WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.680 Hello and welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today 00:00:02.680 --> 00:00:06.059 we are actually putting aside the history books 00:00:06.059 --> 00:00:09.179 and the scientific journals to focus on something 00:00:09.179 --> 00:00:11.839 that I think a lot of us hold near and dear to 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:14.919 our hearts. We're looking at a very specific 00:00:14.919 --> 00:00:18.539 slice of pop culture history. Yeah, we are. We're 00:00:18.539 --> 00:00:22.160 talking about arguably the absolute peak of 90s 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:24.739 sitcom television. We are talking about Frasier. 00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:26.920 But, you know, not just the show in general. 00:00:27.100 --> 00:00:29.339 We're zooming in with a microscope on season 00:00:29.339 --> 00:00:32.179 five. Which is such a fascinating choice. You 00:00:32.179 --> 00:00:33.679 know, usually when people talk about Frasier, 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:35.299 they talk about the pilot or they talk about 00:00:35.299 --> 00:00:37.539 the finale. Or maybe they just quote lines about 00:00:37.539 --> 00:00:39.740 sherry and tossed salads. Right. Exactly. But 00:00:39.740 --> 00:00:42.719 focusing on season five specifically, that is 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:45.939 where the gold is buried. Literally and figuratively. 00:00:45.979 --> 00:00:48.299 Literally gold. And before we get into the why 00:00:48.299 --> 00:00:50.840 of it all, let's just set the stage for you listening 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:53.659 at home. We are transporting ourselves back to 00:00:53.659 --> 00:00:56.560 late 1997. The season premiered on September 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:01.219 23rd, 1997 on NBC. Which was a massive time for 00:01:01.219 --> 00:01:04.670 NBC. Huge. Seinfeld is winding down its final 00:01:04.670 --> 00:01:07.170 season. Friends is absolutely huge. And here 00:01:07.170 --> 00:01:11.189 is this show about a snooty Seattle psychiatrist 00:01:11.189 --> 00:01:13.730 that is just completely dominating the landscape. 00:01:14.030 --> 00:01:16.709 It wasn't just dominating. It was evolving. If 00:01:16.709 --> 00:01:19.829 you were watching NBC in September of 97 and 00:01:19.829 --> 00:01:21.989 you tuned in for the premiere, you might have 00:01:21.989 --> 00:01:23.930 noticed something different right away. The title 00:01:23.930 --> 00:01:26.829 card. Exactly. The title card. For four years, 00:01:26.989 --> 00:01:29.629 the word Frazier came up on the screen in different 00:01:29.629 --> 00:01:33.280 colors. It was blue, red. Purple. Yeah. But in 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:36.680 season five, it was gold. Just solid gold. That 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:38.900 feels like a massive flex. Oh, it was absolutely 00:01:38.900 --> 00:01:41.480 flex. It was a victory lap before the race even 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:44.079 started. Because at this point, the show had 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:46.680 won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series four 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:48.700 years in a row. That's practically unheard of. 00:01:48.819 --> 00:01:51.159 It really is. And spoiler alert, they would go 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:52.799 on to win it for this season, too, making it 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:55.060 five. They were completely untouchable. Yeah. 00:01:55.390 --> 00:01:57.950 But the mission of our deep dive today isn't 00:01:57.950 --> 00:01:59.909 just to list their awards. No, we want to figure 00:01:59.909 --> 00:02:02.670 out how a show that could have easily just coasted 00:02:02.670 --> 00:02:05.530 on its massive success decided instead to just, 00:02:05.569 --> 00:02:08.389 well, blow everything up. Blow everything up 00:02:08.389 --> 00:02:10.229 is the perfect way to phrase it. It sounds a 00:02:10.229 --> 00:02:12.409 little dramatic for a show that's mostly known 00:02:12.409 --> 00:02:14.930 for, you know, opera jokes and wine tasting. 00:02:15.150 --> 00:02:17.590 It is dramatic. But just look at the arc of this 00:02:17.590 --> 00:02:21.590 season. We are exploring how they balanced high 00:02:21.590 --> 00:02:25.159 farce. Like the classic door slamming comedy 00:02:25.159 --> 00:02:28.360 they were famous for with massive irreversible 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:30.879 life changes. This is the season where they really 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:32.939 took the safety nets away. So we're essentially 00:02:32.939 --> 00:02:35.939 talking about the death of the status quo. That's 00:02:35.939 --> 00:02:38.120 exactly what it is. We have Roz Doyle's life 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:40.659 turning completely upside down. We have the total 00:02:40.659 --> 00:02:43.800 painful deconstruction of Niles' marriage. We 00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:46.319 have Martin facing his own mortality. And then 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:49.400 a season finale that literally destroys the character's 00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:51.520 workplace. Yeah, if you think Frasier is just 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:55.139 comfy, safe television, season five really challenges 00:02:55.139 --> 00:02:58.080 that notion. So I want to start with one of the 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:00.840 biggest shocks to the system, the evolution of 00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:03.219 Roz Doyle. Let's call this the pregnancy arc. 00:03:03.659 --> 00:03:06.099 This was a massive shift for the show. Up until 00:03:06.099 --> 00:03:08.479 this point, Roz is the quintessential single 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:10.900 girl in the city. She's the gritty counterpoint 00:03:10.900 --> 00:03:13.099 to Frasier's stuffiness. Right. She's dating. 00:03:13.219 --> 00:03:15.319 She's having fun. She's a bit cynical. Yeah. 00:03:15.379 --> 00:03:17.439 And so giving her a baby, that fundamentally 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:20.120 changes the DNA of the entire show. And it all 00:03:20.120 --> 00:03:23.129 kicks off in the episode titled Halloween. Now, 00:03:23.169 --> 00:03:26.449 I rewatched this recently, and it is just chaotic. 00:03:26.849 --> 00:03:29.990 Halloween is an absolute masterclass in sitcom 00:03:29.990 --> 00:03:33.889 structure. It aired October 28th, 97, and the 00:03:33.889 --> 00:03:36.629 setting is crucial here. Niles is throwing a 00:03:36.629 --> 00:03:39.169 literary -themed Halloween party. Of course he 00:03:39.169 --> 00:03:41.949 is, because a regular Halloween party would be 00:03:41.949 --> 00:03:44.889 too pedestrian for Niles Crane. Exactly. So everyone 00:03:44.889 --> 00:03:48.129 is dressed as characters from literature. Niles 00:03:48.129 --> 00:03:51.020 is Cyrano de Bergerac. Frazier is Jeffrey Chaucer. