 |
Directed by | Tom Cherones |
Written by | Larry Charles |
Production code | 505 |
Original air date | October 14, 1993 |
Guest actors | |
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The Bris is the 69th episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. It is the fifth episode of the fifth season, and it first aired on October 14, 1993.
Plot
Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer go to the hospital to meet friends who have just had a baby. At the hospital, George gets a fortunate parking spot right in front of the hospital, which becomes unfortunate when a mental patient at the hospital suicidally jumps from the roof and lands on it. Later, George attempts to get the hospital to pay for the car's damages, but is rejected due to his callousness of caring more about the car instead of the patient's death. Kramer, having directed the mental patient to the roof without realizing his intention, stumbles into the wrong room at the hospital (1937 instead of 1397) and becomes convinced that he has seen a "pigman" (half-pig, half-man), an encounter he quickly develops into part of a conspiracy theory concerning the government and genetic mutation, claiming, "The government's been experimenting with pig-men since the '50s!" (The incident of discovering a pigman in a hospital bed parodies the British 1973 film O Lucky Man!.) When George thinks there should be pigmen walking around, Jerry tells George that there is always some "group of perverts that's attracted to it: 'Ooh, that little tail really turns me on.'"
Jerry and Elaine become nervous about the religious duties they must perform when they agree to become godparents to the newborn baby (although Jerry is fond of his role of being a godfather and imitates Marlon Brando's character from The Godfather), obligated to arrange the bris, which involves booking a mohel and holding the baby during the circumcision. At the bris, Elaine's unstable, shaky mohel (guest star Charles Levin) arrives. Kramer, disturbed by the concept of the bris, attempts to stop it. As the circumcision gets under way, the mohel cuts Jerry's finger; Jerry is accused of flinching, in which Jerry calls the mohel "Butcher Boy" in retaliation. The four go to the hospital, where Jerry's finger is stitched up. Kramer finds the "pigman" (whom he later discovers is actually "just a fat little mental patient") and "liberates" him from the hospital. The "pigman" steals George's car, which was again conveniently parked.
Jerry and Elaine are no longer godparents to the baby; instead, Kramer becomes the godfather due to his caring for the baby. The ending of the episode serves as a tribute to the ending of The Godfather, even using the theme music from the movie.