The Stake Out

 The Stake Out. (002) This is the second episode of the first season of the TV series Seinfeld. “The Stake Out” could be translated as “El replanteo” [The Rethink], although it has also been translated as “De vigilancia” [On Surveillance] in reruns, and it is the second chapter of the sitcom Seinfeld.

Details:

• Written by: Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld.
• Directed by: Tom Cherones.
• Air date: May 31, 1990.
• Guest actress: Lynn Clark as Vanessa.
• IMDb Page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0697784/
• Full Script in English: http://seinfeldscripts.com/TheStakeout.htm
• Links to episode descriptions:
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stake_Out_%28Seinfeld%29
• https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_vigilancia_%28Cap%C3%ADtulo_de_Seinfeld%29

Episode Summary:

During a party, Jerry flirts with a woman, but knows nothing about her except her workplace. Jerry is reluctant to find out her phone number through Elaine because he doesn’t talk about other women with her. Jerry’s father, Morty Seinfeld, suggests that he should wait outside the woman's building and pretend to run into her by accident. Jerry takes the idea and goes along with George. He manages to find the woman, whose name is Vanessa. The two then decide to go on a date.

Image 2 centered – Caption: The Stake Out.

In this chapter, The Stake Out (El replanteo or De vigilancia), Vanessa appears, played by Lynn Clark. Jerry meets Vanessa while attending a dinner party with Elaine. Jerry learns that she works at a law firm called "Simon, Bennett, Robbins, Oppenheim and Taft," and decides to show up to ask her out.

After dating for a short time, Jerry takes her to a bed and breakfast in Vermont, but rainy weather keeps them indoors and ruins the entire trip. Jerry should have listened to George, who discouraged the getaway weekend, calling it a “decathlon data.”

The first thing I must say about this chapter relates to the title The Stake Out, which translated would be something like El replanteo, and indeed it appears that way in some English commentaries. This stems from when Jerry "re-thinks" (se replantea) showing up at the woman's office to ask her out. The title of the chapter has also been translated as De vigilancia [On Surveillance], which is also valid, since Jerry and George station themselves at the entrance of the office building where the young woman works, and chat while conducting a sort of "surveillance" until they manage to see the girl appear. What I will never understand is why the DVD release translated the chapter as “La corrida de apuestas” [The Betting Run].

At the beginning of the episode, during a chat between Jerry and Elaine inside a video rental store—typical, quintessential local businesses of the 1990s—they first look at the movie Cocoon: The Return (1988), but put it down after making a joke about extraterrestres, and move on to make a "spicy" joke about an adult movie.

Right there, while both are in the video store, there is a callback to the previous episode (The Seinfeld Chronicles). In the video store, two older women walk past them; the older of the two says to the other: “When you’re dead, you’re dead. That’s it. Period.” And both (Jerry and Elaine) are left surprised.

In the previous episode, The Seinfeld Chronicles, at the laundromat, the following dialogue takes place between Jerry and George:

• — Hey, your clothes must be done. Why don't you see if they're dry? (George)
• — No, no, no. Don't interrupt the cycle. The machine is working and it knows what to do. Let it finish. (Jerry)
• — You're gonna over-dry it. (George)
• — You can't over-dry. (Jerry)
• — Why not? (George)
• — Same reason you can't over-wet. When something is wet, it's wet. It's like death. When you're dead, you're dead. Let's say you die, and I shoot you. You're not gonna die again. You're already dead. You can't over-die, you can't over-dry. (Jerry)

When they finish answering George, everyone else in the laundromat just stares at him in surprise.

At the birthday gathering of Elaine's friend, Jerry strikes up a conversation with another female guest, Vanessa, who says to him, "Why don't you relax and take your jacket off?" Jerry is wearing a colored shirt with a light brown jacket (windbreaker/blazer) over it. Jerry replies, "I can't, I get cold." Vanessa retorts mockingly, "How masculine of you." And Jerry adds, also mockingly, "Besides, I'm wearing short sleeves, I don't want to show off my tattoos." And the story goes on...

The question is: is it appropriate or not to take off a jacket, coat, or whatever you are wearing over a shirt? Is it appropriate or not? The premise is presented in a humorous way, true to the series. But at a formal gathering, is it appropriate or not?

To answer that, I found an answer on a protocol website's forum, which seemed the most appropriate to transcribe right here:

Dear Nati:

Although the custom you mention is widespread—not only at celebrations, but in business meetings and other settings—it is not correct to remain in what is known as "shirt sleeves."

The arguments you ask for: In England, at the end of the 19th century, the shirt was put on by pulling it over the head and was considered underwear; only the collar was visible, as other garments were worn on top. Later, it evolved into the button-down shirt.

Initially, shirts were white or very light shades, which meant distinction, since only the rich and wealthy could afford to wash them very often or change them frequently. When striped and checked fabrics emerged, many kept the white collar and cuffs to continue "marking" the class difference.

Therefore, among the Lords of England, it was considered bad manners to stay in just a shirt without wearing a jacket.

And that is where the custom of wearing a jacket with a shirt or sweater comes from; staying in just a shirt is likened to staying in underwear, to being a bit "undressed."

https://www.protocolo.org/foros/archivo/30956_quitarse_la_queta.html

Later in the episode, Jerry arrives at his apartment and finds that his parents have already arrived. His mother asks him where she is going to sleep, and that they are going to a hotel. Jerry tells them not to worry, to stay, and that he will go to his friend Kramer's place, who is also his neighbor.

