initiated by meghaS on September 06, 2008 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0817082/)
Next-to-last episode of "Will & Grace" allows the show's underrated leads (Eric McCormack and Debra Messing) to do some of the best acting they had ever done on the series. McCormack, in particular, drops the fa-la-la charade and gets us to see Will's frustration over being Grace's caretaker/keeper/mother-father-sibling, as well his confusion and anger about his own passive-aggressive nature ( more
Next-to-last episode of "Will & Grace" allows the show's underrated leads (Eric McCormack and Debra Messing) to do some of the best acting they had ever done on the series. McCormack, in particular, drops the fa-la-la charade and gets us to see Will's frustration over being Grace's caretaker/keeper/mother-father-sibling, as well his confusion and anger about his own passive-aggressive nature (you can see where it has gotten him). Grace, unmarried and pregnant, finds out through a chance meeting with a friend that her ex-husband has called off his engagement and moved to Rome. Not seeing how chasing after Leo would affect Will (who has appointed himself the baby's "only father"), she decides to hop a flight to Italy--while Will has just left his lover after being forced to choose between his boyfriend and his best friend (perhaps his real soul mate). The emotions that come to a head in this episode practically make the looming series finale irrelevant. Telling Grace, "I can't believe I was stupid enough to put you first," Will's explosion reveals so many ugly truths (jealousy, possessiveness, helplessness) that the writing just about obliterates the sitcom shell. It's that precise shell (and it's unreal world of funny narcissists) which, in my opinion, kept "Will & Grace" from becoming a compulsively watchable TV show. Yes, the writing was pretty much always sharp, sometimes two steps ahead of the audience, but the characters were outlines for the bitchy humor (supporting characters Jack and Karen got the majority of the critical kudos because of this). Here, the main characters, Will and Grace, reclaim the heart of the show, and it was about time. Elsewhere, Bernadette Peters carries on the torch of celebrities appearing in kooky guest bits, yet Peters puts herself right out there as Karen's heretofore unseen sister (she follows Demi Moore, Chita Rivera, Madonna, Michele Lee, and even Britney Spears in reinventing herself as a flexible cut-up willing to go out on a limb for the sake of an outlandish laugh). Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes had their dramatic hugs the episode before this (a smart move), leaving this installment available for the leads to shine. They do.
