Title: Ill-Gotten Gaines
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Fred Graver
Air Date: November 19, 1992
Previous: The Girl in the Plastic Bubble
Next: Feelings... Whoa, Whoa, Whoa
Guest Starring: Jackie Swanson, Richard Doyle, Keene Curtis, Robert Cornthwaite
"Ill-Gotten Gaines" is the 8th episode of the eleventh season of Cheers.
Mr. Gaines browbeats Woody into signing over power-of-attorney over his assets, and is ruthlessly condescending as he does it. Sam says Woody shouldn't stand for that kind of treatment. With Sam's encouragement, Woody goes over to the Gaines mansion and barges into Mr. Gaines's study, where he demands Mr. Gaines treat him with respect.
It just so happens that at the moment Woody intruded into his office, Mr. Gaines was on the floor behind his desk, having sex with his brother's wife. Woody did not realize this, but Mr. Gaines thinks he did, and he mistakes Woody's demand for respect as a blackmail threat. Soon Mr. Gaines is acting like Woody is his best buddy, going fishing with him and taking him on ski trips and such, thinking that he's keeping Woody quiet.
In the B-plot, it's Thanksgiving, and everybody but Woody is having dinner together at the bar.
Tropes:
- Analogy Backfire: Sort of. Mr. Gaines tries to put the idea of his having power of attorney in "Hanover-ese" for Woody, comparing it to stopping a turkey from gorging itself to death. Woody feels the need to correct some aspects of the metaphor - an overfed turkey doesn't choke. It explodes.
- Blackmail: Woody wasn't blackmailing Mr. Gaines, but Hives, the butler, overhears the conversation. The episode ends with him blackmailing Mr. Gaines.
- Brutal Honesty: Rebecca invites everybody for Thanksgiving at her apartment, but Sam suggests they have dinner at the bar.Rebecca: Why here? Because you don't think I can handle the responsibility of making a big dinner for everybody?
Sam: Well, I was going to beat around the bush a little bit, but yeah, yeah, that's the gist. - Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Except for the scene where he's on the floor with his sister-in-law, Mr. Gaines spends most of the episode with a pipe clenched in this teeth. This emphasizes how Mr. Gaines the WASP patrician is uncomfortable around his country hick of a son-in-law.
- Noodle Incident: Yet another one from Woody, who's seen men killed from the shrapnel of exploding, overfed turkeys. The trick is to run when you hear a hissing sound.
- Old Retainer: Hives, the elderly Gaines butler. After escorting Woody from the Foyer to the library, he asks Sam to help him find his way back.
- Pet the Dog: John Allen Hill lets the Cheers gang borrow his restaurant's cutlery for their Thanksgiving dinner, about as close to a magnanimous gesture as the man'll get, though he does follow up by telling them to sterilize everything when they're done (and only because Sam poured on the flattery but good).Rebecca: How did you know he was there?
Sam: I could see the reflection of his head in the dessert tray. - Significant Background Event: As Sam is giving a Thanksgiving toast, John Allen Hill can be seen descending the stairs behind him. Sam winds up giving a toast to Hill, because, as he tells Rebecca, he saw the reflection of Hill's head in the dessert tray.
- Thanksgiving Episode: Rebecca cheaps out and decorates the bar with Halloween stuff. The gang dines on fancy plates taken from Melville's.
