Man I hate this episode, Nov 09, 2012

Reviewer: Turingfan from UK

I know it's silly to complain about a sitcom being unrealistic, but this is
unrealistic in a really nasty way. Frasier is defrauded and without doubt
the gallery is under legal and moral obligation to refund the painting.
And since they don't they are either guilty of criminal fraud or colluding
with the forger. Ha ha ha, hilarious.

The only reason I give this as high a rating as I do is the first half is
good, and the reveal of the fraud is excellent - and Frasier's attempt to
cope with "I didn't paint this painting."

Oh yeah, and Martha Paxton - a living artist remember - is being
defrauded too by criminals forging her work. Ha ha ha.

Rating: 33%

The Crucible, Jan 05, 2012

Reviewer: David Nounou from NYC, NY USA

First half of the episode is perfection, Frazier at his elitist best. The scene at the gallery where Frazier tries to return the picture is priceless. Getting help from his father Martin calling the police precinct is hysterical. The brick scene with Niles is the letdown.

Rating: 90%

Great fun, very Frasier, Jul 09, 2009

Reviewer: Sammy J from Canberra, Australia

This episode is a good example of an early "Frasier" episode: single-
story and character-centred. Frasier's arrogance as he publicly
announces his acquiring of an "authentic Paxton" and his
subsequent soiree, where the artist turns out not to be what he
thought - and then drops a bombshell - is very well done, and again
makes good use of all the main cast.

The second half is just as enjoyable in my opinion, with plenty of
laughs when Frasier attempts to return the painting, and a great
closing scene where David Hyde Pierce continues to prove himself as
the break-out star of the show.

Rating: 90%

The Crucible, Mar 17, 2009

Reviewer: Warren Lancaster from Toronto, ONT, CAN

"The Crucible", in my humble opinion, is one of the better episodes of the this premiere season. Although it becomes somewhat disjointed in the second half, the first half starts a long-running Frasier tradition. That tradition, of course, is that of the dinner party from hell. The first dinner part Frasier and Niles throw together, as usual, is a nightmare. That scene was one of the most well-written of the entire series.

Rating: 87%

Quirky but fun, Jul 22, 2008

Reviewer: Ninos from Aarhus, Denmark

I saw this one again recently, and although I’ll concede some of the points made by other reviewers, I guess I find it more satisfying than most. The series is still in its infancy, and it establishes several recurring features: failed dinner parties, Frasier being brought down to reality by Martin, and the childhood traumas of a couple of pretentious nerds.
The scene with the art dealer is not particularly amusing, and I agree that smashing the window was out of character, but it helps set up one of my all-time favorite Niles lines: “Remember that day in junior high school when somebody took all my clothes while I was in the shower, right after gym class? They hung them from the goalpost on the football field. I had no choice but to get a ladder and climb up there wearing nothing but a towel, wet and shivering. Then the towel fell off! There I was - your little brother, hanging naked from a goal post, and everyone was standing around laughing, and all Coach Medwick would do was stand there going- [making the successful field goal signl] whatever that means.” They way he makes the field goal sign, and the fact that he does not know what is means, is a scream.

Rating: 90%

The Crucible, Aug 24, 2007

Reviewer: Amy from Wiltshire, England

I wasn't too keen on this episode, as I found it a little duller than the previous episodes. However, there were a few funny moments, including the Roz's entry to Frasier's party, Frasier calling the police about the forgery, and Niles throwing the brick at the gallery window and then tossing money at it.

Overall, after the high standards that the previous episodes have set, this one was a bit of a disapointment.

Rating: 66%

THE CRUCIBLE, Jan 19, 2007

Reviewer: Cake for Brains from Manchester, UK

This has nothing to do with the quality of the episode, or indeed my review at all, but something that’s always baffled me about this one, is its title. ‘The Crucible’ is a famous play by Arthur Miller, concerning the anarchy caused by the witch-burnings in the 17th century that serves as an allegorical lampoon/satire of McCarthyism in American society in the 1950’s. Due to the fact that Frasier episodes frequently borrow titles from famous novels, plays and films (often employing puns or plays on words for comedic effect), I have been wracking my brains as to why this episode takes its name from this play, because it’s content seems to share no similarities or common features with Miller’s play. Anyway, that’s just a slight cause of curiosity on my part, but I am going to turn my attention now to focus on the actual episode, which involves such things as faked paintings and brick-throwing. It’s a strange episode to summarise actually, due to the fact that it feels somewhat fragmented and disjointed, boasting a fantastically funny first act, but a second act that struggles to maintain the laughter levels and ultimately feels rather disappointing. The episode gets off to a lively start with Frasier bursting into song in order to prompt listeners to call in – his first caller is in a quandary because his wife wants to go on holiday to Italy, even though the money would be better spent on a sump pump for the basement! His next caller sparks the main plot of the episode, with a phone call from Seattle artist Martha Paxton – who Frasier greatly admires and eagerly invites to a dinner party. The subsequent dinner/cocktail party is the highlight of the episode, with Daphne’s quirky explanation of what happens when you die, Martin using ‘messy meatballs’ as an excuse to talk about a grisly crime he helped solve, to Eddie snacking on Frasier’s duck buffet, and to some of the best Maris’ jokes the show ever did – one of the standout’s being ‘She’s asleep under the guests coats – she exhausts easily under the pressure to be interesting!’ As will become a recurring feature of ‘Frasier’, the dinner party quickly turns to disaster, upon the arrival of the eccentric Martha Paxton. ‘The most perfect canvas it has ever been my privileged to gaze upon’ quickly takes on a different meaning to Frasier, when Paxton reveals that she has not, as Frasier puts it ‘given birth’ to the picture in question. Unfortunately, this is where the comedy fizzles out, as Frasier embarks on a quest to return the painting to the dealership….

