Frasier is reluctant to go to his high-school reunion just as he lost his job.
Tropes:
- Barbershop Quartets Are Funny: Apparently Frasier's school had a quartet run by the Chess club called "The Checkmates". Frasier dreads having to sit with them at the reunion, viewing them as the lowest of the social ladder. Inevitably the episode ends with him slinking over to sit, and sing, with them after being humiliated by the false news about a new job.
- Class Reunion: The episode's premise.
- Morton's Fork: If Frasier goes to the reunion he'll be humiliated because he's currently unemployed. If he doesn't go the news will still reach his classmates leaving him humiliated in absentia.
- Motivational Lie: Martin claims that Bebe just called with a new job offer for Frasier at a television station. Once he's gone Martin admits what he did to Niles and Daphne, who then realise the owner of the station is going to be at the reunion. Cue Dramatic Thunder.
- Not What It Looks Like: Frasier is wearing old, ragged clothes to do housework when he offers to return a cart of dog-food that Eddie won't eat. Outside the store he spots someone throwing recyclable cans into a trash can and starts to fish them out. At that exact moment an old classmate spots him and assumes that Frasier has fallen on hard times after losing his job at KACL. Frasier insists that his life is fine, but the classmate just thinks he's too proud to admit he needs help.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Roz agrees to be Frasier's date for the reunion and gets dressed up to make a good impression. She angrily points out the effort she put into her appearance twice thanks to his flip-flopping over whether they were actually going or not.
- Shopping Cart of Homelessness: Martin borrows a cart from the store to bring Eddie's dog food home. When Frasier takes the cart back to return the food it contributes to the impression that he's homeless when he isn't.
- You Can't Fight Fate: The title refers to Frasier being convinced that he's cursed to always have a string of bad luck before a high school reunion that results in him being humiliated in front of his peers. He tries to beat the "curse" by refusing to go this year, but then runs into a classmate in a way that makes it look like he's homeless. He has to scramble to make it to the reunion so the classmate won't gossip about him, and ends up being humiliated anyway.