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:54.039 It's pretentious, it's highbrow, and it is the 00:03:54.039 --> 00:03:57.379 absolute perfect backdrop for a very gritty, 00:03:57.400 --> 00:04:00.259 real -world problem. Which is that Roz fears 00:04:00.259 --> 00:04:03.180 she might be pregnant. Right. And Frazier, being 00:04:03.180 --> 00:04:05.819 Frazier, decides to drag her to this party to 00:04:05.819 --> 00:04:07.719 distract her. Which seems like a terrible idea 00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:10.379 from the start. It's a horrible idea. But just 00:04:10.379 --> 00:04:12.300 watch how the writers use the party mechanics. 00:04:12.780 --> 00:04:15.060 Frazier gets drunk, which is pretty rare for 00:04:15.060 --> 00:04:17.100 him, and he accidentally leaks the information 00:04:17.100 --> 00:04:19.379 that... Roz might be pregnant. But he doesn't 00:04:19.379 --> 00:04:21.699 just get up on a table and I don't sit. No, it 00:04:21.699 --> 00:04:24.399 slips out in conversation. And because everyone 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:27.300 is in costume and everyone is drinking, it turns 00:04:27.300 --> 00:04:29.600 into this incredible game of telephone. Oh, right. 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:31.819 I remember this. People start whispering and 00:04:31.819 --> 00:04:34.180 the rumor just morphs completely out of control. 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:37.160 Precisely. The rumor shifts from Roz is pregnant 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:39.379 to Frazier got Roz pregnant to Daphne is pregnant. 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:42.139 It's a complete farce engine. The gossip moves 00:04:42.139 --> 00:04:44.379 so much faster than the truth. And it's hilarious. 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:47.250 But then we get to the key moment. Amidst all 00:04:47.250 --> 00:04:49.709 this silliness, all these layered literary puns, 00:04:49.709 --> 00:04:53.649 Roz steps in. She literally cuts the tension. 00:04:53.730 --> 00:04:56.550 She stops the music. She interrupts Frasier, 00:04:56.589 --> 00:04:58.709 who is desperately trying to do damage control 00:04:58.709 --> 00:05:01.350 at this point, and she just says it. She's heard 00:05:01.350 --> 00:05:03.990 from her doctor. She is pregnant. It's a total 00:05:03.990 --> 00:05:07.329 record scratch moment. It is. The laughter completely 00:05:07.329 --> 00:05:10.230 dies in the room. The farce evaporates. It's 00:05:10.230 --> 00:05:12.730 the writers directly telling the audience, okay, 00:05:12.810 --> 00:05:15.180 the jokes are over. This is real now. It's such 00:05:15.180 --> 00:05:17.139 a brilliant tonal shift. Oh, and I wanted to 00:05:17.139 --> 00:05:19.040 bring up a fun little trivia nugget here from 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:21.899 the sources. The character Eve at the party, 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:25.139 that's Camille Donatacci. She had actually married 00:05:25.139 --> 00:05:27.639 Kelsey Grammer just two months before this episode 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:29.779 aired. Talk about keeping it in the family. Right. 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:32.040 And wasn't there a famous guest caller in this 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:34.839 one, too? There was. Cindy Crawford calls into 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:37.459 the radio show as Dorothy. It just goes to show 00:05:37.459 --> 00:05:40.420 you the sheer cultural cachet the show had at 00:05:40.420 --> 00:05:42.720 that time. Supermodels were literally lining 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:45.540 up to be hung up on by Frasier Crane. Amazing. 00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:48.839 So the bomb is dropped. Roz is pregnant. But 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:51.680 the very next episode, which is called The Kid, 00:05:51.939 --> 00:05:54.040 is where the reality of the situation really 00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:56.259 sets in. Because now she has to deal with the 00:05:56.259 --> 00:05:58.420 father. And this is where we see that classic 00:05:58.420 --> 00:06:00.639 class conflict that Frasier loves to play with. 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:03.810 Because Roz is a professional. She's a radio 00:06:03.810 --> 00:06:06.970 producer. She's in her 30s. And the father. Rick, 00:06:07.069 --> 00:06:09.990 the waiter. Right, Rick, a 20 -year -old waiter 00:06:09.990 --> 00:06:12.529 at Cafe Nervosa. Fraser just happens to spot 00:06:12.529 --> 00:06:15.170 him by chance. And the casting here is so brilliant 00:06:15.170 --> 00:06:17.810 because Rick isn't a bad guy. No, he's not a 00:06:17.810 --> 00:06:20.350 villain at all. He's just young. He's this cheerful, 00:06:20.610 --> 00:06:23.509 golden retriever of human being. Which honestly 00:06:23.509 --> 00:06:25.370 makes the situation so much more uncomfortable 00:06:25.370 --> 00:06:27.670 than if he were a jerk. Because if he were a 00:06:27.670 --> 00:06:29.230 jerk, you could just write him off and say good 00:06:29.230 --> 00:06:32.420 riddance. Exactly. You could dismiss him. But 00:06:32.420 --> 00:06:35.500 when Roz tells him the news, Rick tries to do 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:38.339 the noble thing. He offers to drop out of college. 00:06:38.379 --> 00:06:41.300 He offers to marry her. He really tries to step 00:06:41.300 --> 00:06:43.519 up. And this is the pivot moment, right? This 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:46.040 is where Roz becomes a completely different character 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:48.600 in the eyes of the audience. It really is. I 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:50.819 mean, a lesser show would have dragged this conflict 00:06:50.819 --> 00:06:53.620 out for half a season or had them awkwardly try 00:06:53.620 --> 00:06:57.019 to date. But Roz looks at this kid. and he really 00:06:57.019 --> 00:06:59.959 is a kid and she realizes that letting him ruin 00:06:59.959 --> 00:07:02.759 his future to support her would be a massive 00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:05.279 mistake for both of them so she tells him to 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:07.519 stay in school she effectively sends him away 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:10.439 she chooses to be a single mother and you have 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:14.079 to remember in 1997 on network television that 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:17.250 was a very strong choice It wasn't quite Murphy 00:07:17.250 --> 00:07:19.670 Brown levels of controversy, but it was still 00:07:19.670 --> 00:07:22.310 highly significant. Yeah, she displays a maturity 00:07:22.310 --> 00:07:24.529 that we really hadn't seen from her before. She 00:07:24.529 --> 00:07:27.050 stops being just the wisecracking sidekick and 00:07:27.050 --> 00:07:29.490 starts becoming a matriarch. And we see that 00:07:29.490 --> 00:07:31.990 fully pay off at the end of the season in the 00:07:31.990 --> 00:07:34.170 episode The Life of the Party. Right, which takes 00:07:34.170 --> 00:07:37.939 us to May of 98. The baby arrives. But look at 00:07:37.939 --> 00:07:40.860 the context of the episode. Roz is at a singles 00:07:40.860 --> 00:07:43.439 party that Niles and Frasier are throwing. Yes, 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:46.699 she's heavily pregnant. She's feeling huge. She 00:07:46.699 --> 00:07:48.720 feels completely invisible to men. It's actually 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:51.779 a very vulnerable and honest look at late stage 00:07:51.779 --> 00:07:53.600 pregnancy. And then, of course, her water breaks 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:55.920 at the party. It's a standard sitcom trope, for 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:58.540 sure. But the payoff isn't the birth itself. 