Their decision to work together lead Frasier and Niles to seek advise from a couples therapist (played by Milo O'Shea).
Tropes:
- A Degree in Useless: At the end of the episode, any respect that the brothers had for the therapist is lost when Frasier notices his degrees were gained in Grenada and Aruba, as a Caribbean-based education is (in their minds) tantamount to being a fraud.
- Bait-and-Switch: The first shot of the episode implies that Niles is in couples counselling with Maris, but the camera pans to show that he's instead with Frasier.
- Call-Back: Martin references the time Frasier and Niles tried managing a restaurant together in "The Innkeepers" and them attempting to write a book together in "Author, Author!" when expressing doubts over them successfully working as psychiatrists in the same building.Frasier: Two little misadventures and you doom us to failure!
- How We Got Here: The story that Frasier and Niles tell the couples therapist ends with said therapist walking in after hearing their commotion and trying to calm them down by offering to mediate.
- Hypocritical Humor:
- Frasier gets a call from someone who's had a dream about a girl on the other side of a glass pane trying and failing to communicate a message. He's so fascinated that he ignores Roz trying to get his attention from the other side of a glass pane to tell him that his time slot has ended.
- While in couples counselling, Frasier says he's tired of Niles' exaggerations, stating that they make things sound fifty thousand times worse than they are.
- The therapist responds to Frasier and Niles quibbling over who said what by insisting that it doesn't matter what precisely was said, only to object when Niles describes him using slightly different wording to what he actually said.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: After falling on his ass when nobody catches him, the couples therapist realizes that the Cranes' trust issues are too ingrained and leaves for the pub.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Niles is trying to convince a plane crash survivor that she's in a safe place and doesn't have to relive that memory...while another psychologist in his building is talking their client through a "primal screaming" therapy, with the resulting wailing heard through the walls.
- Ignored Epiphany:
- Towards the episode's midpoint, Martin warns the brothers about going into business together, which Niles seems to actually consider...until Frasier reveals that part of the story's untrue, and that they both actually dismissed Martin's advice completely.
- At the end of the episode, Niles and Frasier are told how vindictive, petty, and competitive they've been, and almost take it to heart...but then they see where the therapist got his degrees, discard all of his advice, and leave to have a meal together while starting up another argument.
- No Sympathy: When Bulldog comes into the radio booth to start his show when Frasier's gone past his time slot, he asks if Frasier's last caller is a fan of sports; when she says no, he immediately cuts the call with no chance for Frasier to help with her problems.
- The Rashomon: The majority of the episode is Frasier and Niles retelling their first day of working together to another therapist from Niles' building, each adding a few embellishments to make themselves look better and the other brother worse.
- Right Through the Wall: Niles' office neighbor has his patients undergo "primal screaming" therapy that can be heard in Niles' office. Daphne suggests making a commotion back, telling of how she once faked a loud sexual encounter to get back at a neighbor (though in Niles' version of events, he also imagines Daphne reenacting the noises during her retelling).
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After the Trust-Building Blunder, the couples therapist reaches the conclusion that Frasier and Niles' issues are too much for anyone to handle, and leaves for the pub.
- Sibling Rivalry: Frasier and Niles can't help but take barbs at each other when they actually start working together, undermining each other's psychiatric advice.
- Status Quo Is God: The Tag has Frasier moving his stuff back out of Niles' office, ending the partnership, with Daphne stuck carrying the heaviest object.
- Trust-Building Blunder: After hearing their tale, the couples therapist first suggests they try a trust fall exercise, but neither brother trusts the other enough to actually fall. The therapist then offers to be the first to fall, but the brothers are too distracted arguing to catch him.