The art dealer comes across as being rather annoying, clearly trying to flatter Frasier with praise, Brie and wine, but refuses completely to refund Frasier. Unfortunately, this section of the episode is considerably light on laughs – and even Kelsey Grammer’s shouting becomes a bit irritating after several viewings of the episode. Good lines and jokes come few and far between in the second half of the episode – although Martin convincing Frasier to contact the ‘Fine Arts Forgery Department’ and take a bite of ‘a reality sandwich’ was pretty amusing. Niles probably gets the best line of the episode however – ‘Lawyers make great patients; they have excellent health insurance and they never get better!’ For me, however, the episode descends into complete lunacy and loses all of its believability with a bizarre and unsatisfying final scene that seems completely out-of-character, especially when judged opposite the impression/interpretation of Niles received by the viewer over the first six episodes the show. Up until now, Niles has been conveyed as proper, correct, refined, dignified and snobbish, and therefore one has to question as to whether or not he’d resort as far as to throw a brick through the window of the art gallery. I’m sure this sort of occurrence wouldn’t annoy or bother a casual viewer/fan of the show, and maybe I’m being overly analytical, but this action really didn’t resonate/ring true with the presentation of Niles offered in the first season. The viewer does feel sympathy when we learn of Niles’ bullying and humiliation at school, but his subsequent brick hurling, after he learns of his nicknames, still seems wrong in the context of the character, concluding the episode with alarm bells ringing and the Crane brother’s desperately fleeing the scene of the crime. All in all, a very funny first half, full of pace, dialogue and excellent characterisation, greatly weakened and let down by a below average conclusion that smacked of out-of-character nonsense to be honest. It depends what you want from an episode of ‘Frasier’ really, but the main characters vandalising an art gallery didn’t bode well for me at all I’m afraid, meaning this is one of the poorer episodes of the first season – certainly the worst of the six so far.

Rating: 70%

The first humiliation, Jan 25, 2006

Reviewer: Nick from North Wales, U.K.

This is the first of what was to become a staple part of the show's success, sheer humiliation for one of the Crane boys. It's possible to share Frasier's exasperation when he realises that he won't receive any justice at being duped and it's also nice to hear more about the treatment of Niles as a child. Perhaps not a classic episode but very well written and performed nevertheless.

Rating: 80%

Review of The Crucible, Jul 31, 2005

Reviewer: Beer Necessity from York, England

This is the first blip in Frasier's great opening season. The main plot regarding Frasier's purchase of a bogus painting is a nice idea but felt rather flat when played out. The dinner party provides the most amusing moment when the truth about the painting is revealed. The second half of the episode seems fairly pointless as Frasier tries in vain to get his money back from the art dealer then decides to take his frustration out through vandalism. The last scene outside the art dealers feels very drawn out as Niles talks Frasier out of throwing the brick through the window. In an out-of-character moment Niles hurls the brick through the window instead. I would have actually preferred Frasier to have done this as at least he had good reason for doing so. Niles on the other hand had no good reason at all for taking this action and it just seemed like a desperate attempt by the writers to inject some comedy into what would have been a very dull ending. This episode isn't completely without merit and does contain some good one-liners but sadly they weren't enough to keep this episode from the 'below average' category for me.

Rating: 71%

'The Crucible' review, May 16, 2005

Reviewer: Jocelyn from London, UK

This episode contains the first of something which will become a feature of many future episodes: the disasterous dinner party. The occasion here being to mark a visit from what Frasier is lead to believe is the artist of a newly purchased painting. I thought the wildly eccentric Martha Paxton was a wonderful character and the first half of this episode was brilliantly funny, especially when the truth of the painting is revealed. The closing of the episode, where Niles lobs a brick through the window of the art dealers was perhaps a bit hard to believe given the character's usual timidity although his immediate paying for the damage he'd caused was more in character and provided an amusing ending to this memorable episode.

Rating: 80%