Frasier (2023) season 2 Reviews

• Paramount+
• Sep 19, 2024

• Paramount+
• Sep 19, 2024

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29% Positive
2 Reviews

71% Mixed
5 Reviews

0% Negative
0 Reviews

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Frasier is back for its sophomore season and going from strength to strength. Longtime “Craniacs” might still yearn for the original but this charming revival delivers a hit blend of highbrow humour and lowbrow buffoonery.

The season has so much going for it. Cutmore-Scott really comes into his own and makes Freddy a more fleshed out figure rather than the blunt instrument he felt like throughout the first season. But there are still times where the beauty and complexity of this father-son relationship is simplified to justify a plot development, and its relative failure always seems tethered to when the joke writing is its weakest.

While some of the gags don’t quite land, it allows us to explore the testing of the older men’s friendship, with the humour undercutting any potential for saccharine sentimentality.

There are also many jokes about Frasier’s enormous wealth, yet the generational divide that underlies them is never explored. As Grammer’s peers have proven, this revival could have been more than a faintly satisfying exercise in 90s cosplay.

The new Frasier isn’t as awful at the beginning of its second season as it was at the beginning of its first. But it’s not great, either. The recommendation is because of all the guest stars that we’re going to see this season and a hope that the first episode of the season won’t be an indicator of what the rest of the season is like.

Even at its best, the Frasier revival doesn’t hit the heights one would expect or hope for. When it’s good, it’s mostly just really fine. When it’s bad, it feels disappointing to even call it Frasier.

The Frasier reboot is playing it extremely safe, and if this is all it's got, it's time for the show to officially sign off.

57% Positive
4 Ratings

0% Mixed
0 Ratings

43% Negative
3 Ratings

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Whilst it seems pretty much certain that this reboot won’t ever reach the consistent heights of the original series, this improved second season shows there is still plenty of life left in this character.

It's not as good as the original Frasier series, but if you judge it on its own merits it's still pretty good with the exception of a few dud episodes. It still feels like Frasier. Hopefully eventually they can get Niles to join the cast a bring back even more charm.