Frasier Online Episode Guide -> Season 7 -> Episode 7.05

The Dog That Rocks The Cradle

Roz is going out on her first date in a month, thanks to looking after baby Alice constantly, so is in desperate need of a babysitter. Martin arrives back from a funeral having bumped into Niles, but is complaining how it was all done on the cheap. Frasier says that he should plan his own funeral, but Martin doesn't want to - it being bad luck and all. The pizza delivery boy then arrives - and to Frasier's surprise it is Bulldog. Inviting him in, he and Niles discover he is filling in between jobs. On meeting Roz and Alice again for the first time in ages, it is clear Alice is very taken with him, so Frasier suggests to Roz she should hire Bulldog as the babysitter - which she does.

Roz's date turns up as she is getting ready, and when he answers the door, Bulldog grabs him and tells him he should go away and then call to cancel the date - which he does, leaving Roz very depressed, so Bulldog suggests he should stay to cheer her up. 'Mysteriously,' the next date Roz goes out on also cancels at short notice, leaving Roz pondering whether she has 'Loser' tattoed to her forehead. Frasier then spies that a guy in the cafe, Ted, has been unable to keep his eyes off of her, so he offers to get her a table at a fancy restaurant for the two of them. Ted agrees to go out with her, to Roz's delight, but when Bulldog finds out he warns him to bring her back after 45 minutes. He complies, but after leaving he suddenly returns with Roz's purse and Roz sees Bulldog threatening Ted, without him seeing. To get her revenge, she vamps it up to the full and are soon in her bedroom, where she tells Bulldog to get a scented candle from the balcony - and then locks him out, telling him she knows why guys have been dumping her. Bulldog admits that he was doing it because he was in love with Roz, but Roz lets him down gently. Meanwhile, Martin has reconsidered and bought a graveyard plot for both himself and his two sons in an ordinary cemetery - much to their delight (!)

- Martin refuses to plan his own funeral:
Martin: You don't pull the cord on the bus until you're ready to get off.
Niles: [to Frasier] Pull the what what on the what?
Frasier: I don't know.

- Frasier ponders why Martin won't plan his own funeral:
Frasier: We all must be prepared when the cold hand of death comes knocking at the door.
[A knock at the door]
Frasier: Will you get that?
Niles: I most certainly will not!

- After Bulldog has threatened Roz's date Steve:
Steve: Who are you?
Bulldog: I'm your worst nightmare - the babysitter!

- Niles has managed to get a new spot at the cemetery he desperately wants to be buried in:
Niles: McGurk has got me a spot on the high hill.
Frasier: You don't mean...?
Niles: Yes - I'll spend eternity looking down on Maris! Checkmate!

- Roz is playing up to Bulldog's desires as she unbuttons her blouse:
Bulldog: Woah - 'Victoria's Secret p.39'
Roz: Why don't we skip dinner and go straight to dessert?
Bulldog: 'Penthouse Forum p.27'

Despite the welcome presence of Bulldog, whose zing and energy has been missing for some time, this is rather a dull episode with a pretty ropey central storyline. It is enlivened slightly, however, by Martin's preparations for his funeral but somehow it wasn't enough. The real problem is the script contains neither enough good lines or surprises to achieve memorability, and a rather flat episode is the result. I hope we haven't seen the last of Bulldog, though, as Dan Butler's performance is often a welcome antidote to the Crane's snobbishness.

Rating

66 %

Avg. Viewer Review: 74.2%
Total Number of Reviews: 5