Is Timing Everything?

[bingbangbaby]

Originally Posted by Pat

I suddenly realized we didn't get this wonderful moment of Niles taking the leap of telling Daphne his feelings on his own, without that push of finding out that Daphne had feelings for him.

Originally Posted by Goldilocks

Frasier, while often a "fool for love", at the end of the day, had a back bone. He wouldn't have waited 7 years to tell Daphne how he felt had he been in Niles' shoes

So, as I mentioned before, as I've been re-watching episodes, I've been searching around trying to see if I could identify a moment that might have been a possibility for Niles to tell Daphne how he felt. It seems like there should have been a moment somewhere, but there's big chunks of time taken up by things like being married to someone else or being separated or in the middle of his divorce. So I wondered if anyone had ever noticed an opportunity that he missed, and if so, when was it?

The best I came up with (and it's really not that good) was somewhere in the episode "To Tell the Truth." That's the episode where he's in the thick of finalizing his divorce and Donny is representing him. I wondered if in that moment that Maris's lawyers accused him of being in love with Daphne during his marriage and he got so upset when he thought it was going to come out publicly as truth, if maybe he could have impulsively admitted to her that it was true before she would have found out sitting in the courtroom. It seems like it's close enough to when Daphne realizes she does have feelings for him that maybe it might have worked out, but then again, the stress of that situation also might have killed it. She did say she'd never get involved with a man in the middle of a divorce, but at that point it was so close to the end that maybe it would have worked out. Then again, I've also wondered if Daphne being engaged to Donny didn't actually help her realize her feelings for Niles, and if, without that experience, she still would have been able to see it so clearly, especially through the whole divorce mess. And of course, it's highly likely he didn't even have a chance to do that, because she had to give a statement and he probably wouldn't have wanted to tell her before her statement because then she'd be forced to either lie in the statement or ruin Niles settlement. While I don't see him caring that telling her the truth would cost him his settlement, I do see him not wanting to put her in that position. Then by the time it was all over, she was already with Donny. So who knows??

So, anybody else have a moment in mind that Niles might have missed his chance?

[Schmoopie]

Well I've written this scenario so many times; with him telling her and her telling him that it's hard to actually think of the perfect time. But there were so many... sigh... But I'm glad it happened the way it did. It was perfect...

[Pat]

What about that episode where he was going to tell her and Frasier told him to wait a day and then Daphne ended up going out with the guy that looked and dressed just like Niles.

On one hand I wish we would have experienced Nile's big leap of faith for his feelings...

On the other hand, I think we all enjoyed the dance that they shared in going through what they went through to finally get together.

[bingbangbaby]

Originally Posted by Pat

What about that episode where he was going to tell her and Frasier told him to wait a day and then Daphne ended up going out with the guy that looked and dressed just like Niles.

That's from Mixed Doubles. I thought about that too. That's the episode where he went to the bar at the end to meet her there after their dates had left them. And I think he fully intended to tell her at that time, and he even started to tell her when he said his "heart was never really in that relationship" and that "there was someone else who was too much on his mind," but he stopped when she said "I know I'd never get involved with a man who was separated."

I've often thought there were many times that he could have just thrown caution to the wind and said it and then seen what would happen, but I think, no matter what the nay-sayers (mostly Frasier and Martin) said to him, he still held rock-solid faith that this could really happen for them and that they really belonged together and could have a real chance at 'forever' even though she didn't appear to be interested in him that way. And that's why I think it was really important to him that he took this step at a time when she would be most likely to receive it and maybe be able to return it too. Granted, he ended up taking the timing of it so far that he almost lost her in the end, but I do think that's why he took her words like those above so seriously, and that's why in the end he was able to recognize the exact right time to tell her and then follow through with it, even though it happened to be at her wedding to someone else. Just my thoughts.

[Schmoopie]

Originally Posted by bingbangbaby

That's from Mixed Doubles. I thought about that too. That's the episode where he went to the bar at the end to meet her there after their dates had left them. And I think he fully intended to tell her at that time, and he even started to tell her when he said his "heart was never really in that relationship" and that "there was someone else who was too much on his mind," but he stopped when she said "I know I'd never get involved with a man who was separated."

That scene just makes me want to cry. It's so sweet and so sad in a way.