Daphne Returns (Frasier)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Daphne Returns” | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frasier episode | |||||||
| Episode no. | Season 08 Episode 19 |
||||||
| Written by | Dan O’Shannon, Bob Daily | ||||||
| Directed by | Pamela Fryman | ||||||
| Guest stars | Bryan McMillen (Patient) | ||||||
| Production no. | 40571-187 | ||||||
| Original airdate | May 1st 2001 (USA) | ||||||
|
|||||||
Daphne Returns is the nineteenth episode in the eighth series of the American NBC television sitcom Frasier.
[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
Daphne is returning home from the weight spa after her recent struggles with weight, and Niles goes to collect her, excited about their planned weekend getaway and the chance that he will finally get to consummate his relationship with Daphne, which, as he confesses to a surprised Frasier, they have not done. Returning from the spa, however, Daphne reveals that her therapist at the spa, Gloria, informed her that her recent weight gain stemmed from her own insecurity with her relationship with Niles, and that she feared she would not be able to live up to the fantasy Niles had nursed of the two of them, which is partly the reason they have not yet had sex. Niles is hurt and defensive about this revelation, and so Daphne’s welcome-home party is an unusually tense affair. Things are not helped by Martin’s tactless reminder of how much Daphne had been eating and Frasier’s tactless gift of an artificial squealing pig in the fridge to help Daphne control her urges, but it is Niles’ touchy and mean-spirited remarks about Gloria’s advice that begin to set Daphne’s mood on edge; and after one-too-many snide putdowns, she angrily tells Niles to leave.
The next day, Frasier visits Niles at his office to help sort matters out. He suggests to Niles that Gloria’s advice might be sound, as Daphne has eight years of Niles’ fantasy to live up to; Niles insists, however, that he has a realistic appraisal of Daphne and her virtues. This sees Niles and Frasier revisit the first time Daphne and Niles met, the ball the two attended and performed the tango at, and the meal that Daphne and Niles cooked for a ‘date’ that Niles was not having, with the present-day Frasier and Niles inserted into the past events, unseen by their earlier selves. It soon becomes clear that, contrary to his protests, Niles has placed Daphne on a pedestal and has formed an unrealistically idealized impression of her and her virtues. Niles is shaken, Frasier suggests that this is because Niles is afraid of embracing the real, flawed Daphne in case her flaws prove too much for the relationship to survive, thus resulting in Niles having spent the previous seven years pining for nothing more than a dream.
That night, Niles visits Frasier’s apartment to see Daphne. He apologises to Daphne for belittling her therapist’s advice and her feelings. Daphne accepts his apology and offers to cook him dinner, but is shocked and hurt when, in a well-meaning but tactless effort to demonstrate that he sees and accepts the ‘real’ her, he confesses that he doesn’t like her cooking. Niles is stunned and angered by her reaction, and the two begin to argue again, with Niles angrily confessing that he doesn’t believe her to be psychic and Daphne retorting that she believes him to be pretentious. Niles storms out, only to run back in to apologise. Daphne, cooling down, accepts that it is necessary for the two of them to acknowledge the faults of the other, and they begin to list each other’s faults, becoming increasingly amorous when they do so and eventually collapsing in a passionate embrace. The next day, when Frasier meets Niles in Café Nervosa, Niles is smiling uncontrollably, and Frasier is quick to deduce the reason – Niles and Daphne finally consummated their relationship. And the best part, Niles confesses to Frasier, was that it was nothing like he imagined it would be.