00:07:58.620 --> 00:08:01.790 It's the scene afterward at the hospital. If 00:08:01.790 --> 00:08:03.250 you look at who is looking through the nursery 00:08:03.250 --> 00:08:05.750 window at baby Alice Mae Doyle. It's the gang. 00:08:06.029 --> 00:08:09.430 It's Frazier, Niles, Martin and Daphne. The work 00:08:09.430 --> 00:08:12.459 family. It completely solidifies that these people 00:08:12.459 --> 00:08:15.319 are her village now. Rick isn't there. Her parents 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:17.920 aren't there. The Cranes are there. It entirely 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:20.240 redefines the ensemble dynamic for the rest of 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:22.319 the series. It's incredibly sweet. OK, so Roz 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:25.199 is building a brand new life. But on the flip 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:27.639 side of that coin, we have Niles Crane, who is 00:08:27.639 --> 00:08:29.800 essentially watching his life burn to the ground. 00:08:30.180 --> 00:08:32.840 Let's dig into the deconstruction of Niles Crane. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:35.639 This is truly the heavy emotional lifting of 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:39.600 season five, because for four years. Maris was 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:43.200 just a joke. She was this unseen, cartoonish 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:45.580 villain. Yeah, she was just a collection of bizarre 00:08:45.580 --> 00:08:48.480 eccentricities. She can't produce saliva. She 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:50.419 fits through the bars of a wrought iron gate. 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:53.519 We just laughed at her. But this season, the 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:56.480 laughter abruptly stops. It turns into genuine 00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:59.000 trauma. It starts with the episode The Zoo Story. 00:08:59.460 --> 00:09:02.139 Niles is in couples counseling with Maris. And 00:09:02.139 --> 00:09:05.220 we finally get a real glimpse of just how manipulative 00:09:05.220 --> 00:09:07.399 she is as a person. Right. She wants Niles to 00:09:07.399 --> 00:09:10.320 fire their therapist. Yes. And Niles thinks the 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:12.419 therapist is actually helping them, so he refuses. 00:09:12.700 --> 00:09:14.639 Which is good for Niles for standing his ground. 00:09:15.149 --> 00:09:17.429 It is good for Niles. It's a real spine -stiffening 00:09:17.429 --> 00:09:19.870 moment for a character who is usually so submissive. 00:09:19.909 --> 00:09:22.889 But Maris brutally punishes him for it. She cuts 00:09:22.889 --> 00:09:26.049 off all conjugal visits. She literally uses intimacy 00:09:26.049 --> 00:09:28.690 as a weapon to control him. Which is just dark. 00:09:28.870 --> 00:09:30.970 It's really dark for a sitcom. It's abusive. 00:09:31.149 --> 00:09:33.370 Let's just call it what it is. And Niles is really 00:09:33.370 --> 00:09:35.450 struggling with it. But the real circuit breaker 00:09:35.450 --> 00:09:37.730 comes later in the episode, the Maris counselor. 00:09:38.379 --> 00:09:41.559 Oh, this episode. My heart breaks for Niles in 00:09:41.559 --> 00:09:44.200 this one. He tries so hard. He plans this whole 00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:46.620 romantic surprise for her. He does. He goes to 00:09:46.620 --> 00:09:48.860 their house to surprise her in the bedroom. And 00:09:48.860 --> 00:09:50.539 he discovers that Maris is having an affair. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:54.399 But the twist, the absolute knife in the back, 00:09:54.519 --> 00:09:57.779 is who she is having the affair with. Dr. Schenkman, 00:09:57.940 --> 00:10:00.500 the therapist, the exact guy that Niles fought 00:10:00.500 --> 00:10:04.120 so hard to keep. The very man Niles refused to 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:06.460 fire because of his own professional ethics. 00:10:07.149 --> 00:10:09.970 It is a devastating double betrayal. And when 00:10:09.970 --> 00:10:12.149 he's confronted, Shankman says something that 00:10:12.149 --> 00:10:14.350 makes you realize just how deeply delusional 00:10:14.350 --> 00:10:16.730 he is. Right. He calls Maris a selfless soul. 00:10:16.909 --> 00:10:20.389 A selfless soul. I mean, Maris, selfless, it's 00:10:20.389 --> 00:10:22.590 absurd. It highlights that Shankman is completely 00:10:22.590 --> 00:10:25.029 under her spell. He's been manipulated just like 00:10:25.029 --> 00:10:27.590 Niles was. But we really have to talk about David 00:10:27.590 --> 00:10:29.610 Hyde Pierce's acting in this specific episode. 00:10:29.850 --> 00:10:32.350 Because there is a scene where Niles fully breaks 00:10:32.350 --> 00:10:34.710 down. Right. He's in a group therapy session 00:10:34.710 --> 00:10:38.659 that Frasier is leading. Yes. Broasts in. And 00:10:38.659 --> 00:10:40.500 if you just watch his face, it's incredible. 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:43.259 He starts by trying to intellectualize the whole 00:10:43.259 --> 00:10:45.360 thing. He's a psychiatrist, right? So he uses 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:47.320 all these clinical words like transference and 00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:49.779 displacement. He's manic. Totally manic. He's 00:10:49.779 --> 00:10:51.860 desperately trying to diagnose his own heartbreak 00:10:51.860 --> 00:10:53.580 so he doesn't actually have to feel it. But it 00:10:53.580 --> 00:10:55.799 doesn't work. The clinical detachment fails him. 00:10:55.879 --> 00:10:58.419 No, the facade completely cracks. He physically 00:10:58.419 --> 00:11:01.200 collapses. And the show is brave enough to just 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:04.600 let it happen. There is a solid chunk of time 00:11:04.600 --> 00:11:07.220 in that scene where there is absolutely no laugh 00:11:07.220 --> 00:11:10.570 track. It's just a man. realizing his marriage 00:11:10.570 --> 00:11:14.110 is a total sham. It's a sheer masterclass in 00:11:14.110 --> 00:11:16.830 tragic comedy. So he leaves her. He finally finds 00:11:16.830 --> 00:11:19.360 the strength to leave her. He signs the papers. 