Frasier and Niles' long time competitiveness is reawakened at a silence auction where the two spend eight thousand dollars for a lunch with three Nobel Prize winners.
Tropes:
- Auction: The episode opens with the Cranes and Roz attending a silent auction, with none of them being able to remember what the charity is actually for. Frasier and Niles end up competing over who can place the highest bid for the Nobel luncheon, with the auctioneer eventually declaring they can both win. Martin tries to scare off anyone trying to outbid him on a barbecue he wants while Roz tries to prevent Noel Shempsky from winnning the "day in the booth" prize she and Frasier submitted. It's only after the bids are closed that everyone discovers the charity is a cat shelter.
- Sibling Rivalry: The Crane boys' competitiveness gets out of control when they learn the true results of their IQ tests. At the end of the episode they note that their constant need to one-up each other has had benefits in their lives as it drove them to work harder and achieve more.
