Frasier and his family head to Boston for a business conference, only to get sidetracked into reuniting with the old "Cheers" gang on the occasion of Cliff's retirement party, prompting everyone to recall many embarrassing memories.
Tropes:
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Throughout the original series, Frasier had few flattering things to say to Cliff himself, though he does show deep down he cares about him, attending his party and trying to raise his spirits when he feels unwanted. He is left exasperated in turn when everyone else turns out not to feel the same and just wants Cliff out of their lives at all costs.Carla: Shh. Here he is. Everyone pretend you like him.Frasier: Carla, we do like him.Carla: Yeah, like that.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- Carla rattles off a list of things that sound unpleasant, but then admits that, despite this, she's never been happier, because Cliff's leaving.
- Her goodbye toast to Cliff. It starts off seeming like she's going to miss him...before giving him hell.
- Birds of a Feather: Norm and Martin strike up a friendship over their love of beer. And drinking beer. And talking about beer. And talking about drinking beer.
- Bland-Name Product: Niles is horrified to find that the wine at Cliff's retirement party is literally just labelled "wine".
- Butt-Monkey: Paul, one last time. Cliff hadn't actually invited him to his retirement party, and Paul clarifies he isn't attending - he just lives in the hotel they're holding it in. Cliff tells him to stay out of the way.
- Call-Back: Obviously, to Cheers, with Cliff, Carla, Norm, Paul, Phil, and Walt Twitchell all returning. Carla and Norm also bring up the time the bar gang sent Frasier on a Snipe Hunt, as seen in "The Heart is a Lonely Snipe Hunter". Meanwhile, Niles inherits the nickname of "whitebread", which Carla had previously given to Diane and Lilith.
- Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Cliff eventually admits to Frasier that he can sense that everyone's happy that he is leaving, and that revelation genuinely hurts him. Cliff then goes for a walk to clear his head, and Frasier heads back into the party and encourages everyone to make toasts in Cliff's honor.
- Didn't See That Coming: Frasier upon overhearing Cliff droning on at the airport.
- Foil: Part of what leads to Cliff's admission is Frasier talking about his own goodbye party. Whereas the gang was sad to see Frasier go and wished him well, everyone is actively celebrating Cliff leaving.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Cliff, unsurprisingly. After years of having to put up with his everything, the bar gang are throwing a party to make sure he won't chicken out of leaving.
- Handwave:
- Why is Cliff's retirement party not in Cheers? Sam was holding a Sox reunion there. (Woody, meanwhile, is entirely absent and unmentioned.) The out-of-universe reason is because the Cheers set had long been taken down to make the Nervosa set, and they obviously weren't going to go to the expense of rebuilding it for one episode.
- Ma Clavin isn't at Cliff's party, apparently having gotten on to the wrong plane.
- Hypocritical Humor: One more go for Norm. Martin suggests, when everything's ending, that he could one day visit Seattle, but Norm demurs because sitting around for hours, doing nothing... just isn't him.
- Irony: Despite Cliff's general desire to be popular and well-liked, he is very perturbed when Paul claims to have always seen him as a role model.
- Little Known Facts: Ol' Cliffy, once more. Frasier finds him in the airport regaling someone with a fact about pumpkins. Much to Niles's horror, Daphne not only enjoys Cliff's complete nonsense, she believes them, too.
- Man Hug: Frasier and Cliff, upon seeing each other at the airport.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Frasier accidentally prompts Cliff to decide he'll stay in Boston, which is kind of the opposite of what the Cheers gang were hoping for.
- Noodle Incident: The old Cheers gang threw Frasier a goodbye party before he moved to Seattle. Frasier recalls one part in which Woody literally grabbed his legs and wept.
- Not Hyperbole: Cliff assumes that Carla's blistering speech about how much she hates him (to the point where she outright says that she'd have preferred "being covered in open sores and thrown in a pit of disease rats") is a grand joke, which in turn inspires him to stay in Boston for good. Carla starts screaming that she wasn't kidding—she really does despise him that much—but Cliff won't hear it.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The fact Carla, meanness and evil incarnate, is cheerful should be a hint as to how she feels about Clavin being out of her hair forever.
- Phrase Catcher: We're treated to one last "NORM!" when he arrives at the party.
- Pintsized Powerhouse: Carla, even though she's not as young as she used to be. When she finally goes berserk and tries to kill / seriously injure Cliff, she needs several grown men to stop her, and she still manages to bust free at least once.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Carla's farewell speech turns into her unleashing all the vitriol she's saved over twenty years of knowing him in one go.
- Required Spinoff Crossover: Carla, Norm, and Cliff from Cheers (along with several prominent supporting characters) make their long-awaited appearances here. With this episode, the only Cheers regulars to not appear on Frasier are Nicholas Colasanto (who died in 1985) and Kirstie Alley (who allegedly refused to appear on a show that "endorsed psychiatry").
- Sure, Let's Go with That: A heartwarming example. When Cliff sees Frasier and the other Cranes at the airport, he assumes they're in town for his retirement party and immediately offers them invitations. Even though Frasier's actually scheduled to attend a conference the next day, he happily goes along with Cliff's claim and brings everyone along to the party.
- True Companions: Frasier is willing to drop everything to attend Cliff's party and see his old bar pals again, saying they were there for him when he was at his absolute lowest.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Unlike Sam, Woody's absence is given no explanation. Weirdly, he is still name-dropped when Frasier recalls his own goodbye party, so it's not like the writers just forgot about him.
- Written-In Absence:
- Sam is busy hosting a Red Sox reunion at Cheers, making it unavailable for Cliff's party.
- Ma Clavin's absence is attributed to getting on the wrong plane.
- According to Norm, Vera would've liked to attend the party, which is why he didn't tell her about it.