00:11:19.500 --> 00:11:21.879 He walks away from the generational wealth, the 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:24.440 mansion, the urinal cakes with the family crest 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:27.100 on them. He becomes a man living in this jagged, 00:11:27.100 --> 00:11:30.659 weird little apartment. He is entirely deconstructed. 00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:32.840 But you know what they say. When one door closes, 00:11:33.019 --> 00:11:35.440 another one opens. Or at least it cracks open 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:38.159 a little bit. We have to talk about Daphne. Because 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:40.899 season five is absolutely huge for the whole 00:11:40.899 --> 00:11:43.279 will -they -weren't -they dynamic. It's completely 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:46.279 pivotal. With Maris officially out of the picture. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:49.960 the main external obstacle is gone. Technically, 00:11:50.039 --> 00:11:52.539 Niles is free, but the internal obstacle, which 00:11:52.539 --> 00:11:55.700 is Niles' sheer terror of rejection, is very 00:11:55.700 --> 00:11:57.539 much still there. Well, we mentioned Halloween 00:11:57.539 --> 00:11:59.580 earlier. He actually proposed to her in that 00:11:59.580 --> 00:12:03.379 episode. Drunk. He was very drunk. And he was 00:12:03.379 --> 00:12:05.940 under the bizarre impression that she was the 00:12:05.940 --> 00:12:08.679 one pregnant with Frasier's baby. And she needed 00:12:08.679 --> 00:12:10.740 saving. Right. It was this weird white knight 00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:13.639 complex gone terribly wrong. Exactly. But from 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:15.940 a storytelling perspective, it put the visual 00:12:15.940 --> 00:12:19.340 image of Niles proposing to Daphne right into 00:12:19.340 --> 00:12:21.799 the audience's head. It primed the pump. But 00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:24.100 the real forward movement happens in the episode 00:12:24.100 --> 00:12:26.740 First Date. This is such a fascinating psychological 00:12:26.740 --> 00:12:29.679 study of Niles. He decides he's finally going 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:32.240 to ask her out. He pumps himself up. He talks 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:34.320 it through with Frasier. He is ready to do it. 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:36.720 And then chokes, completely freezes up. He freezes. 00:12:37.610 --> 00:12:39.549 Daphne mentions that she likes some guy or says 00:12:39.549 --> 00:12:42.669 something totally innocuous, and Niles just panics. 00:12:42.990 --> 00:12:45.950 To protect his fragile ego, he invents a massive 00:12:45.950 --> 00:12:48.690 lie on the spot. He says he's actually in love 00:12:48.690 --> 00:12:51.110 with a neighbor named Phyllis. Which is wild. 00:12:51.210 --> 00:12:54.429 Why does he do this? It seems so incredibly counterproductive 00:12:54.429 --> 00:12:57.090 to his actual goal. It's a pure defense mechanism. 00:12:57.570 --> 00:13:00.929 If he asks Daphne out and she says no, it destroys 00:13:00.929 --> 00:13:03.830 him completely. If he pretends to like this fake 00:13:03.830 --> 00:13:07.309 woman Phyllis, he's emotionally safe. But the 00:13:07.309 --> 00:13:10.330 lie immediately spirals out of control. Because 00:13:10.330 --> 00:13:12.690 Daphne, being the sweet, supportive friend she 00:13:12.690 --> 00:13:15.490 is, offers to help him cook a romantic dinner 00:13:15.490 --> 00:13:18.289 for Phyllis. So now he's cooking a complex seduction 00:13:18.289 --> 00:13:21.450 dinner for a woman who does not exist alongside 00:13:21.450 --> 00:13:23.690 the woman he is actually desperately in love 00:13:23.690 --> 00:13:26.559 with. It's torture. It's hilarious, delicious 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:28.700 torture, and he actually has to recruit a real 00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:30.720 neighbor to play Phyllis because the lie gets 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:33.519 so far out of hand. Yes, but Frasier, and this 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:35.500 is exactly why we love Frasier as the character 00:13:35.500 --> 00:13:38.279 intervenes, he sees what's happening, and he 00:13:38.279 --> 00:13:41.179 chases the real neighbor away by casually telling 00:13:41.179 --> 00:13:43.600 her that Niles killed his first wife. He says 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:46.240 something like, he has a temper. It's brilliant, 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:48.480 and the result of that sabotage, the neighbor 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:51.019 flees in terror. Niles and Daphne are left completely 00:13:51.019 --> 00:13:53.500 alone with this beautiful romantic dinner, and 00:13:53.500 --> 00:13:55.340 they sit down and eat it together. So it actually 00:13:55.340 --> 00:13:57.799 becomes a date? It's a proxy date. It allows 00:13:57.799 --> 00:14:01.179 them to safely enact the ritual of dating without 00:14:01.179 --> 00:14:03.700 any of the actual risk. It's a baby step, sure, 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:06.659 but it's the very first time they're really sitting 00:14:06.659 --> 00:14:10.139 down as equals, sharing a romantic meal. It subtly 00:14:10.139 --> 00:14:13.279 but permanently changes the energy between them. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:16.139 Speaking of chaotic energy, we have to pivot 00:14:16.139 --> 00:14:20.289 and talk about the ski lodge. Ah. The masterpiece 00:14:20.289 --> 00:14:22.669 of the season. You called this the prime example 00:14:22.669 --> 00:14:25.029 of the show's structural brilliance in the notes. 00:14:25.090 --> 00:14:26.809 Now, for listeners who might just remember it 00:14:26.809 --> 00:14:29.549 as the episode with the gay ski instructor, why 00:14:29.549 --> 00:14:33.169 is this specific half hour so revered by television 00:14:33.169 --> 00:14:36.009 writers? Because it is a pure, unadulterated 00:14:36.009 --> 00:14:39.000 French farce. Specifically, it follows the intricate 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:41.039 style of the playwright George's Fado. Fado. 00:14:41.139 --> 00:14:43.159 Okay, break that down for us. What does that 00:14:43.159 --> 00:14:45.740 actually mean in practice? So in your typical 00:14:45.740 --> 00:14:48.279 90s sitcom, the comedy is almost entirely in 00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:50.460 the dialogue. It's bing, bang, boom, punchline, 00:14:50.580 --> 00:14:54.159 set -up joke, set -up joke. In a Fadozo farce, 00:14:54.179 --> 00:14:56.059 the comedy comes from the physical architecture 00:14:56.059 --> 00:14:57.720 and the sheer mechanics of misunderstanding. 00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:01.039 It's all about who is in what room, which door 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:03.960 is opening at what exact second, and who just 00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:07.220 narrowly missed seeing whom. It is highly mathematical 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:09.779 comedy. So set the scene for us in this episode. 