In Broad Terms, What Do I Need To Know About Will & