Frasier (Season 11)

After three pretty bad seasons of Frasier, the original showrunners and writers finally returned for the series' final outing. For many people, Season 11 is a strong return to form for the series. For me, while it is definitely an improvement, it's a far cry from Frasier at its best. 

The season starts by immediately course-correcting from the awful Season 10 finale, as Roz immediately waltzes back into KACL as if nothing ever happened. Right from that moment, you can tell the writing has definitely improved from Seasons 8-10. Once Julia is removed from the scene one episode after, this season mostly focuses on bringing everyone's storylines to a close, and it does so in pretty great fashion. Martin dates and eventually gets married to a new character named Ronnie, who I think is perfect for him. Niles and Daphne finally have a kid. Frasier dates a girl named Charlotte who he ends the series moving to Chicago to be with. I think the season does a good job of bringing everyone's character arcs to a satisfying close. However, there is one story arc I'm not so sure about, and that's what happened to Maris. In the middle of the season, Maris has to go on trial after accidentally killing her love interest. It takes an otherwise interesting premise of Niles reuniting with his ex-wife and takes it way too far, which pretty much sums up my problems with the entire season.

To put it simply, as much as I had a problem with the darker tone of Seasons 8-10, Season 11 went in the complete opposite direction to the point where it feels like the show became a cartoon. Aside from the bizarre Maris stuff, there was episodes like Caught In The Act, Detour, both of Ann Hodges's appearances, and worst of all, Freudian Sleep. If New Position For Roz isn't the worst episode in the series, than it's definitely Freudian Sleep It tries to be a "dream episode" like Buffy's Restless without being nearly as funny, sharp, insightful, or offbeat, instead feeling incredibly disturbing and bizarre (Niles kills a baby? Frasier kills Niles? Daphne inflates?! What the hell was that episode?!). Even the episodes that are generally considered to be highlights like High Holidays, The Doctor Is Out, and Boo! really just don't quite do it for me. As a whole, I think the writing is an improvement over the last three, and the season does have a few episodes I genuinely enjoy, but there are some incredibly painful lows here that prevent me from calling Season 11 a return to form. 

Despite my gripes with the season, there are a few episodes that I can definitely say I enjoyed: 

No Sex Please, We're Skittish: Similarly to the premiere of Community's fifth season, the sheer impact of having genuinely sharp writing on Frasier again was just such a breath of fresh air. I already said how much I loved how the show brushes Season 10's ending under the rug in the coolest way possible, but this episode also has Niles and Daphne learn the latter is pregnant. It's a strong start that may have given me too high expectations for the rest of the season.

Frasier Lite: KACL ensemble episodes are always a treat, and while I know Frasier Lite is fairly unpopular, I found it to be so much fun. Watching the entire KACL staff (including Bulldog) work at trying to loose weight was just a ton of fun, and it led to a suitably frantic ending. This isn't one of the show's best episodes, but it's definitely one of the most rewatchable.

Crock Tales: Yes, I know the wigs in this episode are really bad (Roz's actress claims that was the point), but Crock Tales manages to be incredibly fun in spite of it. I like the concept of following a single object back through time, using it as a focal point to see how the characters have grown throughout the series. Crock Tales is funny, heartwarming, and bittersweet, working really well as a penultimate episode.

Goodbye, Seattle: Frasier's series finale isn't one of the greatest of all time, but I think it's mostly really satisfying. Frasier's goodbye to KACL was incredibly heartwarming, as was Daphne having her kid and Martin getting married. I like how chaotic most of the episode was, it felt like the show was giving us "one last farce" before it goes. Frasier's split-second decision at the end of the finale was a solid dose of character development, though it also ended up being one of the few ambiguous endings that left me aching to know how it all turned out.

Overall, I know a lot of people loved Season 11, but I really didn't. I think it ends the series on a good note and is definitely a strong jump in quality from the last three seasons, but it still feels like the writers are out of ideas to the point where the show became way too cartoonish this season.

2/5 Stars

My ranking of the Frasier seasons is:

6 > 4 > 5 > 3 > 7 > 2 > 1 > 11 > 10 > 9 > 8

My ranking of the Frasier finales is:

7 > 11 > 6 > 1 > 2 > 5 > 3 > 4 > 9 > 8 > 10

Favorite Episode: Ham Radio