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Frasier Online Episode Guide -> Season 10 -> Episode 10.24

A New Position For Roz
Episode Details

Written by: Lori Kirkland

Directed by: Kelsey Grammer

Original US airdate: 20th May 2003

Original UK airdate: 9th June 2003


Cast Information
Main Cast
Frasier Crane .... Kelsey Grammer
Niles Crane .... David Hyde Pierce
Martin Crane .... John Mahoney
Daphne Crane .... Jane Leeves
Roz Doyle .... Peri Gilpin
Recurring Cast
Gertrude Moon .... Millicent Martin
Julia Wilcox .... Felicity Huffman
Bulldog .... Dan Butler
Kenny Daly .... Tom McGowan
Noel Shempsky .... Patrick Kerr
Alice Doyle .... Ashley Thomas
Gil Chesterton .... Edward Hibbert
   
   
Guest Cast
Woody Wiswell .... David Alan Basche
Guest Callers

Episode Synopsis

As Roz prepares to leave KACL, she is training Noel up to take over as Frasier's producer - a lesson that includes not having Noel lean on the mic button as Roz explains live on air how to get the juiciest calls! Later, she and Frasier are at his apartment finishing the paperwork for their show for the last time, and learns that Frasier and Julia are now dating each other and makes plain her dislike of her when Roz describes her as a total bitch. Frasier argues there's a side to Julia that only he has yet been able to see but Roz is obviously troubled by the burgeoning relationship between Frasier and Julia. During the KACL farewell party, where Bulldog and Noel almost comes to blows over Roz, she sees for herself just how close Frasier and Julia have become and surprises everyone by announcing she won't be taking the job at KPXY and will be staying at KACL!

On a vist to Cafe Nervosa, Frasier leaves Roz to order coffee as he pops to the washroom and his mobile phone rings - Roz sees in disgust that it's Julia which prompts Mrs Moon to answer the phone as Frasier's girlfriend in an attempt to get rid of her. This backfires spectacularly when Julia pops into Cafe Nervosa and works out it was Mrs Moon who answered Frasier's phone, which leaves Julia no choice but to confront Roz when Mrs Moon said it was all Roz's idea. Roz tells Julia exactly what she thinks of her, adding that she's completely wrong for Frasier but Julia says that that's not her call to make. Roz tries to get Martin on her side to back her up when she talks to Frasier but he is tempted away by Julia with the promise of restaurant cake. This leaves Frasier and Roz to discuss the problem - he says that she is worried about someone taking her place in his life, something that Roz disagrees with, and eventually becomes angry with Roz because she is interfering in his private life. This forces Roz to ask Frasier to choose to between her and Julia - and Frasier picks Julia, leaving Roz to change her mind and decides to join KPXY for definite this time.....

Meanwhile, Daphne and Niles move closer to preparing to have a baby and try to find a way of getting Mrs Moon to move out. It proves difficult though, leaving Niles to resolve it by offering to contribute to the rent of an apartment in Seattle for Mrs Moon to live in.

Episode Title Cards
  • And Leave All This?

Episode Highlights

- Julia walks into Roz's booth just after Noel has fallen off his chair:
Roz: Do you mind - I'm trying to show Noel what to do.
Julia: Is that why he's on his knees (?!)

- Martin asks Roz why there aren't more radio shows aimed at his generation:
Roz: You don't spend it all on fast food and beer.
Martin: Yes I do!

- Daphne and Niles are contemplating whether to show Mrs Moon the door when they have a child, as they look after Alice:
Niles: On the other hand, a grandmother can be a wonderful influence
Mrs Moon: Alice, you help Auntie Gert find her cigarettes and you can have one.

- Gil's farewell speech for Roz which ends with him downing a glass of wine in one!

- Mrs Moon's phone call with Julia where she pretends to be Frasier's girlfriend

- Niles finally has the courage to show Mrs Moon the door:
Niles: Well, here's news - you're out of the house, so pack you bags and find yourself another sucker!

- Julia finding out it was Mrs Moon who impersonated Frasier's girlfriend on the phone

Frasier Online Episode Review

This episode marks a momentous event in 'Frasier's history - the end of 10 years on the air, something that very few shows on US TV ever achieve. The fact that that this season finale is nowhere near as good as it should be is all the more disappointing given how much of an improvement this season has been over the past few years. Continuing Roz's storyline from the previous episode, we had to suffer a dreadful send-off by the KACL team which sees Bulldog cracking jokes about Roz's sex life and Noel's cringe-making threats towards Bulldog. This could have, and should have, been so much better but worse was to come over Roz's reaction to Frasier's relationship with Julia. In a completely out of character move, she let's her dislike of Julia compromise he friendship with Frasier and leads to a dreadful 'cliffhanger' style moment when Frasier has to choose between Julia and Roz. Not once in the last 10 years has Roz ever let her feelings for one of Frasier's girlfriends affect her relationship with Frasier which left me feeling the whole storyline had been contrived to improve the show's ratings rather than plot developments based on the characters we know. The episode was not a total loss as Niles and Daphne's storyline about wanting to have a child was rather well done - Niles finally telling Mrs Moon to pack her bags was great - and ended on a lovely note as the pair went off to make a baby.... :)

Although this was a rather limp season finale, I found Season 10 as a whole rather entertaining. It wasn't a classic one, but contains more than it's fair share of highly entertaining episodes, with special mention for 'Fathers And Sons' and 'Star Mitzvah' as two of the episodes that stand out for me.

