The Anniversary
The only unfunny episode, which is to say that the show is as close to perfect as they come. Every other one is worth endless rewatches.
Sybil and Basil do not have couple-friends. This is clear from other episodes. Sybil has friends of her own, offscreen only, who she occasionally sees, but without Basil. Audrey, the one who had a hysterectomy, and whose husband cheats on her. Sybil chats with Audrey on the phone, saying, “oh yes, I know.” That’s the extent of their social life.
Except in this one episode, where mysteriously they have a group of 1970s-sleazy friends, who suddenly materialize. Basil’s in context meant to be, in this episode, a normal husband. It makes no sense.
Nor does the episode’s principle source of conflict: that Basil is pretending to have forgotten their anniversary in order to throw Sybil a surprise party. This is extremely sitcom-trope, but not at all in character for misanthropic weirdo Basil.
The Wedding Party
This is an episode partially redeemed by one good moment: Basil running around saying, “I’m so sorry, I made a mistake,” then switching it to, “I’m so sorry, my wife has made a most terrible mistake,” and the guest saying, “I think she probably did.”
It is, other than that, a weak version of The Psychiatrist. Basil is squicky about sex, which, fine. Not much is done with this. And then there’s the bit at the end where Basil and Manuel appear to be romantically entwined (spoiler: they are not), and the joke is that for all his insistence that his guests are perverts for such things as sharing hotel rooms with an opposite-sex partner, it is Basil who is the real freak.
The characters at the center of the action are meh. The young couple, Polly’s friends, are nondescript, as is the stepfather. Madame Peignoir, the Frenchwoman who flirts with Basil, is better but one-note. It’s a passable episode with highlights here and there (“This room is exactly the same…” “Are you by any chance French at all?”) but not one of the finest.
A Touch of Class
The first episode of the show, introducing Basil and Sybil. Basil needs to put the picture up but shouldn’t forget the menu. This is doubtless a sexist premise but it is, in its execution, fantastic and I love it and will not apologize.
The faux-noble, Lord Mulberry, is not great, but Basil’s obsequious response to him is good, if not as good as what comes later, in The Hotel Inspectors.
Communication Problems
It’s a solid episode, and the issues with it are a me problem.
Every time I watch this episode I want it to end differently. I feel too strongly for Basil, wanting him to enjoy his winnings. I find the interactions with the Major, where he forgets what Basil’s just told him, too frustrating.
And it’s the one episode where the jokes seem more at women’s expense than at Sybil’s. It doesn’t make sense that Sybil would be a killjoy in that way, like if either of these two people would be betting on the horses it would be Sybil.
Waldorf Salad
Basil pretending to argue with chef but it’s just Basil. The awful entitled American versus the awful smug Basil. The line about how wonderful it is that in California you can swim then ski in the same day and Basil saying, “Must get rather tiring.” The American having “had to take a backstreet called the M5” because he “couldn’t find the freeway.” The old-lady guests telling Basil they’re enjoying their meal after telling each other it’s disgusting. A middling episode redeemed by being just incredibly funny.
The Builders
“Where is door? Door was here!”
“Which one is man with beard?”
“Men are work. You work, men.”
This is Manuel’s episode.
The Germans
A classic but dragged down by the excruciating fire alarm versus burglar alarm scene. The part with the Germans themselves is obviously special (and anyone who misses that the xenophobic Major and Basil are being mocked is a fool), but the moose’s head scene, where the Major thinks the moose (actually Manuel) learned English “from a book” is maybe the show’s greatest.
The Psychiatrist
“My wife didn’t see how you could manage it at all.”
“I really don’t know Basil, perhaps she’s twelve.”
“You should get yourself something like that.” “-What, for the gardening?”
“There’s enough material here for an entire conference.”
And that’s just some of it.
Basil’s still prudish and snobbish but this episode does something, many things, with it. When he’s at the top of a ladder inadvertently watching a middle-aged couple undress. Too good.
The Kipper and the Corpse
“A man is a man, Mrs. Fawlty.” “-Oh, I know.”
Gruesome and perfect.
Basil the Rat
“Oh, so you’re the rat inspector! Sorry Fawlty, starling inspector.”
An absolute thrill to watch, but with the added beautiful detail that Manuel has named his pet rat Basil. It’s ambiguous whether this is an affectionate appreciation (Manuel thinks, or claims to think, the rat is a hamster) or whether he has, you know, named a rat after his boss.
The Hotel Inspectors
As we have established, Mr. Hutchinson is the greatest of them all. The other guests are types. He and he alone, an original.
Gourmet Night
The boy who wants “bread and salad cream,” Manuel using the duck as a slipper, the entire concept of the hotel for once serving good food, Manuel as the new chef’s love object (which is incredibly not played for homophobic laughs), “It’s not cooked you ignoramus,” and so very much more. “I’m afraid you’ve been given the wrong menu.” “I’ll send you up a menu with your bread and cheese.” “What do you do if you don’t like duck?” “-You’re rather stuck.” An episode with no weak moments. Flawless.
We could not disagree more strongly about the burglar alarm vs. fire alarm scene!
I didn't know Canadians were as clever as that.