00:15:10.100 --> 00:15:12.940 The setup is deliberately contrived, as all classic 00:15:12.940 --> 00:15:15.879 farces have to be. Roz wins a weekend trip to 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:19.000 a ski lodge, but she can't go, so she trades 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:21.480 to Frazier. For a new television. Naturally. 00:15:21.500 --> 00:15:24.179 So the whole gang heads up to this cabin. Frasier, 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:26.980 Niles, Daphne, and Martin. Plus their two guests, 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:29.240 Annie, who is a beautiful swimsuit model and 00:15:29.240 --> 00:15:32.000 a friend of Daphne's, and Guy, the very handsome, 00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:34.440 very French ski instructor. And this is where 00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:36.440 the famous round robin of attraction begins. 00:15:36.700 --> 00:15:38.480 It's a daisy chain of desire. And let's actually 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:40.620 track it because if you miss even one link in 00:15:40.620 --> 00:15:42.679 this chain, the whole engine falls apart. Okay, 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:45.519 so Frasier desperately wants Annie. He is pursuing 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:47.720 her very aggressively. Got it. Frasier likes 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:50.500 Annie. But Annie is completely not interested 00:15:50.500 --> 00:15:52.620 in Frasier. She is utterly obsessed with Niles. 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:55.639 She thinks Niles is this tortured, poetic, romantic 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:58.460 soul. Which, to be fair, he is. Just not for 00:15:58.460 --> 00:16:01.120 her. Right. Niles is entirely blind to Annie 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:03.679 because he only wants Daphne. Daphne, meanwhile, 00:16:03.820 --> 00:16:06.179 decides she wants a fun little holiday fling. 00:16:06.279 --> 00:16:09.299 So she is actively pursuing Guy, the ski instructor. 00:16:09.580 --> 00:16:12.700 And Guy. Who does Guy want? Guy thinks Niles 00:16:12.700 --> 00:16:15.159 is pursuing him. It's so funny. Why does he think 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:17.840 that? It's all because of Martin. Martin's ears 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:19.899 are clogged from the high altitude of the mountains. 00:16:19.940 --> 00:16:21.740 He literally can't hear a single thing anyone 00:16:21.740 --> 00:16:24.279 is saying. So when Guy says things to Martin 00:16:24.279 --> 00:16:27.159 like, your son is very handsome, Martin just 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:29.799 smiles, nods, and gives him a big thumbs up. 00:16:29.860 --> 00:16:32.860 Oh my gosh. So Guy thinks he has the father's 00:16:32.860 --> 00:16:35.980 explicit blessing to date his son Niles. And 00:16:35.980 --> 00:16:37.840 doesn't Guy also think that Daphne and Annie 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:40.740 are a couple? Yes. Because he catches them in 00:16:40.740 --> 00:16:43.500 a bedroom together in a totally innocent but 00:16:43.500 --> 00:16:45.980 compromising looking situation. Yeah. So you 00:16:45.980 --> 00:16:48.480 have this perfect unbroken circle of misunderstanding. 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:51.720 Fraser wants Annie. Annie wants Niles. Niles 00:16:51.720 --> 00:16:53.460 wants Daphne. Daphne wants Guy. Guy wants Niles. 00:16:53.580 --> 00:16:55.879 And Guy thinks Daphne and Annie are together. 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:59.039 It creates a perpetual motion machine of slamming 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:01.340 doors and near misses. And the dialogue during 00:17:01.340 --> 00:17:04.240 all this? The dialogue is almost secondary to 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:06.640 the geometry of the scene. The absolute funniest 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:09.529 moments are just... Silent reaction shots. Like 00:17:09.529 --> 00:17:12.789 Niles' face. Yes. Niles realizing that Guy is 00:17:12.789 --> 00:17:15.630 hitting on him. Or Frasier realizing at the very 00:17:15.630 --> 00:17:18.309 climax of the chaos that he is the only single 00:17:18.309 --> 00:17:20.769 person in the entire lodge who is not being lusted 00:17:20.769 --> 00:17:23.849 after by anyone. It's an intricate ballet. You 00:17:23.849 --> 00:17:25.509 could legitimately watch the episode with the 00:17:25.509 --> 00:17:27.549 sound totally turned off and still completely 00:17:27.549 --> 00:17:30.190 understand the story. Yeah. That is incredibly 00:17:30.190 --> 00:17:32.430 hard to write. It really is. It feels exactly 00:17:32.430 --> 00:17:35.789 like a stage play translated to television. OK, 00:17:35.869 --> 00:17:38.269 so let's pivot from the physical chaos of the 00:17:38.269 --> 00:17:41.670 ski lodge to the mental chaos happening inside 00:17:41.670 --> 00:17:44.849 Frasier Crane's head, because season five really 00:17:44.849 --> 00:17:47.650 puts his massive ego under the microscope. It 00:17:47.650 --> 00:17:49.829 really does. You know, on paper, Frasier is an 00:17:49.829 --> 00:17:52.029 incredibly successful man. He's rich. He's famous 00:17:52.029 --> 00:17:54.390 in the city. He's highly educated. But underneath 00:17:54.390 --> 00:17:57.029 all of that, he has this gaping, unfillable hole 00:17:57.029 --> 00:17:59.289 of insecurity. And season five just constantly 00:17:59.289 --> 00:18:01.809 pokes at it. Let's look at the episode The Thousandth 00:18:01.809 --> 00:18:04.279 Show. This is. Obviously a huge milestone for 00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:08.279 his radio career. It is. 1 ,000 broadcasts. And 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:11.039 Frazier plays his classic humble servant routine. 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:13.640 Oh, I don't want to fuss. It's just my job. Please 00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:16.220 don't make a big deal out of it. But secretly, 00:18:16.420 --> 00:18:21.200 he wants a parade. He absolutely wants the confetti 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:23.440 and the marching bands. He craves the external 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:26.299 validation. And the city actually gives it to 00:18:26.299 --> 00:18:29.019 him. The mayor officially declares it Frazier 00:18:29.019 --> 00:18:31.579 Crane Day in Seattle. There's a massive rally 00:18:31.579 --> 00:18:34.440 set up at the base of the Space Needle. By all 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:35.960 accounts, this should be the greatest day of 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:37.980 his entire life. But of course it goes terribly 00:18:37.980 --> 00:18:41.819 wrong. Horribly, hilariously wrong. He and Niles 00:18:41.819 --> 00:18:44.299 decide to walk to the rally to enjoy the adulation 00:18:44.299 --> 00:18:47.119 of the city, but they get lost. Frasier gets 00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:49.900 stunned by a bee. A blind man ends up stealing 00:18:49.900 --> 00:18:52.319 his shoes. It's an odyssey of disaster. He completely 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:54.839 misses his own rally. He misses his big moment 00:18:54.839 --> 00:18:56.779 of glory. But there's a moment at the very end 00:18:56.779 --> 00:18:58.480 of the episode that I think really saves it from 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:01.650 just being... 