The Squash Courtship of Freddy's Father

Old Frasier fan here. There were a couple of scenes in the first season which made me chuckle, but there were few laugh out loud moments, if any.

This season is getting better and this episode really lives up to the legacy. Ok, it makes zero sense, that Bibi would have a daughter of that age without Frasier knowing, she would have been pregnant while they were still in constant contact (and Bibi a recurring character on the show), and how over 15 years of follow up business relationship (which they keep stressing in this episode), how would it not come up that she has a child? But, suspending the disbelieve, I really loved how their relationship built up to more and more manipulation and I burst when she said where she lived and what that implied (avoiding spoilers here). And after the scenes in the firehouse in the last episode, it makes me glad they rebooted and I hope we will get more of that.

When I saw that Bebe Glazer was appearing in the new Frasier, I was a little nervous. She is a fan favorite, but I was worried that it wouldn't be able to live up to her appearances in the original Frasier. I needn't have worried because this episode hits the mark. Despite the passage of twenty years, Harriet Samson Harris can still play Bebe just as well and Kelsey Grammer still has the great chemistry with her. Without going into spoilers, the manipulative, near sociopathic Bebe Glazer has cooked up another scheme to get Frasier to alter his career plans in a way more beneficial to her involving the history that she and Frasier have together. All in all, this is an episode worthy of the legacy of Frasier (1993) and my favorite of season 2 thus far.

It's not just nostalgia of bringing back old characters and actors... these characters and even how they play them is better. Bebe once again adds something to every scene she's in... I could see a series about just her! She's so funny and for once the show had fun, rather than be preachy or overly joke heavy... it got Frasier in a situation, a good one too, and then had comedic fun with it. More like this. I'm worried it's taking too long to get to the part of the show that keeps viewers coming back. The original Frasier drew me in by episode 2 and I loved it by 10 episodes in. This one is struggling already and can't seem to find its tone.