'The Late Dr Crane' review, Aug 03, 2005

Reviewer: Jocelyn from London, UK

Opening with a scene where Niles accidently punches his brother on the nose during a car journey, this episode sees the pair visiting the local surgery where a case of mistaken identity leads to the announcement of Frasier's death, after which he decides to draw up a list of his life's ambitions. The most important part of the episode however is the first appearance of Maris' plastic surgeon Dr. Mel Karnovsky, played by the excellent Jane Adams. An inspired introduction to the character which sees Niles ready to confront Dr. Karnovsky about Maris' plastic surgeon bills only to discover that Mel is in fact a woman, and one who's intensely fussy nature he finds instantly attractive. His subsequent botched attempts to ask her out are perhaps the funniest moments here, as he instead ends up receiving numerous surgical treatments which leads to the hilarious scene where Frasier asks his brother to wrinkle his botox-filled forehead and Daphne picks up a mosquito which drops dead as soon as it comes into contact with Niles' head full of poison. Once again though, it's Martin who steals the show here, with his sabotaging of the condolence baskets as well his obvious delight at seeing his son walking with a cane, all of which makes for another very good Season 7 episode.

Rating: 80%