Frasier: The 10 Worst Things Daphne Has Ever Done, Ranked

In a sitcom devoted to the fussy tastes of noted radio psychologist Dr. Frasier Crane, and his even more fastidious brother Niles, Daphne Moon was a breathe of fresh Manchester air. Originally hired to be the live-in physical therapist for the Crane brothers’ father Martin, she grew to become a valuable member of their little family. A bit of an eccentric, Daphne often claimed to be psychic, and regaled the lads with Grammy Moon stories and recipes of strange English food.

While most Frasier fans couldn’t imagine Daphne being capable of anything sordid, there were several times throughout the series eleven seasons where she exhibited behavior that ranged from the vaguely annoying to downright deplorable. The English rose had her thorns! Here are the 10 worst things that Daphne has ever done, ranked.

10 MADE FUN OF BULLDOG FOR BEING SHORT

Though Bulldog Brisco would have you believe he doesn’t have anything so maudlin as “feelings” to get hurt, the host of KACL’s popular sports program is a surprisingly sensitive guy. When he was won by Daphne in a live auction fundraiser for a date, he never expected her to be the type of person to willfully bruise his ego.

For the evening they go to a sporting event in style, complete with limousine and champagne. Daphne gets properly toasted, and starts to scream raucously out the window at the other cars. She then turns her ire on Bulldog, commenting on his height and his failed relationships with women, suddenly turning what could have been a fun evening into his worst nightmare.

9 SNUCK HER BOYFRIEND OVERNIGHT AT FRASIER’S

While Frasier has what seems like an endless parade of women in and out of his apartment, he’s a little stricter with Daphne’s male guests. By Season 3, he isn’t so keen on being so intimate with Daphne’s intimate life, and explains to her that he’d rather not have to see her boyfriend Joe in the morning while he’s trying to enjoy his breakfast without certain images dancing in his mind.

Daphne has Joe over without Frasier’s permission, and it becomes a huge row between them, ending with Daphne threatening to move out. The two are eventually able to reach a compromise, once Frasier begins to respect Daphne as a woman with her own independent needs and desires.

8 OUTED ROZ’S PREGNANCY

During one of Frasier’s famous Halloween episodes, a farce of mistaken identities takes place. Roz has a big secret – she may or may not be pregnant, and is waiting for a confirmation from her doctor to determine the result. She only tells one person (Frasier), who lets it blab to Daphne.

Daphne on her own isn’t the culprit for what happened next (Niles going ballistic because he thinks she’s pregnant with Frasier’s child), but she doesn’t do anything to stop him from making an ass of himself at his own party for the Library Association. Granted, in some ways, she’s just as dense to the ramifications of his reaction as he is.

7 THREW NILES OUT OF THE HOUSE

In Season 8, Daphne gained a significant amount of weight. With her binge habits out of control, she finally concedes to going to a “fat camp” retreat to deal with her abuse of food. When she returns, an overjoyed Niles gushes over her svelte figure and how much she’s accomplished.

She explains to him that she was only able to lose the weight when she dealt with the crux of her eating problem; that she didn’t feel like she would ever be able to measure up to his idealized perception of her. He dismisses the credibility of this theory, and she throws him out. While he shouldn’t have negated the validity of her feelings, she failed to see that he simply wanted her to be happy and healthy.

6 FOISTED HER BROTHERS ON FRASIER

Frasier acquiring Daphne as a live in physical therapist for his father also included the occasional visit from her bumbling brothers. One in particular, Simon Moon, was known to show up unannounced on Frasier’s doorstep, expecting to be put up.

Daphne acknowledged Simon for the mooch that he is, but at the same time, since she had enjoyed the tumultuous chaos of growing up with him she often found it amusing when he rattled Dr. Crane. Daphne and her crazy family were a package deal.

5 TRIED TO GET BACK WITH HER EX ONCE SHE REALIZED HOW SUCCESSFUL HE WAS

When one of Daphne’s ex boyfriends reappears in her life after five years, she doesn’t exactly look forward to their reunion. During their relationship, he was a deadbeat with few prospects and a poor work ethic. She plans on explaining to him that she’s “married” to Niles in order to throw him off pursuit of her again.

What she isn’t prepared for is how successful he is with his own business, which causes her to try to win back his affection for purely selfish reasons. She does so while still pretending to be “married” to Niles, which causes Clive to view her as a gold-digging liar who he wouldn’t want to date anyway.

4 HAD HER MUM MOVE IN WITH HER AND NILES

Of all the members of the Moon clan, Gertrude may be the most difficult to get along with. A martyr of the highest order, she constantly uses some invisible ailment or difficulty to gain sympathy from her daughter, who she constantly chastises and judges.

Eventually she comes to live with Niles and Daphne, asserting her lifestyle and negative attitude on them as well as Frasier and Martin. Niles ends up having to be extraordinarily patient with her, but then again, after the hellish living arrangements he’s had with Maris and Mel, Gertrude seems like a saint.

3 BECOME A HORRIBLE PERSON AFTER GETTING WITH NILES

Frasier fans have often maligned Season 8 for its poor writing, as well as its representation of courting life between Niles and Daphne. It seemed like once they became an official “item”, Daphne became cold, malicious, and snide. She made significantly critical jabs at Niles’ expense when he wasn’t doing anything to warrant it.

To be fair, the earlier seasons of the series depicted Daphne as a young woman living fancy free in an exciting new city, as well as being given exposure to a lavish lifestyle through her employers. It all changes when she and Niles become a couple, and she feels trapped by the expectations therein.

2 SNOOPED IN THE FILES OF NILES’ PATIENT

One of the worst offenses Daphne ever did was go snooping into the confidential file of one of Niles’ patients. She had been made aware that his patient was becoming obsessed with him in a romantic way, and she was terrified that he was going to leave her for the woman.

She went so far as to go with Roz to the woman’s place of business to get a look at her, but ended up having to run out of the building before she was thrown out by security. It took some time for Niles to be able to trust her again, and she realized that in order to be with him, that trust was an essential dynamic for their relationship to be secure.

1 LEFT DONNY AT THE ALTER

While fans of Daphne and Niles couldn’t have been happier to see the two finally admit their feelings to one another, the timing couldn’t have been more unfortunate. At the end of Season 7, Daphne was all set to marry her longtime boyfriend Donny, but Niles realized he would only have this one chance to tell her that he loved her.

After that, she realizes she can’t go through with her marriage to Donny, and wants to run away with Niles. As exciting and romantic as the gesture is, it doesn’t excuse the fact that Donny was left at the alter, his heart broken at Daphne’s ultimate betrayal.

About The Author

Kayleena Pierce-Bohen
(1344 Articles Published)

Kayleena has been raised on Star Wars and Indiana Jones from the crib. A film buff, she has a Western collection of 250+ titles and counting that she’s particularly proud of. When she isn’t writing for ScreenRant, CBR, or The Gamer, she’s working on her fiction novel, lifting weights, going to synthwave concerts, or cosplaying. With degrees in anthropology and archaeology, she plans to continue pretending to be Lara Croft as long as she can.

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