Recap / Cheers S 8 E 25

Episode: Season 8, Episode 25
Title: Cry Hard
Directed by: James Burrows
Written by: Dan O Shannon and Tom Anderson
Air Date: April 26, 1990
Previous: Mr. Otis Regrets
Next: Cry Harder
Guest Starring: Roger Rees, Jonathan Mc Murtry

"Cry Hard" is the 25th episode of the eighth season of Cheers. It's the first part of the two-part series finale.

Rebecca continues to abase herself with her relationship with Robin Colcord. She is incensed to hear that Robin bought Jeanne-Marie, his other girlfriend, a house, and she resolves to break up with him. But when Robin asks her to move in with him, she accepts with enthusiasm.

Rebecca decides to surprise Robin by moving her stuff in early, so she gets the gang to help her move. While they're lugging Rebecca's boxes into the swanky apartment, Robin's fax machine starts to rattle. It turns out that Robin is printing out confidential, internal Lillian Corporation data—using Rebecca's password. The gang realizes that Robin has been using Rebecca as a pawn in a planned hostile takeover of Lillian Corp.

Rebecca, being a sucker, is torn between her feelings for Robin and the urgent need to turn him in for corporate espionage. When Sam and the gang point out that she could herself be held responsible and go to jail, Rebecca finally gives in and calls the Lillian board, demanding an emergency meeting.

However, as Rebecca and Sam are waiting in the lobby of the Lillian board of directors, Robin Colcord intercepts her and asks her to marry him. Rebecca, being a sucker, accepts, and waltzes away with Robin, leaving Sam to expose Robin to the Lillian board.

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Tropes:

• Acme Products: Woody, looking for a new place to live, finds a place with a low monthly rent—at "Acme Self-Storage".
• Beware the Nice Ones: Woody gets a savage burn on Rebecca when everyone's suggesting her computer password. His initial suggestion of "hardworkinggirlnevergetstherecognitionshedeserves" is rejected for being too long, so he suggests "screw up".
• Chekhov's Gun: The episode begins with the gang trying to work out Rebecca's password. At the act break, Rebecca learns Robin's found it out.
• Cigarette of Anxiety: After learning what Robin's done, Rebecca spends the night in her office smoking up a small plantation's worth of tobacco.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • When Frasier tries to clue Woody in that his new "apartment" is not what Woody thinks it is, Woody thinks that it's in Frasier's neighbourhood and he's just being a class snob, rather than Frasier trying to tell him it's a self-storage locker.
  • He also gets a little confused on how physics works when Rebecca mentions Robin messaging her by phone.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Woody is still dealing with the increased rent on his apartment, something first mentioned in the previous episode, "Mr. Otis Regrets".
  • Sam reminds Rebecca how Robin cheated him out of a business deal in "A Bar Is Born", and how they caught Robin with another woman in "Finally! Part 1".
  • Nick Tortelli (Carla's exhusband), gets mentioned. See below.
  • Diane gets a rare mention, when Sam tries calling Rebecca on her unhealthy relationship with Robin.
  Sam: Oh, sweetheart, if I could've sent her to prison, don't you think I would have?
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Carla describes what her first crush did; he stole her car and sold it to another girl, and never had the decency to even apologise. She got back at him by marrying him - surprise, that jerkwad was Nick Tortelli.
• Crazy-Prepared: Sam can't help but be impressed when Robin grabs the incriminating fax and shreds it with a built-in shredder that's part of his briefcase.
  Sam: Boy, you really come prepared, don't you?
• Deadpan Snarker: Frasier's on a snark-roll this ep.
  Cliff: What do you think the toughest thing to cut through is?
  Frasier: Your unending bull.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: One of the all-time great examples of this trope, as Rebecca scans over the confidential document that appears on Robin's fax machine, and realizes what is going on.
  Rebecca: Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute you guys. Let's not jump to any wild conclusions here. Let's just look at the facts. Now, all we really know is that Robin is using my secret password to break into my corporation's confidential files, and from the date on these, well it looks like he's been doing it since, well since the day after we first slept together. So all I think we can conclude by this is I AM TOO STUPID TO LIVE!
• For the Evulz: Carla explains that if she got a pay rise by hacking the company computer, she'd be less likely to dunk customers' ties in their beer, and demonstrates as such with Frasier's.
• Girls Behind Bars: The guys are talking about what Rebecca should do to avoid going to jail, but they get sidetracked with daydreaming about Rebecca in various sexy Girls Behind Bars scenarios with Sam (barely) keeping them focused.
  Sam: Hey Cliff....tank top, no bra, tussle in the shower (after the others hoot and holler) no-no...save it for later.
• Home-Early Surprise: A variation on this, as Rebecca's decision to surprise Robin by moving in early leads her to discover his plot.
• Idiot Ball: Even if Robin didn't know Rebecca was going to move into his place early, it really wasn't a good idea to send an incriminating document to his fax machine, seeing as how she has access to his apartment.
• Ignored Epiphany: Rebecca has a lot of these.
  • Faced with the news that Jeanne-Marie is getting a new house, Rebecca resolves to dump Robin, only to enthusiastically accept when he asks her to move in with him.
  • Rebecca realizes that Robin has been using her as part of his corporate takeover, and resolves to expose him to the board, but when he asks her to marry him she forgets all about the little matter of corporate espionage.
• Manchild: Investigating Robin's house, Woody takes an interest in a room supposedly filled with Robin's fancy toys. Rebecca tells him he's not allowed to play with them. Woody starts pouting, and Rebecca caves.
• Multi-Part Episode: First part of a two-part Season 8 finale.
• Running Gag: Rebecca's lousy standing with the Lillian Corporation manages to reach an all-time low, when one of the board tells Sam they didn't even recognize her name when she tries warning them about Robin, and that they did some digging afterwards to discover the shocking truth: She works for them.
• Sarcasm-Blind: Following on from realizing Robin's been manipulating her, Sam suggests(with blatant sarcasm) that maybe now he's gotten it all out of his system and won't do it any more. Rebecca actually responds, sincerely, "Do you think so?"
  Norm: Gee, Rebecca, maybe you are too stupid to live.
• Suddenly Shouting:
  • Rebecca, having to listen to the gang's inane banter yells at them to shut up.
  • Rebecca's effort to explain away the fax ends with her suddenly screaming "I AM TOO STUPID TO LIVE!".
• To Be Continued: The episode ends with a "To Be Continued" title.
• Too Much Information: Sam, when Rebecca starts describing Robin's butt.