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Episode reviews for Episode 3.11 - The Friend

Avg. Viewer Review: 71.0%
Number of Reviews: 7

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A rare weak episode, Aug 13, 2012

Reviewer: Tid from SW England


This wasn't a complete failure - Niles has some great lines as ever, and
Daphne and Martin have some good laughs also. However the main
story arc - Frasier's attempts to get a friend (itself rather a weak
premise as he and Niles should have lots of buddies in the opera-loving
gourmet restaurant-frequenting wine-snob circles they inhabit) - is not
satisfactory on many levels, and the 'Bob' situation is both artificial and
wince-inducing.

There have been worse Frasier episodes, but I can barely think of one
in the opening two and a half seasons.


Rating: 60%

 

Squeaky Todd, Jul 02, 2012

Reviewer: David Sim from Skelmersdale, Lancashire


Relationships seems to be the key theme for Season 3. All five major characters are into them, whether it be casual, intimate, or in the case of The Friend, friendships.

Now that the Kate and Frasier relationship is (finally) behind us, the writers choose to explore the issue of companionship next. After scoring tickets to the races, Frasier is embarrassed to find he has no friends in Seattle to go with him. Tired of falling back on Niles, Frasier resolves to make a friend.

Announcing his loneliness over the airwaves, the only people who take an interest are either into gay relationships or are complete whack-jobs. Until Frasier gets a fax from Bob Reynolds, a lonely photographer who's also failed to make any connections. Frasier decides to meet Bob at Cafe Nervosa.

Niles is none too happy that his regular coffee with Frasier has been supplanted by "the much ballyhooed Bob," and Frasier is none too happy to find that Bob (Griffin Dunne) is an insufferable bore with an obsession for barbecue. Frasier is about to end things then and there, until he sees Bob is in a (squeaky) wheelchair. And he's reluctant to break the bad news to him, lest Bob think its all about the chair.

Bob's "friendship" with Frasier quickly begins to seem like stalker behaviour. Showing up at his apartment, calling him at all hours of the day and night, both at work and at home, he even plans to move into Frasier's building. So...how to be rid of this sit-down stalker without hurting his feelings?

The Friend promises a rather dark scenario. It hasn't really been commented on, but Bob is a stalker. The episode reminded me a lot of The Cable Guy, released the same year. It also fails to work in the exact same way The Cable Guy failed to.

Stalking is no laughing matter, and trying to derive laughter from such an unsavoury subject is doomed to fail. Bob's squeaky wheelchair is a nice idea, the way it announces his presence to Frasier even when he's not in the room (it sounds a lot like the Psycho music), and the sight of Bob's Tam O'Shanter gliding past a window, forcing Frasier to duck for cover was hilarious.

But not enough thought has gone into the character. While no insult to Griffin Dunne, Bob is so thinly written that he quickly begins to irritate. That may seem a peculiar criticism since that is the effect the writer intended, but you soon tire of Bob's company, just as Frasier does.

Perhaps it should have dropped the whole stalker angle; maybe it should have focused instead on the way Bob has come between Frasier and Niles. You can see some of that in the scenes where Niles makes a pathetic attempt to make Frasier jealous by having coffee with his pool man. But we would have to wait for the Season 6 gem Dinner Party to get a proper insight into Frasier and Niles' dependency on each other.

The episode muddles things further with an ending that cops out in the silliest possible way. Frasier finally plucks up the courage to tell Bob why he doesn't like him, only to withdraw all that, and confesses it really is about the chair after all. Its rare to see an episode of Frasier fumble things so badly. Well, in Seasons 1-7 anyway.

After Kate and Frasier's relationship left me feeling somewhat unfulfilled, its disappointing that The Friend misfires as well. A minor blip in an otherwise solid Season 3.


