TEXT: Act 1 Scene 1 - Cafe Nervosa Fade in. Roz is at a table, reading intently. Frasier comes over with his coffee. Frasier: Hello Roz. [she doesn't respond] I said hello, Roz. Roz: [looks up] Oh, sorry. Frasier: Oh, don't be. I didn't mean to interrupt your reading. Roz: Actually, I'm doing a little research. I have a meeting with a publisher tomorrow. I'm thinking of writing my own children's book. Frasier: Really? Roz: Yeah, it's a story my mom made up for me when I was a little kid. I tell it to Alice all the time now, and I thought it would be such a kick if I could get it published. Frasier: Good for you, Roz! You know, I dabbled in juvenile fiction myself. Yes, Niles and I when we were boys wrote a series of stories together in which we were the heroes. Along the lines of a "Hardy Boys" or a "Nancy Drew"... Roz: "The Nancy Boys"? Frasier: No. It was called "The Crane Boys Mysteries." We were two plucky lads who used their keen psychological insights to solve crimes brought home by their detective father. Roz: How many of these did you write? Frasier: Thirty-four. Let's see, there was "The Mystery of the One-Eared Monkey", "On Your Mark, Get Set, Die!"... Niles walks in. Frasier: And there was the one where our father was kidnapped and the only clue was a dented Ballantine can. Niles: "The Suspicious Six Pack"! Frasier: Excellent! Niles, pull up a chair. Niles: All right, I will. I can't stay long, though. [to waitress] Latte, to go, please. [He sits.] I'm on the way to the spa to pick up Daphne. Roz: Oh, that reminds me. What time should I be at the apartment tonight? Niles
SUMMARY:
Daphne is returning home from the weight spa after her recent struggles with weight. She reveals that her therapist, Gloria, informed her that her weight gain stemmed from her own insecurity about her relationship with Niles. Niles is hurt and defensive. The next day, Frasier visits Niles at his office to help sort matters out. He suggests to Niles that Gloria's advice might be sound, as Daphne has seven years of Niles' fantasy to live up to; Niles insists, however, that he has a realistic appraisal of Daphne and her virtues. Niles and Frasier revisit several previous episodes in flashback (later incarnations of the characters are edited into the original scenes with chroma key compositing ). It soon becomes clear that, contrary to his protests, Niles has placed Daphne on a pedestal and has formed an unrealistically idealized impression of her and her virtues. Niles is shaken. Frasier suggests that this is because Niles is afraid of embracing the real, flawed Daphne in case her flaws prove too much for the relationship to survive, thus resulting in Niles having spent the previous seven years pining for nothing more than a dream.