Freddy gets in touch with his intellectual side in the perfectly okay installment, The B Story. Here’s our review of Frasier season 1 episode 8:
Every now and then, even the wittiest of shows give way to broad comic ideas and, for Frasier, The B Story is that episode. This isn’t entirely a criticism, but rather an observation.
As the first season of Frasier’s reboot reaches a conclusion in the next few episodes, we can reflect briefly on a series that has rather neatly recaptured, amidst modernising, the style, tempo and feel of the original series run. Arguably, most of the episodes haven’t matched Frasier at its best, but that’s a high bar to clear. The previous seven episodes have contained some real highlights that would easily give many of the decent earlier Frasier half hours a run for their money.
After a run of rather strong episodes, The B Story feels a smidgen underwhelming, albeit still funny and engaging. It relies less, for me, on solid character work and more in the way of zany concepts that feel designed to mock the intellectualism and wit at the heart of Frasier’s middle-class world. The script by Miles Woods does this in several different ways and while, these comic ideas do often work, they feel a touch obvious and – dare I suggest – at points lazy.
Take Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott). He’s at the root of one of the two main stories in this episode, as we learn that when he gets steaming drunk, the intellectual side of Freddy’s personality – cultivated over his childhood by his two elitist parents – emerges full throttle, allowing him to extemporise on classical subjects in the safety of his Boston local bar. We see him entrancing his blue collar friends, even though they have no real idea what he’s talking about. And we later see Frasier’s pure joy at what drunk Freddy’s brings out of his son. “Do you still speak French?”. Kelsey Grammer’s reaction when Freddy does did give me a hearty belly laugh.
It’s a funny idea, but part of me kind of doesn’t enjoy the implications of it. The suggestion is that Freddy has worked so hard to push away his innate smartness, the intellectual rigour he rejected after quitting Harvard, becoming the ultimate blue collar worker in the fire service, and honouring the spirit of his grandfather Marty, that alcohol is the only way for him to reconcile those inner demons. It’s quite a depressing sight, really. You wonder how often Freddy gets blind drunk, perhaps to access the cultured side of himself he mostly hides, with only tiny glimpses (such as him reading Little Women in an earlier episode) visible.
In truth, the idea is more of a catalyst to (finally) do something with David (Anders Keith). Since the beginning, he’s been a fairly stock comic avatar, channelling audience awareness and fondness of his off-screen parents for nostalgic effect. I’m not entirely sure by the end of The B Story that has really changed but this does at least attempt to explore David’s obsessive psychology around academic achievement in relation to Freddy’s own ability to throw those expectations off. It makes sense to play this beat with David, who thus far has been depicted as craven in his attempts to please the academic elite Frasier is now part of.
It also sets up a possible storyline for Niles and Daphne down the line, too, should they choose to appear. This establishes the idea that Niles has strong academic expectations for his son, expectations David isn’t quite living up to, and it’s a neat contrast to Frasier’s own disappointment at Freddy giving up Harvard and his career choices. I’ve always suspected the creation of David might be as much a means of finding a reason to get David Hyde Pierce and/or Jane Leeves back on the show, so I won’t be surprised if this turns out to be the case in later seasons, should the series continue. Niles accepting his son for who he is feels like a natural story beat.
Speaking of this plot, I did enjoy the sly nature of the title this week. The B Story on the face of it concerns David’s low grade, but it also references the structural nature of situation comedy, made up as it is of A and B (even sometimes C) stories within an episode. David and Freddy’s plot here, although fairly evenly weighted with Frasier’s, could be considered the ‘B’ plot of the episode, if we assume Frasier is the protagonist and would always be in the ‘A’ plot. Frasier was always good at ‘meta’ references across the run of the series so I’m pleased to see that continue.
On Frasier and his story here, I think I enjoyed that plot a little more, despite being a well-worn trope of the protagonist trying repeatedly to impress a figure of influence for their own gain, only to be repeatedly thwarted by the actions of those around him. Here it’s the peevish Provost Sharma (Parvesh Cheena), as Frasier seeks a professorship, and perhaps in tune with Freddy’s own drink issues revolves around Frasier being mistaken for a sozzled academic – Alan (Nicholas Lyndhurst), basically. It’s a hoary idea, but given Alan’s presence, it actually works better than it has any right to, and it’s worth it alone for Grammer’s facial reaction when the teacups – one of which contains booze – get mixed up.
The B Story, then, is fine. There are plenty of funny moments, good lines and effective comic performances, as I’ve come to expect thankfully from the Frasier reboot. It’s just a little obvious, leaning heavily on very traditional comic tropes that Frasier at its best doesn’t need, and perhaps highlights how the ensemble being less strong than the original series opens a door to potential lesser returns.
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