Second Time Around

If you were standing up about to get married and this nosy annoying witch stopped your wedding, would you not have all your and your wife-to-be's female relative beat her a** and rip her hair out?

Good grief folks, how did this meddling witch last this long? what a horrid character!

Just two episodes after Frasier's triumph in The Triangle, here's another one that focuses on the good doctor. This one is also significant because it introduces yet another classic character.

As with Frasier himself, Lilith Sternin is introduced as a minor character - this time the decidedly un-fun date for Frasier. It's clear that the writers saw potential for something more here, and in true Cheers fashion we know we'll be seeing more of her.

Having said that, this episode is all about Lilith's polar opposite. When Sam sees that Frasier needs a pick-me-up, he suggests some no-strings-attached fun with one his old girlfriends. Enter Candi Pierson (with an I - "like Gandhi"), bimbo with a heart of gold. Jennifer Tilly has a voice and demeanour that had been missing since the era of the Screwball Comedy - her forebears are Jean Harlow, Judy Holiday and Thelma Todd.

What's interesting about this episode is that Sam is once again exactly right - Candi really is what Frasier needs to cure his blues. Unfortunately, Frasier takes this a bit too far and decides to marry the good time gal...

This episode even manages to bring it all back to Sam and Diane, as Frasier's near-miss trip down the aisle reflects on their own fractured relationship. This is a fun episode all around, as bubbly as Candi's voice.

Frasier is so blue that Sam decides to set him up with a woman he knows to be fun and a bit vacuous. At first our psychiatrist resists and then is taken with the uncomplicated nature of such a relationship. It takes a hard turn when after sixteen hour, he decides they should get married and she agrees. Well, this sets off an explosion. Some great lines. Also, we have the character of Lilith Sternin appearing for the first time, played by Bebe Neuwerth. We will see her again.