Frasier 1x13-18

[jedi_of_urth]

Frasier 1x13: Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast

While there clearly wasn't time for it and it would have messed with the flow of the existing story, I can't help but notice that we never get any update on Frasier's friday date. It almost feels like there was a B-plot about that, but it got cut; we got the setup, but there was definitely a story beat that could have been hit with Martin (and Niles) reaction to Frasier's date after messing up Martin's; then the end between Frasier and Daphne almost feels like Frasier was actively dumped or stood up leading him to feel lonely on Saturday.

It also feels a bit out of place and in need of a bit more setup, that Frasier would even for a moment express interest in Daphne. It does just about have to be a question the writers grappled with, these two do live together, is there any sort of bigger chemistry between them? I'll have to keep an eye out if this is basically the one time it comes up, because if it's dismissed that quickly part of me feels like they missed a trick, but it really can't keep coming up either. The writers gave the crush/unrequited love plot idea to Niles, and while Frasier is single as opposed to Niles, there are probably just as many reasons for him not to get involved with Daphne.

I don't recall Elaine being much of a thing on this show, and I don't know how much more there was to do with her character. If they had wanted to they could certainly have inserted more personality and story ideas into her, but right now she's mostly a blank slate. Her point in the story is to expand Martin's character and deal with the idea of him dating again, how Frasier reacts and can screw things up with his position.

Again, the lack of Niles' input on this feels like the family story isn't quite complete yet. There is some telling stuff in that first part (he still calls having sex getting lucky, there's probably some reasons worth exploring there; and that the married member of the Crane boys is the one least likely to get lucky that weekend), but so far the story doesn't really care about his relationship to the family that much. And halfway through the season it's starting to bother me more and more; apart from Niles' crush on Daphne there are no relationships that matter to the show except Frasier's, and even Niles' crush isn't used to explore him yet; I can do it with the benefit of hindsight on how unhappy he is with his present life (and in denial about that fact), but it doesn't really enter the story yet.

Production: 7/10 it's mostly average, but I'm giving it a bump for Niles' attempts to jump on the counter; it further casts he behavior with Daphne as a youthful crush but with a grown man who can no longer (if he ever could) jump on the counter like a kid.
Story: 8/10 mostly docking it for the lack of follow through with Frasier's date or Niles' inclusion, the story itself is good
Writing: 3,5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Relationships: 4/5
Comedy: 4/5
Drama: 3.5/5
Personal: 8/10

Overall: 42.5/50



Frasier 1x14: Can't Buy Me Love

I do have sort of a vague memory of having seen this one before and falling for Ranatta's story for longer, but I can't swear to that; and as I had ended up watching a couple bits of this recently I don't know how long I would have actually fallen for it this time. Her story definitely gets more and more outlandish, at some point you have to start being suspicious that the twist is going to be that she's making it up.

But this is sort of an area where the sitcom format almost works in its favor, and weirdly that it's kind of a mediocre episode factors into that; because maybe this is the joke. If you stop and think about it then clearly that's not it, clearly the joke has to turn back on Frasier at some point, so somebody (and the only person he interacts with is Ranatta) has to be setting him up for a fall; then again maybe the joke could be that Christina gets her money's worth buying Frasier in counseling so again the possibility remains. So I guess the format both works for and against it.

I wish we got a little more with Roz on her date, and I do like what we get with Daphne and Bulldog, if only because it's a scene for her outside the apartment and away from the Cranes. It's always good to peak outside the familiar patterns.

Production: 5.5/10 I just don't seem to be getting into KG's acting very much, or maybe it's that so much here is driven by the guest characters
Story: 6.5/10 competent and hangs together
Writing: 2.5/5
Characters: 2.5/5 some good moments, but sets a bad precedent about Frasier and kids
Relationships: 2/5
Comedy: 3.5/5 it did make me laugh at several points
Drama: 1.5/5 what drama there is doesn't really land
Personal: 5/10 I'd call it very average

Overall: 29/50



Frasier 1x15: You Can't Tell a Crook by His Cover

So does it ever come up again that Daphne was a billiards champion, in addition to being a child actress apparently? Granted she could have been making up some of the story here as a bit of performance, but she is clearly very good at pool. Currently I'm working on a theory that Daphne may have basically been supporting the Moon family in her teen years,

I'm also a little surprised that Frasier isn't a little more comfortable in the bar; we're still less than a year after Cheers after all. I guess he does a little better than Niles, but only because he's less poetic on the subject of Daphne and has a bit more ability to shut up.