30 minutes of Fraser needlessly 00:19:01.650 --> 00:19:03.369 suffering. You're talking about the limo scene. 00:19:03.569 --> 00:19:05.609 Yeah. He ends up sharing a ride. I think it's 00:19:05.609 --> 00:19:08.890 a limo with a fan. It's a listener. The chauffeur 00:19:08.890 --> 00:19:12.569 of the limo. A guy named John. So Fraser is sitting 00:19:12.569 --> 00:19:14.549 in the back, completely miserable. He's ranting 00:19:14.549 --> 00:19:16.410 about how his day is ruined and nobody cares 00:19:16.410 --> 00:19:19.490 about him. And then he stops and asks John, do 00:19:19.490 --> 00:19:21.609 you actually listen to my show? And John says 00:19:21.609 --> 00:19:23.589 yes. And John starts telling him a story about 00:19:23.589 --> 00:19:25.970 how Fraser's advice helped him deal with a really 00:19:25.970 --> 00:19:27.750 tough problem he was having with his brother. 00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:30.279 And Frazier just completely shuts up. He stops 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:33.420 performing and he actually listens. And you can 00:19:33.420 --> 00:19:36.880 visibly see the massive ego deflate and the actual 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:40.180 doctor appear. He realizes in that quiet moment 00:19:40.180 --> 00:19:43.720 that the giant rally doesn't matter. The 999 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:45.920 people cheering at the Space Needle don't matter. 00:19:46.099 --> 00:19:48.380 Helping this one specific guy in the front seat 00:19:48.380 --> 00:19:51.589 matters. It completely grounds him. It's a beautiful 00:19:51.589 --> 00:19:53.829 moment, but, you know, that ego is very resilient 00:19:53.829 --> 00:19:55.710 and it comes bouncing right back, especially 00:19:55.710 --> 00:19:57.910 in his dating life. Which brings us to a section 00:19:57.910 --> 00:20:00.490 we're calling relationship failures. It is a 00:20:00.490 --> 00:20:04.289 brutally funny year for Frazier's heart. He dates 00:20:04.289 --> 00:20:07.450 these incredible, formidable women, but either 00:20:07.450 --> 00:20:09.890 he ruins it or the universe ruins it for him. 00:20:10.029 --> 00:20:12.569 Let's take Frazier's imaginary friend as an example. 00:20:13.230 --> 00:20:16.230 He dates Selah Ward. He dates Kelly Easterbrook. 00:20:16.670 --> 00:20:19.369 A literal supermodel who also happens to be a 00:20:19.369 --> 00:20:22.269 zoologist. She is objectively the perfect woman. 00:20:22.470 --> 00:20:24.490 But nobody in his family belies him. Because 00:20:24.490 --> 00:20:26.950 she's going through a messy breakup. And she 00:20:26.950 --> 00:20:29.609 insists on keeping their relationship a total 00:20:29.609 --> 00:20:32.599 secret. It's a brilliant reversal of the classic 00:20:32.599 --> 00:20:35.819 George class trope or the fake girlfriend in 00:20:35.819 --> 00:20:38.200 Canada excuse. Frazier is actually telling the 00:20:38.200 --> 00:20:40.500 truth. But because of the circumstances, he sounds 00:20:40.500 --> 00:20:42.680 completely insane to everyone around him. Right. 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:45.119 His family starts pitying him. They honestly 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:47.579 think he's having a psychotic break, much like 00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:50.279 Niles did. It's a direct attack on his credibility, 00:20:50.539 --> 00:20:53.460 which he values so highly. And then there's the 00:20:53.460 --> 00:20:56.319 episode My Fair Frazier. Now, this one attacks 00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:58.920 his masculinity or at least his very traditional. 00:20:59.500 --> 00:21:01.720 rigid view of his own masculinity. He starts 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:04.180 dating Samantha Pierce, who is a high -powered, 00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:07.079 high -profile defense attorney. And in this dynamic, 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:09.400 she's the busy one. She's the one constantly 00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:12.319 canceling dates because of work. She's the undeniable 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:14.799 alpha in the relationship. And Frazier essentially 00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:18.440 becomes the wife. In the classic 1950s sitcom 00:21:18.440 --> 00:21:21.839 sense of the word, yes. He becomes the homemaker. 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:24.140 He's the one waiting by the phone. He's the one 00:21:24.140 --> 00:21:26.519 pouting when she's late. He's picking out gifts 00:21:26.519 --> 00:21:30.740 for her colleagues. And he absolutely hates it. 00:21:30.819 --> 00:21:33.319 He can't handle it. He cannot handle not being 00:21:33.319 --> 00:21:35.480 the dominant driving force in the relationship. 00:21:35.700 --> 00:21:38.619 It totally exposes his deep need for control. 00:21:38.859 --> 00:21:41.700 But the absolute ultimate blow to his ego out 00:21:41.700 --> 00:21:44.500 of the whole season has to be the episode The 00:21:44.500 --> 00:21:47.259 Perfect Guy. Oh, Dr. Clint Webber. Played so 00:21:47.259 --> 00:21:49.500 brilliantly by Billy Campbell. This character 00:21:49.500 --> 00:21:52.220 is as if he was designed in a secret laboratory 00:21:52.220 --> 00:21:55.220 just to systematically destroy Frasier Crane's 00:21:55.220 --> 00:21:57.960 self -esteem. He's incredibly handsome. He's 00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:01.180 a brilliant doctor. He went to Oxford. He plays 00:22:01.180 --> 00:22:03.779 squash better than Frazier. He speaks much better 00:22:03.779 --> 00:22:05.859 French than Frazier. And the worst part for Frazier 00:22:05.859 --> 00:22:08.079 is that he's nice. He's incredibly nice. He's 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:11.119 genuinely humble and kind. And Frazier cannot 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:13.440 stand it for a second. He spends the entire duration 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:15.720 of the episode desperately, obsessively trying 00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:18.839 to find just one single flaw, just one tiny thing 00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:21.240 that Clint is bad at. But why? I mean, why can't 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:23.740 he just be happy to have found a peer? Because 00:22:23.740 --> 00:22:26.319 Frazier's entire identity is built on the foundation 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:28.599 of being the best. He has to be the smartest 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:30.339 guy in the room. He has to be the most cultured. 00:22:30.339 --> 00:22:32.920 If Clint Webber exists and is better at all those 00:22:32.920 --> 00:22:35.359 things, then Frasier feels entirely redundant. 