It's a running gag in Jerry Seinfeld has quite the volume of girlfriends in the show about nothing, most don't stick around for more than a couple of episodes, and he and his friends are more or less perpetually single. While sometimes it's the partners themselves who do the dumping — and usually for very good reasons — more often than not, it's one of the core four who ends the relationship.
Some of the most bonkers reasons the Seinfeld characters broke up with people include eating peas one at a time, being too nice, and liking a cheesy commercial. In fact, of all the from Seinfeld that are still used today, I'm shocked that the sitcom isn't responsible for, "She/he's a 10, but..." The frequent dumpings that occur in the show can essentially all be chalked up to the characters' infamous selfishness, but there was one seemingly petty reason for a breakup where I actually side with Elaine.
Elaine Was Right To Break Up With Jake For His Hatred Of Exclamation Points
Their Argument Was A Huge Red Flag
In Seinfeld season 5, episode 4, "The Sniffing ant," Elaine is dating a writer named Jake Jarmel, and it's clear that she's wild about him. In addition to being handsome, he's also seemingly the perfect boyfriend, as she returns to her apartment to find that he not only cleaned it but is making her dinner. However, it's not long before there's trouble in paradise when he gives her a list of phone messages, and she's more than a little turned off that he didn't use an exclamation point to relay that a friend of hers had had a baby.
I Love The Elaine Shove In Seinfeld & Its Backstory Makes The Julia Louis-Dreyfus Character Even More Endearing
I love the way Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Elaine shoves people to express surprise in Seinfeld — and I love it even more after learning the backstory of it.
Look, is it a bit of an overreaction to break up with someone solely because of punctuation? Yes. But it could definitely be a red flag. If you're a ionate person who gets excited about things like friends giving birth, chances are you want a partner who does too. Plus, a lack of enthusiasm about these big life events concerning the people Elaine is close to could point to a lack of enthusiasm about Elaine.
Elaine doesn't dump him on the spot, and she only brings it up when Jake pushes her too.
I'd also like to point out that Elaine doesn't dump him on the spot, and she only brings it up when Jake pushes her to. She's completely calm when she explains to him that she thought it was curious, and their argument goes south when he overreacts, getting defensive and belligerent. Women are told all the time that they're "too much", and Jake's comment about Elaine's "haphazard" use of exclamation points is a major indicator that he is one of those people. Honestly, she dodged a bullet... !
Elaine's Refusal To Settle Proves She's A Character Ahead Of Her Time
She Defies Societal Expectations Put On Women
While she has also broken up with people for reasons a lot more ridiculous than the exclamation point blowup — sorry, Joel Rifkin — her whole storyline in "The Sniffing ant" points to why Elaine is a totally underrated Seinfeld character, and a woman ahead of her time.
How Old Jerry Was At The Start & End Of Seinfeld
Seinfeld follows 9 years in the lives of a group of New York City friends, with their ages, especially Jerry's, being particularly hard to pin down.
Before Carrie Bradshaw came along with Sex and the City, being single and fabulous as a woman in your thirties wasn't a thing. But Elaine was doing just that, and she felt precious little hurry to settle down with someone who wasn't right just so she could have the white picket fence life that women are expected to want. Elaine was definitely judged the most harshly of the Seinfeld characters for her selfish behavior, but she never let it get in the way of going after what she wanted. Or didn't want, in the case of one exclamation point-phobic ex.
Seinfeld
- Release Date
- 1989 - 1998-00-00
- Network
- NBC
- Showrunner
- Larry David
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Jason Alexander
- Writers
- Larry David
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