Daphne tries to ward off her ex-fiancé Clive by saying she's married to Niles, which causes a plethora of lies.
Tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Frasier, who was in no mode to go along with the web of lies, and only does so to get out of driving Martin to his Rattlesnake Ridge army reunion, busts a gut laughing when Martin makes a crack about his being separated from Maris.
- Boyfriend Bluff: Daphne ropes Niles into pretending to be her husband to deceive Clive.
- Butt-Monkey: Frasier seems to come out the worst of most of the lies being spun during the evening. He's essentially forced to pretend to be a guest in his own home, has to go along with a story that sees him on the verge of a divorce from a "wife" who, when she shows up, shamelessly flirts with another man, and finally has impotence inflicted on him. And to add insult to injury, in his "The Reason You Suck" Speech Clive insults his bathrooms.
- Did Not Think This Through: Daphne might have wanted to check if Clive was still the useless annoying layabout he was when they were dating, rather than wealthy and successful, before constructing a delicate card-house of lies designed to repel him.
- "Fawlty Towers" Plot: Daphne and the Cranes tell lie after lie in order to appease Clive.
- Irony: For all the chaos, Daphne's plan does work; Clive is repelled and driven out of her life forever as a result of all the deceptions going on. It's just that by that point she's changed her mind...
- Jerkass: Several layers:
- All the characters except Martin end up looking like this to Clive. As he notes at the end, Frasier is apparently the kind of superficial man who would break up with his wife over a pair of opera glasses, "Maris" (Roz) is the kind of shameless flirt who would openly try to seduce another man in front of her husband despite their having apparently reconciled, Niles spends the entire evening trying to rub his material success into Clive's face, and Daphne is an equally shameless adulterous flirt who won't even let her pregnancy stop her.
- However, outside of the lies pretty much everyone except Frasier don't come off that well outside of this. Daphne causes all the trouble by cowardly trying to avoid confronting Clive with her real feelings, only to suddenly backtrack based on rather superficial grounds and demand everyone back off so she can actually be with Clive when they're already deep into the lie; Niles keeps stretching the night out more arduously just so that he can pretend to be married to Daphne for a while longer, while rubbing Clive's face in it; Roz barely bothers to stick to the story and just flirts with Clive all evening; their rivalry over Clive sees Daphne and Roz start to act increasingly waspish with each other; and Martin just causes more chaos to mess with everyone (though this is in part because Frasier and Niles condescend to him).
- Of course, all of this just makes it funnier to watch everything fall apart for everyone.
- Kavorka Man: Clive turns into this for both Roz and Daphne. He's not especially handsome, intelligent, attractive or charismatic, and Daphne even admits that she found him utterly insufferable when they were originally dating, but by the end of the evening both women are practically tearing each other to pieces over him. Daphne at least comes to realise that he's made something of his life since she dumped him, but Roz's interest is rather more inexplicable outside of the basic fact that it's that kind of plot and she's that kind of character. This is lampshaded at the end when they're squabbling over him, and Niles incredulously asks why they're so wound up over him anyway; "he has all the charm of a cricket bat!"
- Laser-Guided Karma: Daphne refuses to tell the truth about how she feels to Clive and triggers an ever-escalating series of lies to try and get rid of him, only to change her mind halfway through and decide she wants to get back together with him. So naturally, thanks to the aforementioned lies, the evening ends with him storming out of the apartment convinced she's the worst person he's ever met.
- Not Helping Your Case: This hilarious dialogue from Daphne and Frasier at the end.Daphne: Really, we're not the awful people you think we are!
Frasier: Yes! The truth is - we've been lying to you all night! - Only Sane Man: Frasier's the only one who really recognises how ludicrous everything is getting and tries to bring it to an end as quickly as possible (well, Martin also does, but he just decides to mess with everyone instead). Naturally, given the nature of the plot, he just ends up as the Butt-Monkey for his troubles.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Clive has some things to get off his chest by the end of the evening:Clive: Look, I know I'm a guest here, so I've kept silent so far. But I'm sorry, I must speak: you're the most appalling family I've ever met! [to Frasier:] You breaking up with your wife over a pair of opera glasses. [to Niles:] And you, looking down your nose at me the entire time you were showing off your "posh flat". Well, to be honest mate, I don't think there's anything remotely special about your bathrooms. [Frasier is offended] And you two women, flirting shamelessly with me right in front of your husbands. [to Roz:] You having just reconciled with Frasier, [to Daphne:] And you carrying Niles' baby. Well, I pity your child, Daphne, and I pity any good Manchester girl that comes here to this vile coffee swilling Sodam, and lets it change her like it's changed you!
- Troll: Martin begins to take advantage of the "Fawlty Towers" Plot by messing with everyone, such as making Clive think Roz is Maris.
- Unrequited Love Switcheroo: By the end of the evening, Daphne's realised that Clive is a successful man and wants to hook up with him again, but thanks to her own lies Clive is under the impression that she's become an absolutely horrible person and is utterly repelled by her.
- What Does She See in Him?: Discussed: at the end, when Roz and Daphne are practically coming to blows over Clive, Niles — not entirely unreasonably — incredulously demands to know why both women are so heated up over him anyway, as "he has all the charm of a cricket bat!"