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:38.799 It's deep existential dread disguised as petty, 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:42.160 childish jealousy. And when he finally, finally 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:45.319 finds the flaw. And Lent is tone deaf. He confidently 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:47.940 sings a song and he's absolutely awful at it. 00:22:47.960 --> 00:22:51.000 He can't carry a tune in a bucket. And the look 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:54.259 of pure, unadulterated, malicious joy on Frasier's 00:22:54.259 --> 00:22:56.960 face when he hears it is just priceless. It's 00:22:56.960 --> 00:22:59.819 so petty, but it's also deeply, deeply human. 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:01.980 We've all been there. All right, let's move from 00:23:01.980 --> 00:23:04.940 the sons to the patriarch, Martin Crane. We spend 00:23:04.940 --> 00:23:06.740 so much time talking with the boys and their 00:23:06.740 --> 00:23:09.119 neuroses, but Martin actually had a very quiet, 00:23:09.140 --> 00:23:11.359 very beautiful, emotional arc throughout season 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:13.640 five. Martin is the anchor of the show, and the 00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:16.200 episode The Gift Horse is really the essential 00:23:16.200 --> 00:23:18.359 Martin episode of the season, if not the whole 00:23:18.359 --> 00:23:20.950 series. centers around his 65th birthday. This 00:23:20.950 --> 00:23:22.470 is the episode where they try to outgift each 00:23:22.470 --> 00:23:24.730 other, right? Frasier buys him the giant TV. 00:23:24.990 --> 00:23:28.430 Right. Frasier buys him this massive, absurdly 00:23:28.430 --> 00:23:31.829 large, wall -sized television. Because Frasier 00:23:31.829 --> 00:23:35.009 often equates money with love. He drops a fortune 00:23:35.009 --> 00:23:37.329 on this thing, and he smugly thinks he's easily 00:23:37.329 --> 00:23:39.730 won the birthday. But Niles goes in a completely 00:23:39.730 --> 00:23:42.809 different, much more thoughtful direction. Niles 00:23:42.809 --> 00:23:46.089 buys a Gides. Ogides is an old police horse that 00:23:46.089 --> 00:23:48.230 Martin used to ride when he was on mounted patrol 00:23:48.230 --> 00:23:51.869 back in his glory days. Niles tracked this specific 00:23:51.869 --> 00:23:54.730 horse down and paid for its full retirement in 00:23:54.730 --> 00:23:56.869 a really nice stable. And the scene where they 00:23:56.869 --> 00:24:00.029 actually go to visit the horse, it's very different 00:24:00.029 --> 00:24:02.410 tonally. It's not playing for laughs. No, it's 00:24:02.410 --> 00:24:05.299 profoundly melancholy. Martin walks into the 00:24:05.299 --> 00:24:08.839 stable and sees this old, tired horse. And he 00:24:08.839 --> 00:24:11.160 essentially sees himself. He delivers this incredible, 00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:13.599 quiet monologue to the horse about how the two 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:15.380 of them used to be so strong. They used to own 00:24:15.380 --> 00:24:17.400 the city streets. People respected them. They 00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:19.640 were in the thick of the action. And now they're 00:24:19.640 --> 00:24:22.180 just old. Yeah. They have stiff knees. They can't 00:24:22.180 --> 00:24:24.119 do the job anymore. They've essentially been 00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:26.619 put out to pasture by society. It's a really 00:24:26.619 --> 00:24:30.150 stark meditation on aging. It is. And it hits 00:24:30.150 --> 00:24:32.710 both of the brothers incredibly hard. Because 00:24:32.710 --> 00:24:35.829 initially, Fraser's just jealous that Niles obviously 00:24:35.829 --> 00:24:38.569 got the better, more meaningful gift. He's pouting 00:24:38.569 --> 00:24:41.049 about it. But in a moment of genuine emotional 00:24:41.049 --> 00:24:43.910 growth, when they both see Martin crying over 00:24:43.910 --> 00:24:47.069 the horse, Niles does something unexpected. He 00:24:47.069 --> 00:24:48.930 tells Martin that the gift is actually from both 00:24:48.930 --> 00:24:51.900 of them. He voluntarily shares the credit. He 00:24:51.900 --> 00:24:54.759 totally sacrifices his own victory in this sibling 00:24:54.759 --> 00:24:58.059 rivalry just to preserve Frazier's dignity and 00:24:58.059 --> 00:25:01.079 to maximize Martin's happiness. It's an incredibly 00:25:01.079 --> 00:25:04.039 selfless, mature moment for Niles. It's beautiful. 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:07.039 And we also see Martin's heartbreak later in 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:09.559 the season, his ongoing relationship with Sherry. 00:25:09.559 --> 00:25:12.539 Sherry Dempsey. The absolute bane of the crane 00:25:12.539 --> 00:25:15.480 boy's existence. She is loud, she's brash, she 00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:17.460 wears strong perfume, she plays the banjo in 00:25:17.460 --> 00:25:19.539 the apartment. But Martin genuinely loves her. 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:21.779 She makes him laugh when he's usually so grumpy. 00:25:21.960 --> 00:25:23.740 She definitely brings a lot of life and noise 00:25:23.740 --> 00:25:26.200 into that quiet apartment. But in the episode 00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:29.019 Ain't Nobody's Business, if I do, the relationship 00:25:29.019 --> 00:25:32.279 finally ends. And I love exactly how the writers 00:25:32.279 --> 00:25:34.259 handled this breakup. Right, because the boys 00:25:34.259 --> 00:25:36.349 try to sabotage it, don't they? Oh, they do. 00:25:36.650 --> 00:25:38.849 They hire a private investigator to dig into 00:25:38.849 --> 00:25:41.130 her past, and they find out she's been married 00:25:41.130 --> 00:25:43.970 six times before. Which is an awful invasion 00:25:43.970 --> 00:25:46.710 of privacy. It's terrible behavior. But that 00:25:46.710 --> 00:25:49.529 is actually not why the couple breaks up. Martin 00:25:49.529 --> 00:25:52.390 proposes to Sherry. He wants the commitment of 00:25:52.390 --> 00:25:56.069 marriage. Sherry loves him deeply, but she values 00:25:56.069 --> 00:25:58.450 her personal freedom. She's been married six 00:25:58.450 --> 00:26:00.470 times. She doesn't want to be tied down again. 00:26:00.650 --> 00:26:03.650 So it's a completely mature... adult breakup. 00:26:03.829 --> 00:26:06.490 Exactly. It's not a sitcom misunderstanding that 00:26:06.490 --> 00:26:08.869 could be solved in five minutes. It's two people 00:26:08.869 --> 00:26:11.390 who just fundamentally want different things 00:26:11.390 --> 00:26:13.609 out of the rest of their lives. Martin realizes 00:26:13.609 --> 00:26:17.609 that at his age, 65, he wants permanence. He 00:26:17.609 --> 00:26:20.069 wants a wife. Sherry just wants a boyfriend to 00:26:20.069 --> 00:26:21.970 have fun with. It's heartbreaking specifically 00:26:21.970 --> 00:26:24.069 because nobody is the bad guy in the situation. 00:26:24.230 --> 00:26:26.589 It's just life. Okay, so we have covered the 00:26:26.589 --> 00:26:28.869 unexpected pregnancy, the bitter divorce, the 00:26:28.869 --> 00:26:31.329 bruised ego, the heartbreaking breakup. Now we 00:26:31.329 --> 00:26:34.549 finally arrive at the season finale, Sweet Dreams. 