"The Smelly Car" is the 61st episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. The episode was the 21st episode of the fourth season. It aired on April 15, 1993.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Plot
After dinner, Jerry and Elaine discover a strong smell of body odor in Jerry's BMW 5 Series, assumed to have been left by a valet who was tasked with parking it. After they endure an unpleasant drive to the home of Elaine's boyfriend Carl (Nick Bakay), Carl is offended by the smell of Elaine's hair when they embrace. He tells her he has to get up early, so she does not spend the night.
George and Kramer return a video; at the video store, he admires two women who are holding hands. George is astounded when they turn around and one is his ex-girlfriend, Susan, now revealed to be bisexual. Meanwhile, in the background of this conversation, Kramer is practicing his golf swing with a broom in front of Susan's girlfriend, Mona, a golf instructor. She is clearly amused by him. George returns the video (Rochelle, Rochelle), but the clerk tells him that he has to pay a $2 fee because he didn't rewind the tape. George is upset, but Kramer tells him that it would be cheaper to keep the video and return it the next day.
At Jerry's apartment, after Kramer enters, he comments on their body odor. Jerry blames the car's stink on the valet at the restaurant and is determined to demand that the restaurant share the cost of cleaning. Elaine realizes that the odor is the reason Carl didn't spend the night with her. The restaurant maître d' (Michael Des Barres) initially refuses to pay for car cleaning, but eventually agrees after Jerry locks him inside the car, refusing to let him out unless he pays half of the $250 price. Meanwhile, George discovers that someone stole the video out of the car while he and Jerry were inside the restaurant.
Mona seems to be attracted to Kramer, which Jerry, Elaine and George cannot understand; she has never been with a man. This angers Susan, due to her dislike of Kramer, as well as George, who worries that he drove Susan to lesbianism. Feeling even more attracted to her after finding this out, George attempts to woo Susan, and appears to be making progress. However, despite his best efforts, the two are approached in Monk's Café by George's ex, Allison (from the episode "The Outing") - and after introducing them to one another, he can only sigh as the two women exchange amorous glances.
After a complete "de-ionizing" of the car, Jerry discovers the stink is still there. Meanwhile, Elaine decides to go to a hair salon to wash the smell out of her hair, despite having already taken a thorough shower, and tries to restart her relationship with Carl. He, however, tells her that she still smells. Jerry tries to sell the car, but the dealer claims he cannot sell it. Kramer's relationship with Mona ends when she smells the odor on him, even though he was never in the car - but he had borrowed Jerry's jacket, which was the same one he was wearing in the car. When it cannot be sold, Jerry ends up abandoning the car and its keys out on the street just to get rid of it. A young man sees this, seizes the keys, and hops into the car, but is also disgusted by the smell.
Body Odor After Shower Video
Production
Co-writer Peter Mehlman got the idea for the episode from the real-life experiences of a friend of his. According to Mehlman, the friend would frequently pitch him ideas for episodes, none of which were even close to being good enough to use, but on this occasion the friend was simply complaining about the ordeal, at which point Mehlman immediately decided that it would be perfect for the show.
Amy McWilliams remarks that this is an example of many episodes that are "open-ended": it lacks "a traditional resolution completely, as when the viewer is simply left with a final comic shot of a street hoodlum wrinkling his nose as he tries to steal 'The Smelly Car'."
Critical response
Linda S. Ghent, Professor in the Department of Economics at Eastern Illinois University, discusses this episode in view of its economic themes, specifically those of externality, the Coase theorem, and moral hazard. Ghent explains,
The external costs are large: the smell attaches itself to Jerry and Elaine, who have to resort to costly measures to cleanse themselves. Jerry attempts to recoup some of the damage by cleverly bargaining with the restaurant owner to cover the cost of cleaning the car. In the end, the cleaning is not enough, and Jerry leaves the car and keys in plain sight hoping it will be stolen, in which case the insurance company will bear the loss.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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