Frasier Online Episode Guide -> Season 6 -> Episode 6.11

Good Samaritan

Frasier and Roz are at Cafe Nervosa when Frasier spies a man's wallet on the floor and goes to return it, when the man comes back looking for his wallet, then accuses Frasier of stealing the $7 out of it. Following this, Bulldog manages to convince Roz and Frasier to take over his late slot that week so that he can visit his mother in hospital having surgery (!). We also learn that Frederick is coming to stay for a few days, and when Frasier went to pick him up, he also helped a lady get her rather large dog into her car without so much as a thank you.

With Frasier's usual belief in the inherent goodness of strangers sorely tested that day, he then spies a lady out in the rain, and despite the warnings from his family, Frasier's good nature takes over again, and offers the lady a lift. Only after does it become apparent that the lady in question is a prostitute, and when the police pull over Frasier's car, that the lady is a man! Having then been arrested, Niles comes down to bail out Frasier, but then Martin has to do it after Niles' credit card is refused. Frasier wants to put it all behind him - when he sees the local paper with the story on the front page. Worrying over how to tell Frederick, he tries to explain and then ...... we cut back to Frasier wondering whether to offer the lady a lift, which he does again - Frasier's belief in the goodness of people had not been shaken by the nightmare he had.

- After Roz tells Frasier to throw the wallet back on the floor after he describes the owner:
Frasier: Well, thank God I don't share your "Good deeds for hunks only" policy (!)

- Niles washing Frederick's party balloons.

- Frederick walking right past everyone else's open arms straight into Daphne's.

- Roz getting ready for bed on air.

- Frasier helped a man whose car needed some attention, and he phones back to say he is sending Frasier a bill for the damage his cufflinks did to the car:
Frasier: How much damage can be done to a car whose side window consists of duct tape and a Hefty bag?

- At the police station, Niles doesn't have the bail in cash:
Frasier: Put it on your credit card.
Niles: And have bail put on my statement? Do you know the kind of junk mail I would get?!

- The look on Niles and Martin's face when they find out the prostitute was a man.

- Frasier commenting after his story appears in the paper:
Frasier: From now on, Dr Frasier Crane, or as Seattle knows him - Dr Strangelove - is out of the Samaritan business.

- Frasier tries to explain the situation to Frederick:
Frasier: For the next few days you're going to hear some nasty stories and snide remarks about your old man.
Frederick: Mom's coming?

I found this episode to be a rather entertaining with some great comedy being derived from Frasier's good deeds backfiring on him, while the continuing battle for Daphne's affections between Frederick and Niles is also fun. There has been some debate about whether the ending was a cop-out because they chose to reveal it was a dream exactly at the point where they would be tying the story up, so perhaps the writers lacked the courage of their convictions. I agree to some extent, but still feel that the episode works with the dream sequence because it flows so well from what has happened previously. Overall, then, not a classic episode, but still an enjoyable one.

Rating

80 %

Avg. Viewer Review: 67.0%
Total Number of Reviews: 2