00:26:34.730 --> 00:26:36.970 This is the episode where the writers just decided 00:26:36.970 --> 00:26:39.349 to burn the entire house down to the ground. 00:26:39.529 --> 00:26:42.289 And it starts over something so incredibly small. 00:26:42.329 --> 00:26:45.509 It starts with tea. Right. Frazier is asked to 00:26:45.509 --> 00:26:47.690 read a live commercial on his show for Happy 00:26:47.690 --> 00:26:50.609 Dreams Tea, but he tries it and he thinks it's 00:26:50.609 --> 00:26:52.670 complete snake oil. It doesn't work. It tastes 00:26:52.670 --> 00:26:56.470 awful. So he stands on his principles and outright 00:26:56.470 --> 00:27:00.359 refuses to read the ad copy. Which, as an audience, 00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:02.859 we generally respect. We like that he has integrity. 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:06.700 We do. But the real -world consequences are catastrophic. 00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:10.119 The station management fires him for insubordination. 00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:12.480 And then it just snowballs from there? The new 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:15.519 station manager, Kenny... tries to defend Frazier 00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:18.259 to the higher -ups, so Kenny gets fired. Seeing 00:27:18.259 --> 00:27:20.700 this, Frazier decides to lead a full -blown workers' 00:27:20.859 --> 00:27:23.700 revolt. He gathers all the on -air talent, Bulldog, 00:27:23.859 --> 00:27:26.779 Yul Chesterton, Roz. They march down to the mysterious 00:27:26.779 --> 00:27:29.059 station owner's office to demand their jobs back 00:27:29.059 --> 00:27:31.500 and stand up for creative integrity. It's like 00:27:31.500 --> 00:27:33.579 Les Miserables taking place in a Seattle radio 00:27:33.579 --> 00:27:36.299 station. It really is. Until they actually meet 00:27:36.299 --> 00:27:38.000 the owner. They think his name is Joe Martin, 00:27:38.099 --> 00:27:40.509 this corporate suit. It turns out... It's Jose 00:27:40.509 --> 00:27:42.589 Martinez. And he isn't firing them because of 00:27:42.589 --> 00:27:44.869 the tea boycott at all. Why is he firing them? 00:27:45.049 --> 00:27:47.390 He's fundamentally changing the station's format. 00:27:47.829 --> 00:27:51.690 He's flipping KACL from talk radio to Latino 00:27:51.690 --> 00:27:54.789 Amigo, an all Latino music station. So it's not 00:27:54.789 --> 00:27:57.369 a personal vendetta against Frazier's principles. 00:27:57.549 --> 00:28:00.190 It's just cold, hard business. Which actually 00:28:00.190 --> 00:28:03.160 makes it so much worse for Frazier's ego. You 00:28:03.160 --> 00:28:05.579 can argue with a person about ethics, but you 00:28:05.579 --> 00:28:07.920 cannot argue with a demographic shift in market 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:10.900 research. Martinez just fires everyone on the 00:28:10.900 --> 00:28:15.200 spot. Frazier, Ross, Bulldog, Gill. In one fell 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:17.859 swoop, the entire core cast is unemployed. And 00:28:17.859 --> 00:28:20.240 the episode ends on such an odd, jarring note. 00:28:20.539 --> 00:28:22.960 The credits roll and usually for five years we 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:25.200 hear Frasier singing tossed salads and scrambled 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:27.880 eggs. But this time it's an upbeat salsa version 00:28:27.880 --> 00:28:29.779 of the theme song. It's a total shock to the 00:28:29.779 --> 00:28:32.279 system. It creates this massive unsettling void. 00:28:32.660 --> 00:28:36.079 The audience in May of 1998 was left thinking, 00:28:36.259 --> 00:28:38.119 wait, is there even going to be a radio show 00:28:38.119 --> 00:28:40.160 next year? What exactly is this show if they 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:42.140 aren't working at the station? It was a massive 00:28:42.140 --> 00:28:45.319 structural cliffhanger. So let's try to synthesize 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:47.359 all of this. We started the hour by saying season 00:28:47.359 --> 00:28:50.730 five is the death of the status quo. Just think 00:28:50.730 --> 00:28:53.789 about exactly where we end up. Roz is a single 00:28:53.789 --> 00:28:56.650 mother with a newborn. Niles is divorced and 00:28:56.650 --> 00:28:59.730 living alone in a depressing bachelor pad. Martin 00:28:59.730 --> 00:29:02.849 is single again and feeling his age. And everyone, 00:29:03.009 --> 00:29:06.210 the entire ensemble, is unemployed. The chessboard 00:29:06.210 --> 00:29:08.170 hasn't just been moved, it's been completely 00:29:08.170 --> 00:29:10.529 flipped over. And yet, despite all that heavy 00:29:10.529 --> 00:29:13.289 drama, it's also arguably the funniest season 00:29:13.289 --> 00:29:15.690 of the show's entire run. That is the specific 00:29:15.690 --> 00:29:18.579 magic of season five. They managed to seamlessly 00:29:18.579 --> 00:29:21.839 blend the absolute darkest, most vulnerable moments 00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:24.339 of these characters' lives with the highest, 00:29:24.519 --> 00:29:27.680 most chaotic peaks of physical farce. They genuinely 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:29.779 trusted their audience to handle the tonal whiff 00:29:29.779 --> 00:29:31.799 lash. I want to leave you, the listeners, with 00:29:31.799 --> 00:29:34.000 the final thought to chew on. We talked a lot 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:36.180 today about Niles. He goes through absolute hell 00:29:36.180 --> 00:29:38.640 this season. He loses his wife. He loses his 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:41.220 family money. He loses his social standing, his 00:29:41.220 --> 00:29:43.539 home. He is completely stripped bare of everything 00:29:43.539 --> 00:29:46.519 that defined him. But because of that, he also 00:29:46.519 --> 00:29:49.140 finally gains the courage to eat that dinner 00:29:49.140 --> 00:29:51.579 with Daphne. He gains the courage to finally 00:29:51.579 --> 00:29:54.819 stand up to Maris' abuse. So here's the question 00:29:54.819 --> 00:29:58.319 for you. Was the total destruction of Niles' 00:29:58.460 --> 00:30:02.000 safe, wealthy, insulated life the necessary trauma 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:04.839 required to make him a man worthy of Daphne Moon? 00:30:05.079 --> 00:30:07.900 Oh, wow. Did he have to lose the fantasy life 00:30:07.900 --> 00:30:10.380 to actually get the reality he wanted? Exactly. 00:30:11.019 --> 00:30:12.700 Did the universe essentially have to break him 00:30:12.700 --> 00:30:15.019 down to nothing just to build him back up into 00:30:15.019 --> 00:30:17.059 someone who could actually be a strong, equal 00:30:17.059 --> 00:30:19.900 partner to her? That is a profoundly interesting 00:30:19.900 --> 00:30:22.220 question. And looking at the evidence of the 00:30:22.220 --> 00:30:24.319 season, I think the answer is yes. It's definitely 00:30:24.319 --> 00:30:26.440 something to mull over. Thank you so much for 00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:28.440 joining us on this deep dive into Frasier season 00:30:28.440 --> 00:30:30.220 five. We will catch you on the next one.