Mixed Doubles (Frasier)
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| “Mixed Doubles” | |
|---|---|
| Frasier episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 04 Episode 06 |
| Guest stars | Kevin Farrell (Rodney Banks), Allison Mackie (Adelle Childs) |
| Written by | Christopher Lloyd |
| Directed by | Jeff Melman |
| Production no. | 40571-079 |
| Original airdate | 19 November 1996 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Head Game" | "A Lilith Thanksgiving" |
| List of Frasier episodes (Season 4) | |
"Mixed Doubles" is the sixth episode in the fourth series of the American television sitcom Frasier.
Contents |
[edit] Main cast and characters
Kelsey Grammer – Dr. Frasier Crane
David Hyde Pierce – Dr. Niles Crane
John Mahoney – Martin Crane
Jane Leeves – Daphne Moon
Peri Gilpin – Roz Doyle
[edit] Plot outline
As Niles and Frasier use Martin's telescope to eavesdrop into another apartment (to admire their rare furniture), Daphne comes home after a date with her boyfriend Joe. After a rather long potato-themed monologue, she reveals that Joe, having felt that they weren't going anywhere in their relationship for too long, suggested that they break up. Martin praises her for her calm reaction to being dumped - at which point, Daphne promptly bursts into tears over being dumped. Niles is extremely eager to comfort her, but is prevented from doing so by Frasier, Martin and - when she enters the apartment - Roz.
As Roz takes Daphne out to comfort her (Frasier and Martin having spectacularly failed to do so), Niles makes a decision - he is going to tell Daphne how he feels about her. Frasier is concerned about this, given Daphne's current state of mind over her recent break-up and, over a brandy, persuades Niles to wait for a day in order to consider it.
The next day, Niles - having spent the previous three years considering Daphne - arrives at the apartment with a large bouquet of flowers and some high hopes. Unfortunately, they're about to be dashed; Roz took Daphne to a singles bar the previous night to cheer her up, and whilst there, Daphne met a man called Rodney whom she intends to go out with. After all, if she waited, he might not be available when Daphne was ready. Understanding that feeling all too well, Niles is less than impressed, Frasier's advice having robbed him of his best opportunity. Determined not to let it get him down, however, he decides to call Roz to go to that singles bar as well - and his furious glare at Frasier lets his brother know that his advice of leaving it a day is not at all welcome.
That night at 'The Sure Thing' bar, Niles - a nervous wreck - meets Roz, who gives him a brief tutorial in the ways of dating; be casual, say nice things about her (particularly her hair), hang on her every word, and don't use words like 'milieu'. The tutorial over, Roz throws Niles into the deep end, swinging his barstool around so that he's face to face with an attractive woman called Adelle. They hit it off, Niles hanging on her every word.
Later, Frasier's staring match with Eddie (which, typically, he loses) is interrupted when Niles and Adelle - who are becoming quite close - drop by. Taking the opportunity to debut his new coffee set (wherein each cup represents a different wife of Henry VIII, Frasier having finally acquired Anne of Cleves), Frasier invites the two to stay for a coffee and whilst helping him making it, Niles enthuses about Adelle. Seemingly over Daphne, he delights in how life can take unexpected turns and still work out for the best.
At that point, Daphne and her new man, Rodney enter the apartment - much to Martin and Frasier's dawning astonishment. For it soon becomes apparent that Rodney is in almost every way a doppleganger of Niles - they share the same neat style of dress, the same haircut, the same fussy neuroses, even the same inner ear curvature. And most astonishing of all, Daphne doesn't seem to realise it. As Martin and Frasier share incredulity in the kitchen, Niles comes to join them, and at first it seems that he doesn't realise the similarities either (although he does notice that Rodney is something of a 'pretentious fop'). Niles' blissful ignorance is soon dashed when Rodney enters with a picky list of instructions for how his coffee should be made, as the foam in particular should 'give the impression of a cumulus cloud reflected in a still pond'.
Niles, not unnaturally, is aghast, having been dissuaded from approaching Daphne with his feelings on the same evening that Daphne met Rodney. With some justification, he blames Frasier, and on learning from Daphne that she went with Rodney having told herself that she should date a completely different man from her previous boyfriend (i.e. someone more like Niles), Niles' rage leads him to attack Frasier with a plastic spatula. Leaving Niles to steam (both the coffee and his fury), Martin and Frasier serve the coffee, Rodney reflecting on how only one thing smells better than a fresh cup of coffee. On learning that Rodney even shares Niles' love for the scent of Daphne's hair, Niles cannot tolerate it any longer - and unfortunately, Frasier's Catherine of Aragon cup is the sacrifice.
The next time Frasier and Niles meet, Niles is still not speaking to Frasier, and even puts gum on Frasier's chair. Frasier attempts to mollify his brother; apologising for steering Niles wrongly, he nonetheless points out that he is now in a happy relationship with Adelle. Niles begins to feel better; just as Frasier spots Adelle and Rodney, clearly quite intimate with each other, on a date. Upon seeing them, Niles is enraged by the betrayal - "No one treats Daphne like that!!!" - but is dissuaded from a physical fight with Rodney on the grounds that the whole thing would just look too weird.
Nevertheless, he confronts Rodney and Adelle, who have fallen in love, and are dutifully remorseful for the betrayal of their respective partners. Niles is saddened, but particularly upset for Daphne; as Rodney was planning to let Daphne down that night, Niles suggests that he should break it to Daphne instead, clearly planning to reveal himself then. Frasier is naturally cold towards Rodney and Adelle, but cannot resist asking his brother's doppelganger whether he has a brother. Indeed Rodney does - an older brother who is very much the star of the family, and whom Rodney has always been somewhat jealous of. This pleases Frasier to no end.
That night, Niles meets Daphne at the singles bar, to find Daphne somewhat depressed; she has been in touch with Rodney and learnt the whole story. Commisserating, Niles nevertheless consoles her with the knowledge that Rodney (and by extension, Niles) is the sort of man that women go for. More in a mood to hear his negative qualities, Niles plays along - until talk of how pretentious Rodney was hits a little too close to home. Bemoaning her run with men - and how Rodney moved in for the kill when she was vulnerable after Joe - Daphne nonetheless points out how kind and sensitive Niles was, and how he would never do something like that (especially as, as she sees it, he is still in love with his wife). Realising that when they met Rodney and Adelle respectively they were both sitting in the same exact seats, they play-act what things might have been like if this was the first time they had met; and although Niles has decided to give Daphne some space, when she says she loves him (as a friend), he cannot resist replying - sincerely - that he loves her too.
[edit] Trivia
Rodney is made to bear a remarkable resemblance to Niles, although neither notices it at first (Frasier and Martin think it's hilarious). Niles catches on when Rodney asks for his coffee with "Just a dollop of foam, such as might give the impression of a cumulus cloud reflected over a still pond", a phrase originally used by Niles.
