Frasier Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Blind Date
Christine Orlando
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Love is in the air on Frasier Season 1 Episode 6, but it doesn't smell nearly as good as Frasier's osso buco.
As Frasier laments his lack of a love life since breaking up with Charlotte and moving to Boston, Eve assures him she knows just the woman for him.
Frasier is all in.
You have to give it to Frasier. When it comes to love, he is always the optimist.
Good for you, Frasier. I’ve always admired your dewy-eyed optimism, you know, even though love’s been punching you in the face for the last, what, three decades.
Alan
But Freddy is less hopeful. It sounds as though he's been alone for a while, too, but Eve claims he self-sabotages his dates before they ever begin.
So this time, Eve's got a plan. She's going to set up Frasier and Freddy and tell them nothing about their upcoming dates; this way, they'll have no preconceived notions about whom they're about to meet.
What could possibly go wrong?
The bad blind date is a tired sitcom TV trope, but this plot did put a bit of a different twist on it.
Instead of the date going horribly wrong, both Freddy and Frasier love their blind date. The problem is they both think that June, the first woman to arrive, is for them.
And with June, it could swing either way. She has degrees in philosophy and art history from Columbia University. She enjoys wine and remarks on Frasier art and Steinway piano.
But when Freddy comes in, they joke about baseball and their favorite greasy sandwiches.
June is younger than Frasier but older than Freddy, and oddly enough, she could actually be paired with father or son and have fun with either of them.
When Freddy and Frasier finally figure out their dilemma, they're too embarrassed to ask June directly, and who could blame them?
You’ll go from charming father offering a drink to his son’s date to deviant Lothario trying to steal his son’s date.
Freddy
Although cute and mildly funny, this is all typical sitcom fodder, making it predictable and dull.
The touching moment comes when Frasier tries to assure Freddy that there isn't anything wrong with him just because June clicks more with Frasier than with him.
Freddy: Perhaps June can sniff out the commitment issues.
Frasier: Well, you’re committed to your job. You’re committed to Eve and to John. You’re committed to rebuilding our relationship. You’re not emotionally unavailable. You’re emotionally specific about what you’re looking for.
And then Siobhan shows up.
Eve wasn't wrong. Siobhan might be the perfect woman for Frasier. She's an opera singer who's lived in Milan. She recognizes that Frasier is making osso buco by the smell wafting from the kitchen. And the clincher is that she brings him a bottle of specialty sherry.
Frasier could have simply taken Siobhan into the hallway and explained there had been a mix-up tonight, but he'd love to reschedule their date for another time.
But this is a classic sitcom, and that would be far too easy and make too much sense.
Instead, Frasier toys with the idea of trying to pull off both dates at once before settling on offering his son a big-screen TV if he takes June out as he had originally planned.
Of course, that's when it all blows up in Frasier's face.
Siobhan: Wait. You were into June before I showed up? A date was literally coming for you, and you couldn’t wait until I arrived?
Frasier: To be fair, you were a bit tardy.
To be fair, the pair with the best chemistry was Freddy and Frasier. As a father and son duo, they work. And only Freddy could make Frasier see how obnoxious it is to correct someone's grammar.
Plus, when Freddy does it, it's a nice reminder that he was raised in part by Frasier Crane.
But this episode was lacking.
Eve's play was a silly side note, and I did wish she had a larger part to play in the main story.
David was nonexistent, but I honestly didn't notice his absence until the end. I keep waiting for Daphne and Niles' son to have his moment in this series, but it hasn't happened yet.
Olivia's role was small, for which I was grateful.
As for Alan, even though his role was smaller this week, he did get in some solid Frasier quotes.
Alan: We’re very proud of you. The way you’ve lurched from one failed marriage to another. I mean, I’ve lost count. It must be, what, three?
Freddy: Two, technically.
Frasier: Thank you, Freddy.
Freddy: Yeah, the third one, he just got left at the altar.
This had me trying to remember Frasier's actual wives and it took me a minute to recall his first wife was Nanette, the free spirit he married in college. Then there was Diane, who left him at the altar during his run on Cheers.
Lilith was his longest marriage partner and Freddy's mother. I can't wait for Bebe Neuwirth's guest appearance so she can bring that spark she and Frasier always had to this series. I also look forward to seeing what her relationship is like with their son.
So, if there were two marriages and one almost marriage, then that means that Frasier and Charlotte never married despite being together for almost two decades.
It sounds like there's a story there, and I hope we get to hear it, especially since I was a fan of Charlotte and Frasier's during the original series run.
If there is a Fraseir Season 2, I hope that Laura Linney returns to tie up these loose ends.
So what did you think, TV Fanatics? Was "Blind Date" one of the weaker episodes of the series so far? And if so, did you enjoy it nevertheless? Did you miss David? Am I unreasonably harsh on Olivia or does she just not fit in here?
And with only with only four episodes left in Frasier Season 1, are you hoping there will be more?
Hit that SHOW COMMENTS button below to share your thoughts on this latest installment. Then check back in for our Frasier Season 1 Episode 7 review.
New episodes of Frasier air Thursdays on Paramount+.
C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.
