TEXT: Act One RECIPE FOR DISASTER Scene One - Frasier's Apartment. Niles is setting the table for dinner. The doorbell sounds before Daphne answers it. Martin, weighed down with hunting gear, is revealed. Daphne: Hey! Martin: [grumbling] Thanks, Daph. Niles: He-hey, Dad! Eddie runs to him. Martin: Hey, boy. You missed me, huh? Daphne: So, how was your trip, Mr. Crane? Martin: Oh, the hunting was awful. I didn't bag a damned thing. [hangs up his coat] Duke and I sat there for two days just waiting for something to happen. It's like when Frasier took me to see "Nicholas Nickleby." Thank God this time I had a gun! Niles: Dinner is almost ready. Shall I set you a place or would it make you feel better to go out and shoot your own eggplant? Martin sits down before Frasier enters through the front door, looking characteristically annoyed and bewildered at Martin's hunting gear, which are laid on the floor. Frasier: Dad, what have I told you about bivouacking in the entrance way? Martin: I'm sorry. Frasier: Well, how was your hunting trip? Martin: Oh, came home empty-handed. Frasier: Oh, dear. I guess that means for the next several weeks we'll hear you grouse about the grouse and carp about the carp. [laughs at his own joke as he carries Martin's bags over to the hallway] Niles: You've been working on that, haven't you? Frasier: Well, there was traffic! Frasier exits to Martin's room with the bags in tow. A ping is then heard from the kitchen. Niles: Oh, Daphne - I have to take the roast out of the oven. I need the recipe for the glaze. Could you get it? It's in my briefcase; in the "Burnt Sienna" colored folder. Daphne: No problem. Niles exits to the kitchen. She looks at Martin
SUMMARY:
While looking for a recipe in Niles' briefcase for him, Daphne mistakenly opens a file containing case notes for one of his patients. She discovers that this woman, Heather, is in love with Niles. He explains that transference is common among psychiatric patients, but also insists that he cannot discuss any specific case. Daphne, however, is tormented by curiosity, and Roz encourages her to find out more about this woman, even going so far to visit her at her work. This involves another visit into Niles' briefcase, entailing a breach of confidentiality that could jeopardise his entire career if it were known. Martin returns from a fruitless hunting trip, and Frasier is horrified to discover that he has unknowingly brought a cricket with him into the apartment. They cannot catch it, but they can always hear it. Anxious to avoid any solution involving dangerous chemicals, for Eddie's sake, Martin suggests using a gecko as a predator, using floss to pull it back once the hunt is done. The plan works and the gecko eats the cricket, though Frasier and Martin work out that the way it was chirping, it was attracting a mate, and there may be another.