While not exactly the focus this episode does examine Daphne's role within the Crane family. It is pretty clear that none of them quite view that relationship as employers and employee. Martin's poker friends comment on how Martin and Frasier must find her attractive, and neither deny it, but their interactions speak much more to a family dynamic than any attraction. When it comes to the idea of her going out with Jimmy, Martin is very dad-like with her and Frasier does adopt a more older brother attitude (but very much the elder role). That is then contrasted with Niles, whose reaction is that of a would-be romantic partner, wanting to play the virtuous knight to a lady he can never have.

I don't think I disliked the main plot of the middle of the episode, this is just one of those times that my interests skew to the stuff later in the ep. Which has to do both with that being what's fresher in my mind when I'm reacting; but also because I don't care as much about Frasier's wacky antics as I do things that are set up about Niles and Daphne. That said, there is a difference between being aware of a scammer with a regular scam and being able to pick out a reformed (loosely) criminal.

Production: 5/10 I can't give this one very good marks, the poker gang weren't much of anything, the Topaz Room set wasn't well realized, and even Nervosa was filmed really narrow
Story: 6.5/10 the first part leads into the second fairly well, but there's not a lot of continuing story or themes
Writing: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Relationships: 4/5
Comedy: 4/5 made me laugh a fair bit
Drama: 1/5
Personal: 6.5/10

Overall: 35/50



Frasier 1x16: The Show Where Lilith Comes Back

As expected, and as usual, I love this episode. It starts out really funny, then I get caught up in Frasier/Lilith (one of the very few instances where I actually care about Frasier's romantic interests, I like the drama towards the end. Even though most of the action is between Frasier and Lilith, I enjoy Daphne's part, and there's some really good stuff with Niles, as usual Roz doesn't get a lot to do but she's great in that first scene, and Martin gets a few pretty good bits too.

If I'm searching for a flaw, the most I would say is that I feel Frasier and Lilith must have had plenty of interactions since the divorce, but because this is the first time the audience has seen them together they sort of act like it's fresher. But even that kind of makes sense; most of their interaction, especially since Frasier moved to Seattle would probably have happened around Freddie while their interactions with each other would be minimal. And certainly most of it has been Frasier reentering Lilith's life as opposed to her appearing in his as we get here. Plus, a year is not that long, they're only just starting to move past all the hurt that happened in the last season of Cheers.

I remembered the episode really well, but a line that really hit me surprisingly hard was when Lilith mentioned she found the note after Frasier's last visit 'home' to see Freddie. Calling it home, their home, the home they had together, really struck me. In some ways it was even clearer than Lilith's breakdown at the end just how much she misses Frasier being part of her life. At the end it's more of a generic loneliness that she expresses, but using the word home in the earlier scene to me was less Frasier as life preserver and more missing him specifically.

But I'm not sure we've ever had Frasier refer to something as back home in Boston, which I guess is sort of the crux of him rejecting the idea of getting back together. It's another place where it only being a year comes into play, in a couple ways; it hasn't been enough time to think they wouldn't fall back into the same problems they had before; and Frasier isn't willing to change his life around again so soon. I wonder if he was still in Boston if he and Lilith could date and see if there was something worth rebuilding there, but there isn't enough right now to either try and make a bi-coastal relationship work or to upset at least one of their lives all over again.

Production: 8/10 the acting has a few glitches and I really wish I had a higher quality version of this show to watch (although I suspect it would look weird that way too)
Story: 10/10
Writing: 5/5
Characters: 5/5 in spite of limited Martin and Roz, I can't dock it
Relationships: 5/5 while even I acknowledge Lilith probably wouldn't fit into the show every week, they do a great job at connecting her with people here
Comedy: 4.5/5 a little of the morning after humor fall flat, but there are a lot of laughs
Drama: 4/5
Personal: 10/10 it's a classic and I love it

Overall: 51.5/50 we have our first extra credit episode too



Frasier 1x17: A Midwinter Night's Dream

As the Niles/Daphne relationship is one of the things I deeply care about on this show, it probably isn't surprising I have a lot of thoughts about it in this one; some about them as individuals, and I suppose since their relationship is mainly on Niles right now I have a couple avenues with him.

