Airdate: 3/13/86
Jack Dalton, a Hemingwayesque
adventurer, drops by Cheers to see Diane, whom he had brief dalliance with
after she broke up with Frasier in Europe. 100% bravado and bluff, Jack wants
to take Diane up in his plane so she can live a little, but she insists she’s
settled down now. They reach an agreement; she’ll go with Sam, and so the three
fly off in his single-engine plane. Things take a turn for the catastrophic
when Jack suddenly keels over, dead as a doornail, leaving Sam and Diane to fly
the plane, and confess they would’ve gotten married when they think they see
death staring them in their faces. All a joke, however, as Jack gets up and has
a hearty laugh at their expense, but they’re not laughing. Safe and sound back
at the bar, they both agree not to confront their deathbed confessions, at
least not yet.
Pretty good, and surprisingly
suspenseful, episode highlighted by the scene-stealing presence of Jack Dalton,
an outsized personality who turns the bar on its ear as soon as he walks in and
picks everyone up! Of course, he’s the catalyst for the real wrinkle here:
another reminder that Sam and Diane are still hopelessly, madly in love with
each other but admitting it would betray everything they’ve stood for all their
lives. In the close quarters of a doomed biplane, all is revealed like a truth
serum, but of course, on terra firma, the couple goes back to estrangement.
Cold open: Frasier helps
Woody deal with a blowhard, and his suggestion to just walk away is heeded – by
the Cheers members who consider him the
blowhard.
No comments:
Post a Comment