This is a 22 minute tour de force, where Daphne and Niles choose to get married three times to satisfy those around them. It starts with an elopement and then sinks into a time where everyone takes things personally. The mother is again the most tiresome and Frasier isn't far behind. Still, there are enough moments to make it worthwhile and it's the thing we've been waiting for for many years.
3 Reviews
The Ring Cycle
studioAT10 January 2023
Warning: Spoilers
'Frasier' hadn't been really that good for two years/series prior to this. The eighth was a rocky affair, trying to find its feet once Daphne and Niles got together, while the ninth suffered because there was no real arc to the piece.
In both cases the writing wasn't consistently great.
This tenth series starts here brightly, and although Niles and Daphne being married feels like solving the wrong problem, there are enough nice moments here to enjoy.
So ignore the complete deconstruction of the character of Donny (who they woefully spoilt in the eighth series premiere) when he returns, and Mrs Moon, and just enjoy for once a better than average episode.
In both cases the writing wasn't consistently great.
This tenth series starts here brightly, and although Niles and Daphne being married feels like solving the wrong problem, there are enough nice moments here to enjoy.
So ignore the complete deconstruction of the character of Donny (who they woefully spoilt in the eighth series premiere) when he returns, and Mrs Moon, and just enjoy for once a better than average episode.
The selfishness and lying overwhelms the comedy
FlushingCaps21 January 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This is one of those episodes that annoyed the heck out of me. I couldn't stand the lying and selfishness of the main characters.
We begin with Niles and Daphne exchanging wedding vows in a cheap Reno, Nevada wedding chapel. The end of the previous episode had Daphne surprise Niles with a late-night visit, declaring she wants to get married "right now." The next morning, they arrive back in Seattle at Frasier's and are about to tell their news. Before they tell about their quick trip, they reveal that the state of Washington requires you to wait three days. Right then, both Martin and Frasier express great joy because they would be devastated to think they weren't allowed to attend the wedding of this couple.
So Niles and Daphne quickly change course and tell them there'll be a wedding in three days. They trick Daphne's mother into thinking they are going to the courthouse just to get their license and surprise her with the news that they plan to have a judge marry them right then. Because she had in a previous episode, insisted they get married before a minister—a request they had no problem with—she was really stressed to learn they planned to ignore this request.
She storms out—even though she surely depended on one of the family for a ride home. They decide to do it the way she wants them to. But a minute later decide to again ignore her deep desire for a minister-officiated ceremony, and they get married (again) before this judge. Later, deciding again to please her, they decide to go through the motions a third time, with Mrs. Moon's blessing to not have a minister, as she suddenly changed her mind, thinking of the children, for once. This leads to another courtroom hallway scene, this time involving former fiancé Donny and his new fiancée.
There certainly were some laughs in this, but I couldn't get past the selfishness of Niles and Daphne. You elope because you have no friends or family members planning on attending a wedding, possibly because they disapprove. Or you do a quickie wedding with those close friends and family around, skipping the big ceremony and expensive reception. But with everyone already looking forward to their planned wedding, including Roz's daughter excited to be a flower girl, it was just too selfish for them to run off and do it right away. (Remember, of course, that the happy couple was freely having sex regularly.) It was like they had the minds of 5 year-olds, thinking only of themselves.
Somehow, despite waiting three days, nobody thought to bring a simple camera, so Daphne's big day would not have a single snapshot to help remember the occasion. In the real world, people getting married 60 years ago posed for pictures, even if they got married at someone's house.
I will conclude by noting the politically correct TV view of judges that we seem to get the past 25 years where despite the actual facts of a large percentage of them being white males, in TV-world, this just won't do. The two judges we see are a black male and an Asian female. No complaints about this except that if you list these demographics and keep track of all TV judges you see on shows made in the last 25 years you will notice that very few are white males. They have no interest in depicting the real world, only their P.C. world.
We begin with Niles and Daphne exchanging wedding vows in a cheap Reno, Nevada wedding chapel. The end of the previous episode had Daphne surprise Niles with a late-night visit, declaring she wants to get married "right now." The next morning, they arrive back in Seattle at Frasier's and are about to tell their news. Before they tell about their quick trip, they reveal that the state of Washington requires you to wait three days. Right then, both Martin and Frasier express great joy because they would be devastated to think they weren't allowed to attend the wedding of this couple.
So Niles and Daphne quickly change course and tell them there'll be a wedding in three days. They trick Daphne's mother into thinking they are going to the courthouse just to get their license and surprise her with the news that they plan to have a judge marry them right then. Because she had in a previous episode, insisted they get married before a minister—a request they had no problem with—she was really stressed to learn they planned to ignore this request.
She storms out—even though she surely depended on one of the family for a ride home. They decide to do it the way she wants them to. But a minute later decide to again ignore her deep desire for a minister-officiated ceremony, and they get married (again) before this judge. Later, deciding again to please her, they decide to go through the motions a third time, with Mrs. Moon's blessing to not have a minister, as she suddenly changed her mind, thinking of the children, for once. This leads to another courtroom hallway scene, this time involving former fiancé Donny and his new fiancée.
There certainly were some laughs in this, but I couldn't get past the selfishness of Niles and Daphne. You elope because you have no friends or family members planning on attending a wedding, possibly because they disapprove. Or you do a quickie wedding with those close friends and family around, skipping the big ceremony and expensive reception. But with everyone already looking forward to their planned wedding, including Roz's daughter excited to be a flower girl, it was just too selfish for them to run off and do it right away. (Remember, of course, that the happy couple was freely having sex regularly.) It was like they had the minds of 5 year-olds, thinking only of themselves.
Somehow, despite waiting three days, nobody thought to bring a simple camera, so Daphne's big day would not have a single snapshot to help remember the occasion. In the real world, people getting married 60 years ago posed for pictures, even if they got married at someone's house.
I will conclude by noting the politically correct TV view of judges that we seem to get the past 25 years where despite the actual facts of a large percentage of them being white males, in TV-world, this just won't do. The two judges we see are a black male and an Asian female. No complaints about this except that if you list these demographics and keep track of all TV judges you see on shows made in the last 25 years you will notice that very few are white males. They have no interest in depicting the real world, only their P.C. world.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
