Frasier Online Episode Guide -> Season 8 -> Episode 8.18

Daphne Returns

Daphne finishes at her weight loss spa, and an ecstatic Niles is going to pick her up, excited also about going way this weekend with Daphne as they are going to consummate their relationship. On the way back to her "Welcome Home" party at Frasier's apartment, Niles offers his professional opinion of why she couldn't stop eating - it was a subsistute for sex. Daphne, however, as part of her treatment has seen a professional therapist - Gloria - who has a differing opinion. She believes that Daphne ate to create distance between herself and Niles because she was afraid of not being able to live up to the perfect woman Niles had been pining for over the last seven years. Niles is dismissive of her 'opinions' but doesn't want to ruin their reunion. Back at Frasier's, everyone is glad to see Daphne but tension grows between Niles and Daphne when Niles starts to make fun of Gloria and her theories about Daphne's overeating, causing Daphne to throw Niles out.

Frasier goes to visit Niles at his office the following day to see how he is and suggests that Gloria may have a point - Daphne does have to live up to seven years of fantasy. Niles refutes this, so he and Frasier take a trip over some of the most pertinent points in their relationship - when they met, the night Niles and Daphne did the tango - which only goes to show that Niles does treat Daphne as being perfect. Niles then goes to see Daphne and decides to start being honest with her - starting with his dislike of her cooking......

- Frasier is recalling the stories he and his brother wrote as a child:
Frasier: Niles and I wrote a series of stories together in which we were the heroes, along the lines of The Hardy Boys, a Nancy Drew.
Roz: The Nancy Boys (?)

- Daphne is recalling how big she was at her "Welcome Home" party:
Daphne: I did get pretty big, didn't I?
Martin: Big? You were ginormous!

- Niles is rather dismissive about the opinions of Daphne's spa therapist, Gloria:
Daphne: I was lucky to have someone like Gloria at the spa.
Niles: Yes - you usually have to go to a hair salon for that kind of insight (!)

- Niles tells Daphne she isn't a good cook:
Martin: God bless you son!!

- Niles questions Daphne's psychic ability:
Daphne: Are you saying I'm not psychic?
Niles: Not if you thought I loved your cooking!

- Daphne can't stand Niles snobbishness:
Niles: You think I'm pretentious?
Daphne: You'd eat a worm if I gave it a French name!

First off, it was nice to have Daphne back as we know and love her, unaccompanied by any fat or eating jokes. Right, back to the episode - well, I felt the argument the writers engineered between her and Niles felt a bit forced but it gave them an opportunity to explore some inportant issues predominantly whether Niles sees Daphne for who she is or the fantasy figure he has pined for over the last 7 years. This included an excellent flashback sequence, but in typical 'Frasier' fashion made it that bit different by having Niles and Frasier appear in the scenes, watching the action giving it a fresh spin. The emphasis on analysing all of this managed to dampen a lot of the comedy, but this is still one of the better episodes in a rather uneven Season 8.

Rating

76 %

Avg. Viewer Review: 81.8%
Total Number of Reviews: 6