But part of the bone I'm gnawing on re: The Deal is that I'm not sure Fraser himself would use the tactic Ray uses to resolve the situation. Fraser's pretty clearly *capable* of both deliberate violence and intimidation, I can imagine how he would deliver that sort of a scene...but would he do it, if Ray weren't there to do it for him?

I kind of want to answer that question both Yes and No; I'm really not sure which I believe is the more canon-compliant interpretation. (I think canon portrays Fraser inconsistently, though systematically inconsistently, if that makes sense -- I think there are several versions of Fraser that get used at different points, each fairly self-consistent but not all mutually compatible.)