Frasier Proves He's A Hypocrite In Episode 2 - But Many Fans Missed It
In Episode 2 of the 2023 "Frasier" revival on Paramount+, protagonist Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) inadvertently outs himself as a hypocrite in a manner that may only be recognizable to fans who are familiar with the character's past on the original show.
One of the core dynamics in the original "Frasier" series is the titular character's relationship with his father Martin (John Mahoney). The fact that Martin becomes a key character in the "Frasier" pilot would have come as a surprise to some "Cheers" fans at the time since in the latter show Frasier claims on more than one occasion that his dad is dead. Martin learns of this in "Frasier" Season 2, Episode 16, and becomes momentarily angry over his son's lie.
In the reboot, meanwhile, Frasier's adult son Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott) turns out to have done this very same thing, telling his co-workers that he lost his father at a young age. Initially, Frasier too feels angry when he learns of his son's behavior. Soon, however, he agrees to pretend that he and Freddy's mother Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth on the original series) only just found out about Freddy's true parentage to help him save face.
Frasier becoming upset with Freddy, then, is a textbook case of hypocrisy, since Freddy does the very same thing Frasier did in his "Cheers" era. However, deciding to help his son rather than expose his lie serves as a principled commitment to their relationship over his own pride, marking an important moment of growth for his character — even in his older age.
Frasier turns cyclical trauma into comedy
Frasier's relationship with an adult Freddy may introduce a novel character dynamic to the fold, but his hypocrisy upon finding out about his son's lie is very much a reprisal of thematic material from the original show. Martin was, notoriously, not always the best father to Frasier or his brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce), and their forced proximity throughout the '90s sitcom brings past traumas to light just as often as it encourages their reconciliation.
Now, Frasier is going through something similar with Freddy. On one hand, Frasier's absence from much of Freddy's life prior to the events of the revival demonstrates that he's not as unlike his father as he might like to think. That said, this situation ultimately ends in an expression of unity between Frasier and Freddy when he helps uphold his son's lie. This act is both an attempt at breaking free from a cycle of bad fatherhood and, notably, a reflection of Martin at his best, when he would affirm his love for his sons despite not always doing the best job of showing it.