Recap / Cheers S 11 E 10

Episode: Season 11, Episode 10
Title: Daddy's Little Middle-Aged Girl
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Rebecca Parr Cioffi
Air Date: December 10, 1992
Previous: Feelings... Whoa, Whoa, Whoa
Next: Love Me, Love My Car
Guest Starring: Robert Prosky, Jackie Swanson

"Daddy's Little Middle-Aged Girl" is the tenth episode of the eleventh season of Cheers.

Rebecca's father, Navy Captain Franklin "Brig" Howe, is in town to visit his not-so-little girl, and after Rebecca's last message to the family he has news for her: Having made a total dog's breakfast of her life, Rebecca is to pack up her things and go home with him to San Diego immediately. Sam is shocked that Rebecca's father would issue such a peremptory order to his daughter, but Rebecca seems surprisingly willing to comply.

Meanwhile, Woody and Kelly have an argument over Woody's cramped apartment. Woody insists that he should support the two of them on his meager bartender's salary, which requires living in the apartment, while super-rich Kelly thinks that Woody should get over himself and let the Gaines family buy them a house.

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Tropes:

• Armor-Piercing Question: Sam's attempt to stand up for Rebecca gets immediately shot down by the Captain.
  Capt. Howe: Was it that kind of persuasive arguing that got my daughter into trying to conceive your bastard child?
• Bait-and-Switch: At the end of the episode, when the gang learn what Rebecca's done, Carla scolding asks if Rebecca Howe has extorted money from her own father, forcing him to continue working in his old age, as if Carla disapproves as she has with most everything Rebecca's done over the last two years... then they share a high five.
• Batman Gambit: Capt. Howe never intended to have Rebecca move back in; he just wanted to give her the motivation to finally move forward in life and stop taking an allowance. Problem for him is, Rebecca called her mother for advice about what to do. In response, Rebecca comes back to the bar with packed bags, insisting she is moving back in and completely incapable of living on her own. In exchange for not moving back home, Rebecca manages to talk her father into a 75% increase in her allowance (with her mother secretly getting a cut for thinking up this idea).
• Call-Back: Captain Howe has heard of Sam, and his efforts to conceive a child with Rebecca from the previous season. His only takeaway? "What the hell were you thinking?"
• The Cameo: Ethel Kennedy (Robert F. Kennedy's widow) appears as herself in the cold open. Cliff and Norm get excited, but as they get caught up in the moment they ask Mrs. Kennedy to take a picture of them instead of taking a picture of her.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Apparently Rebecca's sister Susan is, unsurprisingly, doing better than her sister. She also seems to have gotten out of the acting business, but whatever it is she's doing now, she's gotten a raise, compared to the dumpster fire that is Rebecca's career.
  • Norm mentions that he was once in the Coast Guard, something he previously mentioned in Season 8's "Sam Ahoy".
  • Another mention of Woody's crappy little apartment being in Chinatown.
• Death Glare: Capt. Howe in response to Sam pointing out his little plan for Rebecca didn't work. It's enough to make Sam very nervous and step away.
• Gendered Insult: Norm mentions that he was in the Coast Guard, to which Capt. Howe answers, "You must be very proud, Miss."
• Hypocritical Humor: Hearing yet another disturbing titbit about Hanover, Norm and Frasier wonder about what it's actually like there. Frasier figures it's probably just a normal rural town and all Woody's stories are exaggerated (not unreasonable to think, given Woody's memory). But when Norm suggests visiting it one day, Frasier refuses. "Wind up a human sacrifice to the Corn God? No, thank you."
• Just Eat Gilligan: Enough time hanging out with Norm leads to Capt. Howe making the following statement in regards to a certain TV show.
  Capt. Howe: As a man who has 30 years of naval experience, I can say in all confidence that if that crew got together and shot Gilligan, they'd have been off that island in a week. Problem solved.
• Manchild: Remember the tough, competent, takes-no-nonsense Rebecca of season 6? Well, this is not that Rebecca. When her dad puts his foot down, she goes into a screaming meltdown in the middle of the bar that'd make a five year old blush, and storms off into Sam's office. She's also still forcing her father to pay her allowance in her late thirties, and by the end of the episode has arranged it so he'll keep doing it.
• No-Sell: Norm is immune to insults about his time in the Coast Guard. When he brings it up to try and get a free drink out of Rebecca's dad, he just shots back "you must be very proud, miss." Norm, not missing a beat, asks if this means he'll buy a girl a drink. No luck, Norm.
• The Pollyanna: Good old Kelly. Immediately after her argument with Woody she declares, with about as much force as Kelly ever says, that she's totally miserable and even wishes she were dead... then snaps back to her normal, obliviously cheerful self and says "bye" to everyone at Cheers.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Captain Howe turned Rebecca's old bedroom into a sewing room. And not for Rebecca's mom.
  Sam: Your wife sews?
  Captain Howe: (glowering) Don't try to impose gender roles on me, son.
• Reverse Psychology: Captain Howe never intended for Rebecca to move back in. Her plan was to get her angry enough to stand up to him and insist she no longer needs an allowance. As the plan fails, he describes it as this to Rebecca, and he ends up having to pay through the nose to keep her from moving back in.
• Rule of Funny: Somehow, Kelly manages to get herself and all her furniture stuffed inside Woody's tiny, cramped apartment, to the extent there's no more room. How that happened is anyone's guess.
• Saying Too Much: Woody's off-the-cuff comment about how in Hanover the man is king of his castle, and all his "wives" have to listen to him, seems to reveal a little too much.
  Woody: Wife. I said wife—singular. [nervous, fake laughter] I mean, the thought that a man could have more than one wife, that's preposterous. I mean, not to mention illegal. I know that. So do all the citizens of Hanover.