IT TAKES TWO TO TANGLE, Jul 18, 2006

Reviewer: Cake for Brains from Manchester, UK

‘It Takes Two to Tangle’ is rather an odd episode in my opinion, and whilst its not totally awful, it does contain many moments throughout that seem out-of-character for the three Cranes, and some of Martin’s dialogue is pretty corny and cheesy. To begin with it seemed highly unlikely that Martin would be the kind of man to ‘juggle’ to women simultaneously, although I liked his quip that he knew’ what not do’ after watching Frasier’s disastrous dating exploits. The main plot also seemed rather weak as well, Frasier and Niles attempt to save their old high school, Bryce Academy, but in order to do this they need a big cheque written, which means leaching Martin’s wealthy girlfriend Penelope for a big pay-off. The episode has its moments of comedy, and there were a couple of instances that amused me (Niles giving Penelope a pen, Martin’s confusing phone conversations, and the hugely uncomfortable-to-watch scenes at the party) but this episode also contained some hideously contrived dialogue from Martin such as ‘Daddy’s got a big appetite!’ for example. It also seemed to recycle similar elements used in previous episodes, most noticeably Frasier getting confused between Faye and Cassandra in ‘When a Man Loves Two Women’ in Season 6.

Is it just me or did Frasier and Niles’ devious and somewhat selfish behaviour seem a tad out of character? I’ve seen every episode of ‘Frasier’, and although the siblings may be pretentious (yet lovable), I found them quite dislikeable when they were asking Penelope for money, especially the way they manipulated her relationship with Martin. It’s just a minor quibble – but this behaviour didn’t really ring true with the general antics of the pair. I generally enjoy the kind of humour that makes you cringe and where the character say things that further dig them deeper into a hole (Fawlty Towers, The Office, I’m Alan Partridge are all fine examples), but I found the scene at Penelope’s party almost unbearable to watch, because the over-confidence of Frasier, the eagle-eyed son William (who quite rightly disapproved of his mother’s love of the chequebook) and Martin getting phone calls from his other girlfriend all seemed to cultivate to make a comedy scene that made me groan, it was so hard to watch. The difficulty of viewing the scene wasn’t because it was a bad piece of television mind – I just found the content hard to watch because of the situation the character’s were in. Penelope answering Martin’s phone was a bit predictable however, and led to an easy cop-out ending, but this episode definitely had its moments and was much better than I remembered it being when I watched last year. It may contain its fair share of flaws and clunky dialogue, but on the whole ‘It Takes Two to Tangle’ is an okay episode of ‘Frasier’ in my opinion.

Rating: 73%

'It Takes Two To Tangle' review, Aug 30, 2005

Reviewer: Jocelyn from London, UK

A strangely unmemorable affair which shows all the promise of becoming a great episode but somehow never seems to hit the mark. It also features the somewhat unlikely scenario of Martin attempting to date two different women; a waitress called Estelle and the wealthy Penelope - the latter whom Frasier and Niles attempt to solicit a donation from to help save their old school from closure. There's something distinctly unsavoury about Martin's sexually-charged behaviour in parts of this episode and with Jane Leeves still absent, it seems strange that Peri Gilpin is hardly used at all, leaving the whole episode feeling somewhat incomplete. The best moments come in the final scene at Penelope's cocktail party with her son, William, proving an amusingly surly character as he keeps a look out for any guests trying to ask his mother for money - I particularly like his referring to a priest as 'Father Sponge'! Niles' attempt to distract William by fainting in his arms is also quite amusing but on the whole this is an episode which never really seems to take flight, lacking the spark and energy for the comedy to truly succeed.

Rating: 70%