Title: Bar Wars VI: This Time It's for Real
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Ken Levine and David Isaacs
Air Date: April 30, 1992
Previous: Rebecca's Lover... Not!
Next: Heeeeeere's Cliffy!
Guest Starring: Harry Guardino, Paul Willson, John Kerry
"Bar Wars VI: This Time It's for Real" is the twenty-third episode of the tenth season of Cheers.
It's the end of an era: Gary, of Gary's Old Towne Tavern, has sold the bar to some new guy. And Sam couldn't be happier, after all the humiliation Gary put them through. But the gang come around to the idea of keeping the bar rivalry going, and head out to prank Gary's.
When they return, the gang scoff at the notion the new owner could come up with any retaliation that'll match them... then the front door is blown off its hinges. Turns out the new owner of Gary's is called Frank "The Angel of Death" Carpaccio, a ruthless gang boss who has the police scared of him. Everyone thinks it might be an idea to go around and apologize before they end up dead, except Sam, who thinks it's all another of Gary's insanely complicated gags, like last Halloween when he pretended to be dead. So he thinks they should play along, and keep messing with Gary.
They go over to Gary's, and have Carla pull the fire alarm, setting off the bar's sprinklers. Soon, the FBI appear, wanting the gang to give evidence about Carpaccio, but in order to protect them, they'll have to go into witness protection. Everyone agrees to go, except Sam, who refuses to leave the bar. So, Carla, Norm, Cliff and Woody are bundled onto a bus, which drives out to the middle of nowhere... and then suddenly leaves them by the side of the road.
A nearby phone rings out. It's Sam, who has something to tell Carla: "Gotcha." Seems everything, the exploding door, those FBI men, Frank, all Sam's revenge for the gang pranking him with Gary. But Sam's pretty satisfied with the results, and the gang aren't too upset at being pranked by a master.
Tropes:
- Cross-Referenced Titles: Like most of the Bar Wars episodes, this one is sequentially titled.
- Foreshadowing: Sam mentioning that little prank Gary and the gang played on him during the last Bar Wars episode. Not to mention his angry reaction to Woody bringing it up again.
- Graceful Loser: Carla, Norm, and Cliff are genuinely impressed by Sam's prank. Woody is different, but only because he still hasn't understood what exactly happened, so Norm tries to explain it to him again.
- It's All About Me: Rebecca comes in with the results of her makeover, mostly a pretty ghastly blonde dye job. The gang can't pretend to be interested as they're worried about getting murdered by Carpaccio, so Rebecca charges out of the bar, saying "Fine, I'll just show people who are less self-absorbed!" Then as she's headed up the stairs she's saying "Look at me! Look at me!".
- The Mafia: The Cheers gang is appalled to discover that Gary sold his bar to the Mafia.
- Not Me This Time: Gary isn't actually involved in the episode's plot at all.
- Once a Season: Actually averted, since, in a break with pattern, this is the second Bar Wars episode of Season 10.
- Passive Aggressive Combat: Lilith says it's perfectly fine for Frasier to be attracted to other women, it shows he has a healthy sex drive. Frasier, realizing what's about to happen, groans, as Lilith makes a scene of checking out a guy's ass.
- Phrase Catcher: Even the people at Gary's go "NORM!" when they see him.Norm: Hey, Sammy closes on Christmas morning.
- Police Are Useless: They admit it! The local Boston cops that come to Cheers say of Carpaccio the mobster, "We're all scared of the guy, and we pretty much let him do whatever he wants."
- Politician Guest-Star: John Kerry, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, is outside the bar getting a paper. Norm and Cliff think he's a TV weatherman.
- Pyrrhic Victory: In order to get revenge on his friends for pranking him, Sam damages his own bar, and takes out a loan solely for the expense of stranding the gang in the middle of nowhere, which he explains to Lilith and Frasier will take him a decade to pay off.Frasier: Well, the joke's certainly on them, isn't it?
- Reassigned to Antarctica: The Red Book photographer assigned to Rebecca's shoot tells her he's only got the job because he mouthed off to a superior.
- Rerelease Soundtrack: In some versions, including the DVD release, when the gang initially return from pranking Gary's, their singing has been edited out.
- Saying Too Much: Woody lets slip Gary recorded his humiliating Sam the year before, something Sam didn't already know about.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Frasier flees the bar after hearing about Frank Carpaccio, taking Lilith with him. He returns after a few days, then flees again when it looks like the man really is a criminal.
- Series Continuity Error: Cliff is surprised the patrons of Gary's know Norm, despite having been in there with him before. (They're drinking there together in the Season 9 premiere.)
- Ship Tease: Another hint of Frasier's unrequited attraction to Rebecca. When Rebecca says she's getting a makeover Frasier says she's the last person that needs a makeover. Then he goes on a long spiel about how she's always well-dressed and she's got great skin and her hair cascades like a waterfall—only for Frasier to backtrack desperately when Lilith comes in.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Cheers duels again with Gary's Old Towne Tavern, although it seems like they've bitten off more than they can chew when they find out that Gary's is owned by the mob.
- Take That!: When Frasier mocks the others panicking by saying that they've "seen too many Godfather movies", Woody says "I agree; they should have stopped at two."note
- Took a Level in Dumbass: Rebecca doesn't care about the gang's activities. She doesn't actually seem to even notice what's going on, prefer to crow about her makeover.
- Wham Line: "Well, gotcha."
- What, Exactly, Is His Job?: Yet another zing about Rebecca's utterly meaningless position at Cheers from Carla.Rebecca: I have the most wonderful news!
Carla: You got a job?
Rebecca: I have a job, Carla.
Carla: Oh, I'm sorry. I confused having a job with being paid to actually do something. - Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Cliff is terrified of clowns, including a giant inflatable one at the local carwash, thanks to an unpleasant eighth birthday party.
- Worth It: Falling over laughing, Sam feels spending a decade paying for his prank is a fair price to pay.
