Frasier 2x06-10
Mar. 15th, 2020 08:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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tori_reviewsFrasier 2x06: The Botched Language of Cranes
Not being a big fan of cringe humor, this one really didn't play to my tasters; and also not being a big fan of stories around the radio station situations it didn't really build according to my tastes either. It's a shame that I don't like the radio set stories better, since that's usually where we get more Roz involved, but this also gives us the first time where I feel she's easily worked in as part of the Crane family circle. And that that's the most interesting part of this one means I would just as soon move on.
Production: 5/10 pretty average all around
Story: 6.5/10 ignoring my disinterest in a lot of what this one is, it's fairly well put together
Writing: 2/5 that joke wouldn't have been good even if the crowd was in the mood
Characters: 2.5/5 a few good Roz moments, and Niles and Daphne get okay bits when they have a moment
Relationships: 3/5 mostly for Roz slotting into the family nicely
Comedy: 2/5
Drama: /25
Personal: 4/10
Overall: 25/50
Frasier 2x07: The Candidate
It's sort of weird having this one follow the previous episode. While I suppose both take a similar view of how much impact Frasier's show has, one proposes that the public is ready to turn on him because he seems out of touch with said public, then this supposes that people want his advice on public office. I think this is another instance where someone said to the writers' room that they wanted a story about Frasier's celebrity getting him into trouble, and two different writers took it in two very different directions. But I'm not sure that explains why they had to produce those scripts back to back.
This episode is a reminder that I was watching this show at the same time as TXF back in the day, and I suppose to some extent I still am. Maybe that's what prompted this desire for a rewatch, I was in the mood for some better TV from my high school days.
But in doing so it also brings up a bit of my inner grumbling atheist (I usually class as agnostic, but my inner high schooler will always be a grumbling atheist); I want to know if the Crane boys would have been as bothered by Patterson saying he had a religious experience that inspired his good works. I would find it just as troubling, and would say both involve sky beings supposedly telling humans what to do. I even understand why to a public at large aliens sounds worse than all the politicians who are expected to appear religious. But I'm specifically turning the question the Crane boys as to whether one is allowed and the other not. They/the story doesn't treat this as if it's just going to ruin reputations, but is actually something crazy and worrying that Patterson needs therapy for; and I don't understand the difference between aliens and gods, except that in a broad sense aliens probably exist even if this experience probably didn't happen even in the context of the story.
Of course it probably doesn't help to be watching this in 2020, after recent years and in an election year.
Production: 6/10 the acting is fine though I don't think the commercials play well especially for me
Story: 7/10
Writing: 3/5
Characters: 2/5 nothing is really furthered, but everyone is in character
Relationships: 1/5
Comedy: 3/5
Drama: 2/5
Personal: 5.5/10 don't feel much need to rewatch it, but it was diverting
Overall: 29.5/50
Frasier 2x08: Adventures in Paradise (1)
As this episode went along I had a nagging feeling like the pacing was odd, but never so much that I gave any thought to why that was; only now can I put my finger on that this actually feels serialized. Not as in this feels like the first half of a two-parter and therefore unfinished, but as if this is the start of a mini-arc played across multiple episodes. Obviously it's not actually that, as status quo will return after next time, and so I think on the whole this won't feel like the right choice of pacing, but it's the way I wish I felt about the show more at this stage.
This is still a setup episode, there's no true climax to the plot, only a cliffhanger at the end. The restaurant scene in the middle takes up a good chunk of the episode considering so little of it is setting things up. But that's where my feeling that this feels more truly serialized than it's going to be comes in. If this was the start of a story shift, then it makes sense for the structure to be similar to any old episode, just introducing a new girlfriend for Frasier in the process; but as the only two-part story it is, that does seem a bit like time that could have been spend more focused on building up Frasier and Madeline before it falls apart in part 2.
Down the road there will be straight up double length episodes, and I haven't entirely decided if I'll review them as one or two eps, but this one was aired on two separate days, a sweeps month two-parter, so it's reviewed as two episodes.
This is also a bit of why I have so little investment in most Frasier dating stories. They never do form an arc; or him moving past the divorce and building a new life partnership with someone. This episode presents itself almost as part of that arc and it could have been, but to my memory (and some checking) the arc itself doesn't exist, it just gets more distant from able to blame the divorce for his problems. For eleven seasons it's going to circle around the same points again and again but never have him actually grow. Frasier does however have something of an arc with Lilith, that we'll actually explore next time.
