Due to Niles and Frasier's repeated failed attempts at making dinner parties, Daphne tries to do one of her own without Frasier's help.
Examples:
- A Bloody Mess: The climax of the chaos sees Niles getting drenched in the red sauce Frasier was making and stumbling out of the kitchen in front of the guests. Not helping matters is Frasier walking out behind him, poultry shears in hand, and bellowing "I'm not sorry! You've been asking for this for years!" Daphne has to frantically tell the guests that it's Not What It Looks Like.
- Complexity Addiction: As Martin lampshades at the beginning of the episode, the reason why Frasier and Niles cannot hold a proper dinner party is due to their need to go overboard. Frasier insists that the dinner party they were holding was simple, Daphne chimes in by saying one of their goats threw up in the kitchen. Also, they somehow convinced Martin to pose as a count.
- Failure Is the Only Option: As Daphne sees the hard way, any attempt by the Cranes to throw a dinner party (with or without Frasier) spells disaster.
- Hollywood Tourette's: At the beginning of the episode, as the guests leave a very unsuccessful dinner party, an enraged woman insinuates that Frasier's also lying about having Tourettes (and he is). Frasier tries (and fails) to prove it by saying "Poop! Hell, damn!". Of course she doesn't buy it, throws a bouquet at him and leaves.
- Hope Spot: Just as Daphne convinces her guests to stay despite all of the hardships, her bed comes crashing down from the ceiling due to the rough sex between her mother and Mike Shaw.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Following the Hope Spot...Daphne: All right. Get your coats.
- Let's See YOU Do Better!: Frasier is indignant about not hosting the dinner party this time and passive-aggressively makes it clear to Daphne.
- Noodle Incident: The episode opens at the tail end of another disastrous Crane brothers' party that involved a flaming toupee, Frasier claiming to have Tourette's, Martin posing as a count and live goats in the kitchen. None of this is ever explained, which is probably for the best.
- Rite of Passage: This, the last line of the episode, by Frasier following Daphne's failed dinner party.Frasier: Daphne, congratulations. You're now officially a Crane.
[Daphne bursts into tears] - The Tag: Niles leaves for work, with the bed still in his living room, and realizes he forgot his suitcase. He shouts at Daphne through the hole in his ceiling for it, and she (offscreen) throws it at him.
- Tempting Fate: Early on in the party, Roz comments on how well things are going. Daphne smugly quips that if she ran into problems, she thought about what Niles and Frasier would do in the situation "and didn't do that". Apparently the Dinner Party Gods were listening and took exception...
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Alice ends up inadvertently causing Daphne's party to go under by drawing on the new painting.
