In 2023, Frasier will return to TV screens, and while Kelsey Grammer’s upcoming Frasier Crane reboot should be a celebration of the character, it may make fans confront some uncomfortable truths about him. As confirmed by the first Frasier reboot trailer, TV’s most famous radiotherapist has uprooted his life in Seattle to head back to Boston, where he lived during the Cheers timeline, reconnecting with his adult son Freddy in the process. But things aren’t all tossed salads and scrambled eggs for the pair.
Freddy was a minor part of the original, but has been elevated to a main player in Frasier‘s reboot cast, and is played by Jack Cutmore-Scott (replacing Trevor Einhorn). His relationship with Frasier will be one of the central focuses of the reboot, as the elder Crane struggles to connect with his firefighter son 19 years after Frasier‘s ending. In a perverse twist of fate, Frasier will face the karma of reliving the same relationship dynamic that he and his own father struggled with when Frasier first aired in 1993. And in doing so, the reboot confirms an unfortunate truth about the beloved character.
Frasier’s Reboot Hints Frasier Really Was A Bad Father
In Frasier‘s original run, Freddy was underused and overlooked – prompting accusations that Frasier was a bad father. Over 264 episodes, Freddy only appeared in 9, a stunning statistic that suggests, on paper, that Frasier was neglectful. In reality, of course, the two had a necessarily limited relationship thanks to living across the country (apparently a stipulation for Kelsey Grammer signing onto the original show). And while Freddy was largely absent, the pair did stay in regular contact, and Frasier is mentioned as having visited his son off-screen between episodes.
The first trailer for Frasier‘s reboot makes it clear that Frasier and Freddy are estranged, or at least that Freddy doesn’t hold his father in high esteem. He’s visible put out by his dad’s arrival in Boston unannounced and criticizes him to his partner. This may feel like karma for Frasier leaving Freddy behind when he left for Seattle originally, there’s more to it, and the reflection of Frasier’s own opinion of his father and their relationship condemns Frasier to a certain extent. Martin was an alien to his children, and they to him, because they simply didn’t connect: it’s no exaggeration to think that Niles and Frasier saw Martin as the lesser of their parents, and Martin’s stubborn refusal to credit their achievements uncomfortably confirms problems with his parenting.
Frasier’s Reboot Makes Him Martin’s Replacement
It’s that disconnection that makes Martin appear to be a bad father, at least at first, and while Frasier is snooty and dismissive of his father’s interests and behavior, Martin has to take some of the blame. By his own admission, Frasier and Niles took after their mother, because they were more like them, and Martin was so wedded to his job that he obsessively raked over cold cases after his retirement. The result was the exact same estrangement and detachment that Frasier will face with Freddy in the reboot.
In the most delicious twist of ironic fate, after turning his nose up at his father and taking a position of subtle superiority, Frasier will have to come to realize that he has become his father. In copying the father/son dynamic of the original show, Frasier‘s reboot flips the book on Frasier, and it will be through the lessons of their reconnection that he and Freddy should come to be properly reunited. Sure, they’ll probably have their friction, but that’s where a lot of the heart and comedy will likely come from.
