Frasier Online Episode Guide -> Season 10 -> Episode 10.20

Farewell Nervosa

Frasier's accountant Avery McManus - an old friend of his - has warned him that his spending habits are out of control and heads down to Cafe Nervosa with Niles to think over his problem. He is outraged when a loud and annnoying folk singer, Ben, starts playing while he and Niles are in the middle of a conversation and pulls out the power lead on his electric guitar - to the sound of booing from the cafe's other customers. The owner of the cafe, Maureen Nervosa, asks Frasier just what he thinks he is doing, and tells him that she has hired Ben to play every afternoon in the cafe. This leaves Frasier no alternative than to bid Cafe Nervosa farewell, and takes Niles with him on a hunt for an alternative coffee establishment in Seattle - something the city is not exactly short of. At one prospective coffee house that seems to fit the bill, they run into Julia - which puts them right off it, especially when she describes Niles as "emergency Frasier". He and Niles up and leave but when Frasier pops back for something, he can't believe his eyes when he sees Julia and Avery locked in a passionate embrace!

This leaves Frasier with an agonising decision over whether to tell Julia that Avery is married, a decision that is not helped by his inability to find a new coffeehouse and passes by Cafe Nervosa - only to find Niles there accompanying Ben on one of his songs and dancing round the cafe!! He is about to leave when Ben mentions his next song is about doing the right thing, which leads Frasier to confront Avery over his affair with Julia - and is appalled to discover that Julia is not only hiding in the closet, but already knew that he was married, prompting Frasier to say that they are no longer friends. Frasier returns to Cafe Nervosa and bumps into Ben who has been helped into a job at a bank (a bank where Julia is on the board) and is thankful that, at last, he has his cafe back.

- Frasier's accountant, Avery, tells Frasier his spending is out of control:
Avery: I had to take on an associate just to go through your sherry receipts!

- Despite Avery's warnings, Martin can't believe Frasier is going to Cafe Nervosa for a coffee:
Martin: You just had a brand new espresso machine delivered from Italy!
Frasier: Yes, but I'm waiting for the cups!

- Niles is none too impressed with one of the coffee houses they are trialling for a replacement for Cafe Nervosa
Niles: They've found a way to bring the charm of an airport to a midtown location (!)

- Julia bumps into Frasier and Niles at a coffee house:
Julia [to Niles]: Wow - who's this? Your stunt double?!

- Frasier asks for a large coffee at one of the coffee houses he is trying:
Coffee Guy: I'm afraid we don't have large, sir - we have piccolo, macho, mucho and mucho macho!

- At another coffee house, Frasier orders a coffee:
Evelyn: You're number four - I'll bring it to your bean bag.

- Niles' accompaniment to Ben's rendition of "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport"

This episode features not 1 but 2 British cameos from singer Elvis Costello and 'Four Weddings And A Funeral' star John Hannah and the plot sounds interesting with Frasier and Niles being forced to find a new coffee house thanks to Ben's singing, but the writing just wasn't there leaving us with a disappointing episode. Frasier once described Cafe Nervosa as his 'chez away from chez', and it has certainly become an intrinisc part of the show over the last 10 years so it was fascinating to witness Frasier and Niles trying out different coffee house - I particularly liked the one which didn't have chairs to sit on, only bean bags. The owner of Cafe Nervosa - Maureen Nervosa - also makes a surprise appearance, while Martin and Daphne's sub-plot raised a few laughs, but on the whole I found this a rather unsatisfying and disjointed episode - more a collection of funny moments than a well put together episode.

Rating

70 %

Avg. Viewer Review: 68.7%
Total Number of Reviews: 3