Frasier Online Episode Guide -> Season 8 -> Episode 8.02

The Bad Son

Thanks to not changing his car's pollen filter for 6 months, Frasier's car is in the shop and has to take the bus home from work in the pouring rain. To his surprise, he finds himself attracted to a gorgeous blonde woman whom he overhears is aclled Miranda and works at a retirement home called the Colonnades. Roz persuades him to go and talk to her but he misses his chance and she gets off the bus before he has a chance to speak with her. Pondering what to do, Niles suggests that he go down to the retirement home with Martin to try and ask her out under the pretence of looking for a retirement home for his father.

Martin is none too happy about this, but goes along with it as Frasier has promised to go with him to a Sonics game after he has asked Miranda out. Luckily for Frasier, Miranda agrees to go out to dinner with him, but drops a bombshell when she reveals that Martin has filled in an application form to live at the Colonnades.....Meanwhile, Niles and Daphne organise a rooftop picnic to watch the meteor shower but things don't go according to plan when Niles is trapped in a stairwell.

- Frasier can't believe such an attractive woman as Miranda would be on a bus:
Roz: For your information, plenty of refined attractive women ride the bus [Sees the driver has gone past her stop] Open your eyes, nimrod, that was my stop!!!

- Daphne offers a soaking wet Frasier some tea and starts reeling off the list of the varieties in the house:
Frasier: Oh for God's sake, just throw a bag in some hot water!!!!!.........Earl Grey.

- Martin wants Frasier to go with him to the Sonics game, but he doesn't want to go:
Niles: You know I'd go Dad, but I have the quilt show.
Martin: Please Niles - I feel bad enough already.

- Martin is desperate to leave the retirement home and get to the game:
Martin: Will you hurry up and ask her - if we move any slower, they'll start harvesting our organs!

- Niles trying to break the stairwell door down.

This is sadly a rather non-event of an episode with 2 plots that go almost nowhere. I was hoping for a funny episode when I heard the main plot of Frasier taking Martin to a retirement home just to ask out the manageress but Rob Hanning doesn't really do anything with it - I felt like it was building up to a very funny scene which never came as Miranda is not seen again after telling Frasier that Martin wants to move in to the Colonnades, leaving you wondering why they bothered making such an involved plotline for her. The other plotline which sees Niles and Daphne enjoying a rooftop picnic before Niles gets trapped in a stairwell, is rather more enjoyable - Niles getting rid of Daphne's peanut brittle by throwing them off the roof was great, but the Niles/Daphne dynamic doesn't seem quite right yet. All in all, although not a bad episode, it's not a particularly good one either, something I hope will be rectified during the course of the rest of the season.

Rating

73 %

Avg. Viewer Review: 72.5%
Total Number of Reviews: 2