While getting massaged, each of the characters reflect on what a disastrous Christmas they had.
Examples:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Martin is amused at the fact that Daphne thought that he was dying. Daphne does not take this well.
- Ceiling Banger: Frasier has a neighbor upstairs who is disturbed by Martin's terrible singing and bangs his floor to make him shut up. They repeatedly ignore him.
- Despair Event Horizon: Played for Laughs with Roz's meltdown at the mall when she finds out that Frasier blabbed to her mom about her pregnancy.
- Even the Dog Is Ashamed: Whenever Martin tries to hit the high note in "O Holy Night", Eddie buries his head in the pillow.
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Martin sings rather hoarsely when singing a certain line in "O Holy Night". Maybe justified since he's elderly.
- Humiliation Conga: Niles climbs the Christmas tree in the elevator when it gets stuck to see what's wrong, but as a result, he gets abandoned by the other people in the elevator, is forced to ride on top of the elevator when it goes up, his suit is ruined by the oil in the elevator and tree stains when he climbs back down the tree and is mocked by a couple of Frasier's neighbors.
- Mall Santa: Frasier has volunteered to do a stint as Santa for charity with Roz as Mrs. Claus. Right before they meet the kids, Frasier blabs that he accidentally told Roz's mother about her pregnancy. Roz can barely hide her fury and ends up storming off wailing about how much she hates the holidays. Frasier covers for her by telling the kids that "Mrs. Claus" stayed up too late the night before.
- Poor Communication Kills:
- Martin being reluctant to clue in Daphne that he is about to be in a Christmas Pageant along with a call from his doctor has her think he's about to die.
- Also, Roz never mentioned that she neglected to tell her mother about her pregnancy, which Frasier points out in the episode.
- "Rashomon"-Style: The episode revolves around each of the characters recounting the events of the day to their masseuse. The "conflicting accounts" aspect is relatively subtle, but present, mostly changing based on how the characters in question perceived it. For example, Frasier's line "We're fine, Daphne." is delivered casually and cheerfully in Martin's telling, while in Daphne's (because she mistakenly thinks Martin is dying) it's delivered in a very somber, ominous way.
- The Tag: Everyone sings "Deck the Halls" in the living room and they once again ignore the Ceiling Banger.