Production: 6.5/10 Niles steals the show but everybody does fine; on the other hand Bora Bora looks super fake
Story: 6/10 as an episode it's just okay, if it were a real gear change I'd give it points for that, as a two-parter I'll judge it more in part 2
Writing: 4/5 the restaurant scene may take up a bit, but it's a well written scene
Characters: 3/5
Relationships: 3/5 actual Niles-Martin time
Comedy: 3/5
Drama: 2/5 more of that in part 2 I believe
Personal: 6.5/10
Overall: 34/50
Frasier 2x09: Adventures in Paradise (2)
You know, in some ways I stand by my assessment of the previous episode that it felt like the beginning of a mini-arc, it's just that they crammed the remaining three episodes of it into one. In spite of the fact that this episode is fairly stagnant it feels rushed and unable to spend time on some of the elements.
For one thing, the first scene may be focused on Frasier's lack of cool with finding Lilith there, but there's enough evidence to say that Lilith is just as rattled, but the story never really gets into it. It rushes past her and Frasier getting into a grudge match of snippy comments and one-ups-manship, which could have easily carried an episode. And because it moves so fast it makes it very clear that the rest of his bad behavior is a result of Lilith's presence so I sort of feel like Madeline is over reacting to leave their vacation so quickly. Her issues with dating a divorcee were not set up in part 1 and only come up here after the fact; so breakup, reconciliation, and breakup again all happen too quickly.
And I just don't feel like this episode gives Lilith a chance to shine; Neworth acts her scenes brilliantly with so much subtext that it's a shame I feel like her presence is downplayed. The scene at the end deserved to be the catharsis after of a full arc that the characters had gone on. Whether is was wondering if they still wanted each other or just couldn't deal with seeing the other happy; or if it could have actually involved Freddie somehow; or if it was just hard to let go that last little bit, be it love or anger, that it was time to put it away. Or anything that would have earned how touching that final scene is, even without as much build up as it deserved.
As a personal note, this is another episode that I kind of remember seeing long before I actually knew anything about the show; probably was passing through the room when my parents watched it or something. Because I have memories of Frasier's bouncy times (which is way to cringy for me now), and of the end where I'm pretty sure I assumed Frasier and Niles were a couple. That's kind of how I conclude I saw it at least that before I really started watching the series.
Production: 7/10 the acting does work to cover what I think are some story/writing shortcomings
Story: 4/10 as a single ep it would have been that much more rushed, as a two-parter it needed to be restructured, as an arc it would have needed much more fleshing out
Writing: 2/5
Characters: 3.5/5 does some good work with Frasier and Lilith, I just want more
Relationships: 3/5
Comedy: 2.5/5 enough of it works I can't give it a bad rank, but enough of it is cringy or dramatic that I can't go higher
Drama: 3.5/5 that last scene is really damn good
Personal: 6.5/10
Overall: 32/50
Over in the rankings I gave in and lumped the two eps together as I could figure out how to rank them relative to each other; part 1 is better on it's own while part 2 is a bigger deal for the series; the self-contained nature of part 1 makes it easier to watch if I was just looking for a single ep, but I really like the dramatic character elements in this one and having Lilith is always good. So I'm lumping them together because I can.
Frasier 2x10: Burying a Grudge
After a few episodes that inspired quite a few thoughts, this one was just generally fine. Nothing that bugged me, nothing that stood out. Do we ever hear about Arty again? Seems like at some point down the road they could have let us know how this worked out; I'll probably forget to pay attention for it even if they do.
I actually have been working on a bit of a Maris headcanon through this slightly odd watch I've been doing, and this wouldn't be the worst time to get into it, but I'd like to review a few more relevant episodes to see if I have much to support it besides it being an interesting thought experiment for me.
