Title: I'll Be Seeing You, Part 1
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Glen Charles and Les Charles
Air Date: May 3, 1984
Previous: Norman's Conquest
Next: I'll Be Seeing You, Part 2
Guest Starring: Christopher Lloyd
"I'll Be Seeing You, Part 1" is the 21st episode of the second season of Cheers.
It's the first part of the two-part season finale. Sam and Diane are fighting yet again. Sam, it turns out, was interviewed by a local magazine for "Boston's 20 Most Eligible Bachelors". Diane does not take this very well, and when Sam compounds his mistake by admitting that he likes the idea of thousands of women looking at him and wanting him, she tries to strangle him with a telephone cord.
Sam, who knows he's in it deep, elects to make a grand romantic gesture: he will hire an artist to make a portrait of Diane. Cliff connects him with a painter on his mail route, Phillip Semenko (Christopher Lloyd, in the midst of a very busy period in his careernote ). Semenko, an arrogant, haughty artist, arrives at Cheers and meets Sam, the working-class bartender of simple tastes. The two take an immediate and violent dislike to each other, and Sam tells Semenko to get the hell out of his bar.
On his way out, however, Semenko meets Diane. Diane the intellectual knows who Semenko is and is delighted with the prospect of him painting her portrait. Semenko for his part likes Diane from the second he sees her and demands to paint her portrait. An enraged Sam tells Semenko to leave and tells Diane that if she poses for him, they break up. But Diane leaves with Semenko anyway.
Tropes:
- Brick Joke: When Semenko enters the bar, Norm, Cliff, and the gang laugh at his leather buckskin jacket. An indignant Semenko calls it "an Arapaho ceremonial tunic", and the gang laughs more. When Diane meets Semenko later, she says "And I love this Arapaho ceremonial tunic!"
- Comedic Sociopathy: Sam's oversharing and excessive honesty about being glad about not telling the reporter about Diane, and liking the idea of the women of Boston looking at his picture and gawking, leads to Diane attempting to strangle him with a phone cord.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: Sam trying to be honest with Diane makes him panic at Diane's increasingly angry expression.
- Hates Being Touched: Cliff slaps Semenko on the back, and Semenko doesn't like it.Semenko: I don't like to be touched!
Cliff: I can grok that. I don't like to be touched either.
Carla: I bet neither one of you has to tell that to a lot of people. - Hypocritical Humor: Norm tells all about a new Lethal Eatery he's been to, called the Hungry Heifer, with bad service and awful food, which he naturally enjoyed.
- Insufferable Genius: Semenko is an obnoxious jerk who does not hesitate to insult Sam and for that matter everyone else at the bar.Semenko: (to Sam) You, sir are an ignorant man. (To the others) You all are ignorant. You are all stuff to fill graves.
Coach: Don't forget to tell your friends about Cheers! - The Masochism Tango: Sam and Diane's relationship, which has been getting fraught for several episodes, starts getting dark. Sam begins to feel unhappy with Diane's constantly getting angry at him for little to no reason, and notes there's little trust in their relationship, and he's starting to do things just to hurt her feelings.
- Multi-Part Episode: The first part of the two-part Season 2 finale.
- [Popular Saying], But...: Carla's philosophy; "If you can't say something nice... say it about Diane."
- Relationship Sabotage: As they're leaving for the session, Diane expresses cautious optimism that Sam, when he sees the picture, will let everything go and forgive her. Semenko knows the truth—and that's why he wants to paint her, to break her and Sam up.Diane: He'll forgive me. He'll forgive you, and he'll forgive everything.
Semenko: He'll hate it, and he'll hate you for doing it. If you pose for me, it'll drive a wedge between you and him.
Diane: So you won't do it?
Semenko: I'll do it for free. - Terrible Artist: Coach claims he's a good artist. Then he draws a supposed doodle of Norm and remembers he's terrible - it's his brother who has the artistic talent.
- To Be Continued: Ends with Sam coming out of his office and saying "Where's Diane?", after Diane has left with Semenko. Freeze frame, "To Be Continued" on screen, roll credits.
- Troll: The pre-internet version. Sam muses about how he feels compelled to hurt Diane, and he doesn't know why.Sam: I start doing things I don't want to do, but knowing it'II tick her off, I do them. The more it drives her crazy, the happier I get.