This episode has a lot of firsts with Niles, and as such ends up being a very important episode. It's pretty much the first time he's treated as his own character instead of just being someone for Frasier to bounce off of. While we've had snippets of scenes of him and Daphne separated from others, this is the first time we really get a plot of him with anyone besides Frasier, and often he gets left out of Frasier's plots since he doesn't live in the apartment. I've actually been noting all season that we had never seen Niles wearing anything but a suit, we never even see him in shirt sleeves with the jacket off; but here we get him in pirate get-up and the lounge look for the back half of the episode. All of this combines to send a signal that hopefully they'll start letting him be a more fully realized character.

It's also the first time someone actually connects his unhappiness with Maris to his crush on Daphne; and while I do think, even at this stage, it's a little more complex than that implies, it's definitely connected. I do think Frasier's right that Niles does love Maris and he would regret it if he sacrificed that to an affair even with Daphne; I also think Niles is rarely conscious of how unhappy he is with her, but I think that is what Daphne highlights. I think the crying scene is big on that; he says he doesn't really cry much, and I see no reason to doubt that, except that as the series progresses and he becomes a more self-actualized person he definitely does cry. His feelings for Daphne are very emotional, so he cries and laughs and smiles and gets jealous and chases after her and generally acts like a kid with his first real crush because that kind of intense emotional drive is as foreign to him in his late 30s as it was he was when he was a kid. He's lived without it for so long, and it's definitely worked for him for much of that time; but it hasn't made him happy.

This is one of the episodes that really raises the question of how Daphne didn't have any idea that Niles had feelings for her. Though for me it's not so much that I can't see how she rationalizes most of it, but it should probably take some effort to do the rationalizing, and the more time she has to brush away those questions the more she should wonder why she keeps having to do it. I don't think she's very aware of his behavior at Nervosa, and his behavior at breakfast could be dismissed as frustration at Daphne flaunting her relationship when he's having trouble with Maris. There's quite a bit of personal space encroachment at the house though and quite a few suggestive moments between them. Then again, even if she was somewhat aware of that behavior, the evening ends with him recommitting to how much he loves Maris, so that may go some way to why Daphne continues to miss the signs going forward; if his behavior on that dark and stormy night, in her mind after the fact, wasn't what it seemed in the moment, the later instances where moments seem like more she may think are also just moments.

...I've rewritten that a few times, and I still don't think the words make sense.

Also a question, barring the glockenspiel and Frasier's arrival, how far might things have gone? Obviously farther, as they almost certainly at least kiss without the interruption. But I kind of don't see either of them at this stage getting so caught up in the moment that they don't bring up the Maris factor and then things happen as they do in the episode.

Lastly, Martin mentions that this is just one of Niles' little crushes, and I always found that line a little weird. I discussed a lot of my reading of Niles' emotional state earlier, and I don't see how regular crushes quite fit into it. Plus I can't see Maris standing for it, and we know Daphne is the only one that gets brought up during the divorce (and that from later on) rather than Niles' head being consistently turned by other women. Maybe Martin means before Maris? That I can believe, that Niles rarely got past the crush stage but tended to be fairly intense about it when he had crushes. Yeah, let's go with that.

Production: 7/10 some of the pacing seemed a little off, especially early on, either I got used to it or I was off and sorted myself out, but I'm still counting it. But the acting is still good with our first real Niles (and Niles/Daphne) episode
Story: 8/10
Writing: 5/5 full marks for some pretty good gags and some sweet dialog too
Characters: 4.5/5 taking off slightly for not really working in Daphne's POV on what happens
Relationships: 5/5 love Niles/Daphne, and there's some good brother stuff too, Frasier finally questions Niles' behavior
Comedy: 3.5/5
Drama: 3.5/5 I got a lot out of it
Personal: 8/10

Overall: 44.5/50



Frasier 1x18: And the Whimper is...

This episode is perfectly fine, but after a couple really good episodes it ends up feeling like a let down. And after sitting here, staring at my computer, checking my e-mail, figuring out what to have for dinner, etc. for a while, I realize I have basically nothing to say. It's fine, I got some decent laughs, but there's no real meat to chew on. This is why the grading breakdown was created in the first place.

Production: 4/10 the acting is fine, but the Sea-Bee banquet is way too small to believe that this event is a big deal
Story: 7/10
Writing: 3.5/5 I'll give it a bit above average, because some moments had punch, but there was no ambition
Characters: 3/5
Relationships: 1/5 outside of Frasier and Roz's relationship to wanting to win there's basically nothing
Comedy: 3.5/5
Drama: 1.5/5
Personal: 6.5/10 again fine, but nothing special

Overall: 30/50