Frasier (Season 3)

Season 3 of Frasier is easily the best season yet, implementing more overarching storylines and including tons of fun and entertaining episodes.

Frasier's third season is the first one to have a bit of a storyline, at least for its first half. The season introduces a new station manager named Kate, who starts out ruining Frasier's show and blossoms into a temporary relationship only for Kate to leave midway through the season. I think the Kate arc is fine, it's nice to see a bit more serialization in Frasier but I've never found Kate to be an interesting character or one of Frasier's more interesting love interests. It's Niles's storyline that I found really appealing, as a few episodes into the season, Maris wants to divorce him. This storyline stays a bit more in the background and isn't resolved by the season's end, but Niles's issues with Maris give the great character a lot more focus. Even better, now that Niles's relationship is on the rocks, the show can give his romantic subplot with Daphne a bit more focus as well.

My biggest problem with Season 3 is how it manages to drop so many of its storylines around the middle of the season, with Kate leaving and Niles's problems with Maris slowly becoming less relevant. As a result, the season ends up peaking around the middle, with a final third of the season that is pretty much entirely episodic, not entirely a bad thing until I realized that most of the season's best episodes were around the middle section anyway. Still, the final few episodes weren't awful, I like the flashback-heavy finale that shows how much the cast developed, but it's a bit disappointing coming after Seasons 1 & 2 which seriously peaked in their last few episodes. In terms of overall quality, however, Season 3 is probably the most consistently strong season yet. Its low points weren't nearly as low as the lowest points of the first two seasons, and its highest point was Moon Dance, my favorite episode up to this point. The dialogue and writing was as witty and sharp as usual, and the main cast ended up being as endlessly lovable as ever. 

Once again, there were some top-notch episodes this season, particularly in the middle section:

The Last Time I Saw Maris: This episode blew me away the first time I watched it. I knew that Niles and Maris would have to divorce eventually, but I didn't expect the seeds to be planted so early on in the show! But aside from the shock factor, this was just another genuinely funny Niles and Maris farce that allowed the former character to make a bit of a fool of himself in thinking the latter got kidnapped.

Moon Dance: It never really became important until this episode, but Niles and Daphne are probably my favorite couple in TV ever, or at least they're up there. David Hyde Pierce and Jane Leeves have so much chemistry and some of my favorite Frasier episodes are devoted to the two. Moon Dance has a similar buildup to many other Frasier episodes, but rather to a hilarious bit of chaos, it builds up to one of the sweetest moments in the series with Niles and Daphne's impressive tango and first kiss. I ship it so much!

Look Before You Leap: This is the greatest Leap Day episode ever made and there's no contest. I love how Frasier convinces everyone to take big leaps of faith only for them to pretty much all turn out disastrous, culminating in Frasier taking his own big leap of faith only to embarrass himself on live TV in one of the series' funniest payoffs.

High Crane Drifter: While this episode is probably most known for Daphne's iconic annoyingly catchy "Flesh is burning" song, I really like the concept of this one. Frasier snaps at someone for being inconsiderate and is suddenly named a hero, with tons of people following his lead by getting revenge on people that did them wrong as well. I'm a big fan of Frasier episodes that spiral out of control like this, especially when Frasier himself is the main victim.

Chess Pains: This episode is just plain cute. Frasier driving himself crazy after repeatedly losing against Martin is a joy to watch (do you see a trend in these episode picks?), yet the episode never feels repetitive in spite of its premise. Every time Martin wins at chess manages to be funnier than the last. I also love the subplot of Niles replacing Maris with a dog, who looks like a perfect visual representation of the many hilarious descriptions of Maris that have been made throughout the show.

Overall, Season 3 is yet another improvement with a greater focus on Niles, more storylines, and a general increase in quality, even if not all of its attempts at serialization work.

4/5 Stars