Rating: 55%

 

Eh..., Dec 06, 2011

Reviewer: Sammy J from Melbourne, Australia


"The Friend" is a rather forgettable episode, unfortunately. Frasier
decides to do the "right thing" and befriend some of his callers,
partly because he doesn't have much of a social circle outside of
his snobby acquaintances. But, after an initially pleasant meeting,
he can't stand Bob, which is made all the more awkward by the
fact that Bob is in a wheelchair, and Frasier doesn't want to tell
him.

To be honest, I thought this concept was done much better in the
first Dr. Mary episode, as the subject - in that instance, racism - is
given a thorough discussion. Here, it's just another awkward
moment for Frasier, but neither the humour nor sincerity is very
strong. It's not Griffin Dunne's fault, as he commits to the role of
the obnoxious Bob, but I thought all of this was just forgettable.

On the plus side, there are some very funny moments for Niles,
who decides to get his own friends, but fails miserably.

"The Friend" is an average outing, but this is a series that has
now gone three seasons without a real stinker, so that's saying
something.


Rating: 65%

 

The Friend, Apr 20, 2010

Reviewer: Norm, Jr. from Somewhere, CA


Though along the lines of the old sitcom standby of "the annoying neighbor," the Frasier writers (as usual) mine something hilarious out of the whole thing. Dunne is just so authentic as one of those great-early-impression types, that quickly degenerates into a bad blind-date situation. Dunne's aggresive line of "Arrogant bastards!" is so well-placed in front of Kelsey's "Oh, great" facial reaction, that I totally felt right there. How many times have we talked to someone for two minutes who seems a kindred spirit, only to have their unsettling true colors surface moments later. There's a mess of pithy repeatable lines such as Niles "ballyhooed" moment, or Bob's palindrome gag. Niles with the pool man is a laugher as well. The ending is a bit unfair to Frasier, but until then, this really worked.


Rating: 93%

 

I avoid this one, Jul 22, 2008

Reviewer: Ninos from Aarhus, Denmark


I’m quite addicted to Frasier, catching reruns in the morning on a Danish channel before work and on a Norwegian channel after dinner. There are very few episodes I avoid. This is one of them. I know the character Bob is supposed to be irritating, but I find nothing amusing about him. And unlike many episodes, where there is a funny subplot to compensate for a weak main story line, I just don’t see one here.


Rating: 50%

 

Masterpiece!, Jan 01, 2008

Reviewer: Dean Mather from UNITED KINGDOM


This episode of Frasier is one of the greatest without question!Frasier realises he is rather low on actual friends and decides he does not want to keep "falling back on Niles" and comes up with the idea of calling out for new friends from his radio show.The results are hilarious for us and distressing for Frasier as he meets up with barbecue enthusiast Bob(Griffin Dunne),who talks about all manner of things barbecue,and is also wheelchair bound.The funniest and to this day tear inducing laugh out loud funny scene comes the morning after Frasiers dinner with Bob,the description Frasier gives of the meal is utterly hilarious.Also of note are Niles annoyance at being dumped for the much ballyhooed Bob and Martins disgust at his breakfast drink(blackfoam).


Rating: 99%

 

'The Friend' review, Jun 05, 2005

Reviewer: Jocelyn from London, UK


As Frasier realises that he hasn't made any friends since coming to Seattle, he announces over the airwaves that he is open to meeting new people. Naturally his chosen 'friend', barbecue enthusiast Bob, turns out to have absolutely nothing in common with him. I like a dejected Niles' sour grapes about 'the much ballyhooed Bob', and when Bob appears he is suitably irritating for Frasier to want to break off their friendship. There's a very funny scene at KACL when Frasier can hear the squeaking of Bob's wheelchair and hides from view as we see Bob's cap hovering past the window. Although this episode is quite enjoyable it's badly let down by the weak cop-out where Frasier tells Bob that the wheelchair is the reason they can't be friends. Frasier once again 'falling back' on Niles' is quite funny but the episode then quickly fizzles out as if the writer couldn't think of a proper ending. Not a bad episode by any means but certainly not one of the best.


Rating: 75%