• — I'll sleep next door. (Jerry refers to Kramer's apartment)
• — Doesn't Kramer mind? (his mother asks)
• — No, he's making a bouillabaisse. (Jerry replies)

What is a bouillabaisse? Why does he mention it, or what is the point? What is relevant about Kramer making a bouillabaisse?

Bouillabaisse (from Provençal Occitan bolhabaissa, from bolh 'to boil' and, depending on the version, abaissa 'to lower the heat' or peis 'fish') consists of a soup of various fish, sometimes served whole. It is a traditional French dish from the Provence region, particularly the city of Marseille. It is very similar to the Portuguese Caldeirada. The soup is made from various rockfish such as: gobies, monkfish, conger eel tails, moray eels, red mullet, crabs, Norway lobsters, and anglerfish. It is very possible that the origin of this soup was a base derived from a stew made from the fish left at the bottom of fishermen's baskets.

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullabesa

“Bouillabaisse, typical of the French Midi, is one of the most famous soups recorded in the history of gastronomy.” From the book Todo sobre las sopas by Yves de Saint-Pierre. Ediciones Gaviota, 1977.

However, according to another author, this soup is of Catalan origin (Suquet de peix), the recipe of which crossed the Pyrenees as early as the 19th century.

“Catalonia has its own complete cuisine just as it has a language. (...) Under the designation 'a la catalana' one finds in recipe books—not just regional, but Spanish or French—a hundred or more preparations of eggs, meats, vegetables, and legumes. It preserves ali-oli, which is common to all of Spanish Levante, Provence, Roussillon, and the islands of the western Mediterranean, and disputes Marseille and Genoa for the invention of seafood stews, such as bouillabaisse, which apart from the composition of the French name that predominated for its euphony and expression (bouillabaisse, that is, boil low; at the bottom), appears to be a Catalan-Spanish stew. Other Catalan dishes also crossed the border and became Provençal and French.” (pp. 165 and 166). From the book Guía del buen comer español by Dionisio Pérez Gutiérrez. Ediciones Maxtor, 1929.

This episode deals with the theme of friends, which is the overarching plotline, so to speak, throughout the entire series. It is something recurrent in 90s TV shows, not only in the US but also here in Argentina.

Other characteristics of the chapter are: Seinfeld's father is played by one actor, but was later replaced by a definitive one for the rest of the run. George's habit of lying is introduced; he fantasizes about being an architect, a theme he will pick up later as an unfulfilled dream or fantasy, but which he exercises through lying. This episode reveals the past romantic relationship between Jerry and Elaine, although they never say why they broke up (on the show's DVD, they joke about this). The plot idea for the script is based on real-life events that happened to writer Larry David, as he himself recounts on the DVD. The first reference to Superman appears (seen in the video store); Jerry is a comic book fan, with Superman being among them.

The girl who later enters a formal relationship with Jerry, Vanessa, is one of the few who continues as a girlfriend in other episodes. There are around 66 of Jerry's girlfriends counted throughout the entire run, but most last only the length of a single episode.

In the episode, George introduces the creation of his pseudonym, which will be “Art Vandelay”. He had suggested Burt Harb...inson, Burt Harbinson, Art Core, and Art Corevelay, but finally changes it and settles on “Art Vandelay”.

Here there seems to be a certain play on people's names; that is, starting from Jerry's chat with his father, the name of a real-life actress named Loni Anderson pops up, who in real life was married to an actor and comedian named Burt Leon Reynolds Jr. In the episode, during the chat between Jerry and George, they mention Loni Anderson just before George generates his pseudonym, and his first occurrence is Burt Harb...inson, Burt Harbinson.

I don't think it was a coincidence.

One of the comedic stretches in this chapter is based on the idea of a person suddenly, unexpectedly, and casually showing up in order to run into someone. It's nothing new, it's common, and almost childish, yet quite recurrent in social life, film, and television. It's hard not to know a case like this, and how ridiculous those who practice it look. In fact, they make this crystal clear through the mouth of Jerry's mother; she is the one who says that those who do it look ridiculous and act like fools.

A funny and well-executed visual gag is when George, chatting with Jerry while waiting in the elevator lobby, replies to Jerry's thank you for accompanying him with, “You're welcome. I was close by. Besides, did you think I was going to miss this? heheh.” Right there in his clownish pose, he raises his eyebrows and sticks out his tongue while smiling mischievously, letting out a bit of villainy in his attitude. It’s the same sadistic enjoyment of Commodus in the movie Gladiator (2000) when, being in the Roman circus, he sticks out his tongue while enjoying the gladiators' fight.

Later in the episode, Jerry and Elaine chat in Jerry's apartment. She tells him about her boyfriend, and Jerry asks, "What does he do for a living? What's his job?" She replies, "Wall Street." And Jerry remarks, "High finance. Speculation. Connecticut people."

I wondered why he said "Connecticut people"; it's hard to know unless you're familiar with things from up there. This saying comes from the simple reason that the State of Connecticut is a major hub for the insurance industry. The provision of financial and real estate services in that state is significant in volume. One of its cities, Hartford, is the state's financial center, being the largest hub for the insurance sector in the United States, and the second largest in the world (behind London).

That is the reason behind saying "Connecticut people."

In Inside Look on the show's DVD, writer Larry David talks at the end about the continuity of the characters' lives from episode to episode, discussing the advantages, except for those who haven't seen the previous episode.