Production: 6/10 the hospital set looked pretty bad, and some of the stage business going on here stood out as awkward
Story: 5.5/10 it's a pretty average story without a whole lot of ambition, but it does fine with what it is
Writing: 3/5 there were a couple of stand out well written moments
Characters: 2.5/5
Relationships: 2/5
Comedy: 2/5
Drama: 2/5
Personal: 5/10
Overall: 30/50
Not being a big fan of cringe humor, this one really didn't play to my tasters; and also not being a big fan of stories around the radio station situations it didn't really build according to my tastes either. It's a shame that I don't like the radio set stories better, since that's usually where we get more Roz involved, but this also gives us the first time where I feel she's easily worked in as part of the Crane family circle. And that that's the most interesting part of this one means I would just as soon move on.
Production: 5/10 pretty average all around
Story: 6.5/10 ignoring my disinterest in a lot of what this one is, it's fairly well put together
Writing: 2/5 that joke wouldn't have been good even if the crowd was in the mood
Characters: 2.5/5 a few good Roz moments, and Niles and Daphne get okay bits when they have a moment
Relationships: 3/5 mostly for Roz slotting into the family nicely
Comedy: 2/5
Drama: /25
Personal: 4/10
Overall: 25/50
Frasier 2x07: The Candidate
It's sort of weird having this one follow the previous episode. While I suppose both take a similar view of how much impact Frasier's show has, one proposes that the public is ready to turn on him because he seems out of touch with said public, then this supposes that people want his advice on public office. I think this is another instance where someone said to the writers' room that they wanted a story about Frasier's celebrity getting him into trouble, and two different writers took it in two very different directions. But I'm not sure that explains why they had to produce those scripts back to back.
This episode is a reminder that I was watching this show at the same time as TXF back in the day, and I suppose to some extent I still am. Maybe that's what prompted this desire for a rewatch, I was in the mood for some better TV from my high school days.
But in doing so it also brings up a bit of my inner grumbling atheist (I usually class as agnostic, but my inner high schooler will always be a grumbling atheist); I want to know if the Crane boys would have been as bothered by Patterson saying he had a religious experience that inspired his good works. I would find it just as troubling, and would say both involve sky beings supposedly telling humans what to do. I even understand why to a public at large aliens sounds worse than all the politicians who are expected to appear religious. But I'm specifically turning the question the Crane boys as to whether one is allowed and the other not. They/the story doesn't treat this as if it's just going to ruin reputations, but is actually something crazy and worrying that Patterson needs therapy for; and I don't understand the difference between aliens and gods, except that in a broad sense aliens probably exist even if this experience probably didn't happen even in the context of the story.
Of course it probably doesn't help to be watching this in 2020, after recent years and in an election year.
Production: 6/10 the acting is fine though I don't think the commercials play well especially for me
Story: 7/10
Writing: 3/5
Characters: 2/5 nothing is really furthered, but everyone is in character
Relationships: 1/5
Comedy: 3/5
Drama: 2/5
Personal: 5.5/10 don't feel much need to rewatch it, but it was diverting
Overall: 29.5/50
Frasier 2x08: Adventures in Paradise (1)
As this episode went along I had a nagging feeling like the pacing was odd, but never so much that I gave any thought to why that was; only now can I put my finger on that this actually feels serialized. Not as in this feels like the first half of a two-parter and therefore unfinished, but as if this is the start of a mini-arc played across multiple episodes. Obviously it's not actually that, as status quo will return after next time, and so I think on the whole this won't feel like the right choice of pacing, but it's the way I wish I felt about the show more at this stage.
This is still a setup episode, there's no true climax to the plot, only a cliffhanger at the end. The restaurant scene in the middle takes up a good chunk of the episode considering so little of it is setting things up. But that's where my feeling that this feels more truly serialized than it's going to be comes in. If this was the start of a story shift, then it makes sense for the structure to be similar to any old episode, just introducing a new girlfriend for Frasier in the process; but as the only two-part story it is, that does seem a bit like time that could have been spend more focused on building up Frasier and Madeline before it falls apart in part 2.
Down the road there will be straight up double length episodes, and I haven't entirely decided if I'll review them as one or two eps, but this one was aired on two separate days, a sweeps month two-parter, so it's reviewed as two episodes.
This is also a bit of why I have so little investment in most Frasier dating stories. They never do form an arc; or him moving past the divorce and building a new life partnership with someone. This episode presents itself almost as part of that arc and it could have been, but to my memory (and some checking) the arc itself doesn't exist, it just gets more distant from able to blame the divorce for his problems. For eleven seasons it's going to circle around the same points again and again but never have him actually grow. Frasier does however have something of an arc with Lilith, that we'll actually explore next time.
