Title: The Bar Manager, the Shrink, His Wife and Her Lover
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Kathy Ann Stumpe
Air Date: February 18, 1993
Previous: Is There a Doctor in the Howe?
Next: The Last Picture Show
Guest Starring: Keene Curtis, Peter Vogt, Paul Willson
"The Bar Manager, The Shrink, His Wife, and Her Lover" is the 17th episode of the eleventh season of Cheers.
Lilith's back! And just as Frasier and Rebecca were about to sleep together. Shocked and angry, Lilith storms out of the house and goes to Cheers, demanding to know what the hell's going on, much to the confusion of everyone else. Lilith, it turns out, had missed Frasier and naively hoped he'd be waiting for her. Also, the eco-pod experiment had failed pretty badly.
Frasier soon appears at Cheers, followed by Rebecca herself, but Frasier isn't so willing to forgive and forget that easily. Things do not get better when Louis Pascal arrives, determined to get Lilith back by any means necessary - violence included. With no real options, Frasier reluctantly tries to talk Pascal down, but that doesn't work, until Lilith says she's not going back. She'd only make him miserable, so his only option left is to shoot her, which he can't do.
Once everything's over, and the police take Louis away, Lilith asks Frasier if they have any chance of reconciling. Frasier says "no", not after everything that's happened. Lilith appears to accept this, but before she can leave the bar starts sobbing uncontrollably (well, for Lilith). Even Frasier is unable to keep up his anger toward her, and tells Lilith he'll take her back.
Bebe Neuwirth's last appearance on Cheers, although she would guest star several times on Frasier.
Tropes:
- Agony of the Feet: Poor Reuben, Melville's busboy, is the only casualty of the night's events, when Dr. Pascal shoots his gun as a show of force. The bullet manages to get Reuben in the foot.
- Ax-Crazy: Doctor Pascal has gone a little mad from his time in the eco-pod. Turns out a man with severe claustrophobia doesn't do well to being sealed in an underground environment.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Paul finally gets a chance to be part of the main group as he always wanted, but by being taken as a hostage.
- Brick Joke: Sam called for a round on the house to celebrate Frasier and Lilith getting back together, but Norm was denied a glass by Woody after Frasier turned her down. Everything works out in the end, though, leading Norm to tell Woody to start pouring.
- Cassandra Truth: Norm tries to explain to Vera he can't talk because everyone is being held hostage by a crazed gunman. Apparently he's tried using this one before, and Vera hangs up on him.
- Change the Uncomfortable Subject: When a despairing Rebecca asks why everything in her life goes to crap, Sam instead pauses nervously and instead just asks whether Frasier was better than him in bed.
- Chekhov's Gun: Turns out the "Dear John" Letter that kicked off the plot was sent by Googie to drive a wedge between Frasier and Lilith.
- Claustrophobia: According to Lilith, Pascal suffers from this. Worse, neither of them knew it until the door to the Eco-Pod was sealed.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Lilith says it's nice to see people again, even the Cheers gang, Woody takes it sincerely.
- Facepalm: Frasier, when Lilith starts crying.
- Fantastic Slur: "Surfies", Pascal's term for surface-dwellers, as Lilith helpfully informs everyone.
- Happily Ever Before: Frasier and Lilith end this episode, and the series, having reconciled. But when Frasier debuted, they were divorced after all.
- Hypocritical Humor: Lilith is concerned about her mother's smothering behavior, prompting Cliff to warn her that sort of thing can really screw a kid up.
- If I Can't Have You…: Dr. Pascal whips out a gun and demands that Lilith return to the Eco-Pod with him, or he'll start shooting.
- Imaginary Friend: Dr. Jaworsky, the third person in the Eco-Pod... Dr. Pascal's imaginary friend.Lilith: Did I mention that Dr. Pascal is insane?
- I'm Standing Right Here: The gang celebrate the thought of Fras and Rebecca getting together, forgetting Lilith's still right there.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Lilith's version of sobbing is a sort of high-pitched yelp. The rest of the gang beg Frasier to take her back just to make it stop.
- Just Friends: Where Rebecca and Frasier wind up, the ship having sunk with Lilith's return.
- Kick the Dog: Frasier is very vindictive toward Lilith, even when she's trying to make amends, though not without cause.
- Mood Whiplash: The scene in Sam's office flips back and forth, as Rebecca tries to bow out gracefully, while Frasier keeps ranting about Lilith.
- Noodle Incident: Lilith says she learned of Dr. Pascal's true mental state after the door to the Eco-Pod was sealed.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Frasier appeals to Pascal by talking about how hurt and angered he was when Lilith left him. It doesn't work on Pascal, though it does cause Lilith to take stock of how the separation affected Frasier.
- Not So Stoic:
- Lilith bellows at Sam when she thinks he's being unhelpful.
Sam: You're kidding? Frasier and Rebecca, how long's that been going on?
Lilith: I'M ASKING YOU!- At the end, she actually starts crying.
- Previously on…: A "Last week on Cheers" recap shows how Rebecca wound up in Frasier's bed only for Lilith to show up.
- Ship Sinking: Frasier and Rebecca don't sleep together, and Rebecca gracefully bows out to let Frasier and Lilith get back together.
- Shipper with an Agenda: Sam calls for a round of drinks on the house to celebrate Frasier and Lilith getting back together, only for Frasier to assert he's not taking her back. To get that free beer, Norm actively pushes for them to work things out. When the reconciliation does finally happen at the end of the episode, Norm tells Woody to start pouring.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Carla's solution to the hostage crisis is simply for Lilith to leave with Pascal as he demanded.
- This Is Gonna Suck:
- John after seeing a crazed gunman, not typical bar shenanigans, is why Reuben took one in the foot.
- As the hostages huddle together and discuss their options, Sam points out that Frasier is a psychiatrist and would have some kind of training for situations like this.Frasier: I was afraid somebody would bring that up.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Frasier admits to Rebecca that he's so angry at Lilith that he wanted to hit her, but he restrained himself because she's the mother of his child.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: When Lilith announces she wants Frasier back, a touched Sam calls for a round of drinks on the house. When Frasier turns Lilith down, Woody immediately grabs the glass of beer out of Norm's hand.