On a final note, as most 'Frasier' viewers know, it was during this season that the news came out that Season 11 would probably be the last 'Frasier' season but what disappointed me more than that it is the distressing way that Channel 4 treated the show this season. Having cultivated the show on Friday nights since it began, C4 moved it to Monday nights at 10.35pm after 'So Graham Norton', with only the smallest amount of promotion. This scheduling move has caused many regular viewers to miss this season, contributing even further to the decline in viewing figures that that C4 say prompted the scheduling move in the first place. It was pushed even later in the schedules thanks to 'Big Brother' which leaves the prospect of the final season going out with a whimper rather than the bang it surely deserves. I can only hope that C4 at least promotes the show more than they have this season, but I'm not holding my breath.....

Rating

72 %

Latest Viewer Episode Review

Avg. Viewer Review: 59.6%
Total Number of Reviews: 5


Is that why he's on his knees?, May 26, 2013

Reviewer: Sammy J from Melbourne, Australia


After reviewing ten full seasons of "Frasier", this one is perhaps the toughest review. I'm honestly just not sure what I think.

Let's start with the good stuff, as there are some fun moments for most of the cast. I like Martin's outrage that he's being undervalued even though he DOES spend all his money on fast food and beer. And there are some classic Frasier Crane moments such as his passionate love for the film "Noch Einen Stuhl"

Daphne and Niles decide the time is right to start trying for a baby, again showing this series' interest in how such a thing comes about rather than just pandering to ratings with a surprise pregnancy. I'm actually surprised this wasn't more of a core conflict, since Niles is older and on his second marriage; it makes sense that his longing for a child would be more prominent than Daph's. Yet, it's great that this couple - who have been so in sync all season after some of their trials in seasons 8 and 9 - quickly get on the same page. After a couple of episodes where she was written as a bit of a dill and a harpy, Gertrude finishes season 10 in style. I don't know which is my favourite moment: her "secret menu" at Nervosa? The sexual phone call with Julia, or her awkward "Helloooo" afterward? Probably the great line, "Help Auntie Gert find her cigarettes and you can have one". It reminds me of the character as originally conceived. The final scene in which Gert and Daphne reunite is really quite sweet. It allows for the narrative to write Mrs. Moon out as a recurring character (overall, season 11 features less of just about every recurring cast member) while still advancing her character. While I would've supported sending Mrs. Moon back to England in the season 9 finale, it no longer fits her character development from this season, so good decision on that angle.

The two surprising decisions from "Analyzed Kiss" continue to have ripple effects here. Roz's new job provides a couple of laughs, with Frasier's mocking of Noel on-air. The farewell dinner is a scene that sadly feels underwritten. It's one of the very last times we'll have the complete KACL team in one room (well, the last time if you include Julia) but it's just not the laugh-a-second occasion I'd expect. I do appreciate Noel's quiet "I will kill you" and Dan Butler gives the Bulldog scenes his all, but that's not really enough to sell them. Edward Hibbert, however, is a class act. While Gil's speech feels like a retread of his material in "The Harassed", he's still my favourite of the bunch.

What disappoints me, though, is to realise that Roz's storyline is not about furthering her career ambitions that have been part of her character for several seasons now. Instead, they're set-up for a Roz vs. Julia plot which I'm uncertain about. As a character moment, it's a bold move, but I think it's ultimately a mistake. While season 10 has portrayed a frosty relationship between Roz and Julia, it has never really suggested to us that she is a damaging person. Indeed, Frasier's analysis of her in both "The Harassed" and "Analyzed Kiss" has suggested otherwise. For Roz to be so biased against a Julia/Frasier relationship that she'd go to Martin and then actively stage an intervention... that's a huge decision. I'm just not sure the series has convincingly sold the necessity of this. This is the move of someone with burgeoning feelings, and that is the only reason for what Roz is doing, aside from authorial incompetence, of course. Gilpin, Grammer, Mahoney and Huffman play the hell out of the final scene, but the drama feels contrived.

Look, I don't want to argue against a writing room decision. People make the wrong choices all the time, and Roz is not immune to that. It can be hard to see a friend engage in a relationship we don't like, and it can be just as stunning to be given an ultimatum by a friend. Frasier and Roz's complicated history amplifies this even further. So, although I find Roz's actions unlikely, and I'm disappointed by how her career choices pan out, I can't fault anything in this episode as impossible. And indeed the first half is quite enjoyable, as are the remaining Daphne/Niles scenes. However the virtue of most "Frasier" season finales, all of which have been equally (or more) dramatic than comedic, is that - with the exception of the flaccid season 8 finale - they're grounded more in character analysis than an outright dramatic cliffhanger. What I see here instead is several episodes' buildup directed primarily at creating a divide between the characters which, although it stems from pre-existing conflicts and past entanglements, seems too sudden and shakily-grounded to be fully believable. The mistakes made are restricted to the last six or seven minutes, but their impact can be felt in pockets of the season. A misstep, but one that at least can be forgiven in season 11.


Rating: 70%

 

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