Production: 6.5/10 Niles steals the show but everybody does fine; on the other hand Bora Bora looks super fake
Story: 6/10 as an episode it's just okay, if it were a real gear change I'd give it points for that, as a two-parter I'll judge it more in part 2
Writing: 4/5 the restaurant scene may take up a bit, but it's a well written scene
Characters: 3/5
Relationships: 3/5 actual Niles-Martin time
Comedy: 3/5
Drama: 2/5 more of that in part 2 I believe
Personal: 6.5/10
Overall: 34/50
Frasier 2x09: Adventures in Paradise (2)
You know, in some ways I stand by my assessment of the previous episode that it felt like the beginning of a mini-arc, it's just that they crammed the remaining three episodes of it into one. In spite of the fact that this episode is fairly stagnant it feels rushed and unable to spend time on some of the elements.
For one thing, the first scene may be focused on Frasier's lack of cool with finding Lilith there, but there's enough evidence to say that Lilith is just as rattled, but the story never really gets into it. It rushes past her and Frasier getting into a grudge match of snippy comments and one-ups-manship, which could have easily carried an episode. And because it moves so fast it makes it very clear that the rest of his bad behavior is a result of Lilith's presence so I sort of feel like Madeline is over reacting to leave their vacation so quickly. Her issues with dating a divorcee were not set up in part 1 and only come up here after the fact; so breakup, reconciliation, and breakup again all happen too quickly.
And I just don't feel like this episode gives Lilith a chance to shine; Neworth acts her scenes brilliantly with so much subtext that it's a shame I feel like her presence is downplayed. The scene at the end deserved to be the catharsis after of a full arc that the characters had gone on. Whether is was wondering if they still wanted each other or just couldn't deal with seeing the other happy; or if it could have actually involved Freddie somehow; or if it was just hard to let go that last little bit, be it love or anger, that it was time to put it away. Or anything that would have earned how touching that final scene is, even without as much build up as it deserved.
As a personal note, this is another episode that I kind of remember seeing long before I actually knew anything about the show; probably was passing through the room when my parents watched it or something. Because I have memories of Frasier's bouncy times (which is way to cringy for me now), and of the end where I'm pretty sure I assumed Frasier and Niles were a couple. That's kind of how I conclude I saw it at least that before I really started watching the series.
Production: 7/10 the acting does work to cover what I think are some story/writing shortcomings
Story: 4/10 as a single ep it would have been that much more rushed, as a two-parter it needed to be restructured, as an arc it would have needed much more fleshing out
Writing: 2/5
Characters: 3.5/5 does some good work with Frasier and Lilith, I just want more
Relationships: 3/5
Comedy: 2.5/5 enough of it works I can't give it a bad rank, but enough of it is cringy or dramatic that I can't go higher
Drama: 3.5/5 that last scene is really damn good
Personal: 6.5/10
Overall: 32/50
Over in the rankings I gave in and lumped the two eps together as I could figure out how to rank them relative to each other; part 1 is better on it's own while part 2 is a bigger deal for the series; the self-contained nature of part 1 makes it easier to watch if I was just looking for a single ep, but I really like the dramatic character elements in this one and having Lilith is always good. So I'm lumping them together because I can.
Frasier 2x10: Burying a Grudge
After a few episodes that inspired quite a few thoughts, this one was just generally fine. Nothing that bugged me, nothing that stood out. Do we ever hear about Arty again? Seems like at some point down the road they could have let us know how this worked out; I'll probably forget to pay attention for it even if they do.
I actually have been working on a bit of a Maris headcanon through this slightly odd watch I've been doing, and this wouldn't be the worst time to get into it, but I'd like to review a few more relevant episodes to see if I have much to support it besides it being an interesting thought experiment for me.
Production: 6/10 the hospital set looked pretty bad, and some of the stage business going on here stood out as awkward
Story: 5.5/10 it's a pretty average story without a whole lot of ambition, but it does fine with what it is
Writing: 3/5 there were a couple of stand out well written moments
Characters: 2.5/5
Relationships: 2/5
Comedy: 2/5
Drama: 2/5
Personal: 5/10
Overall: 30/50
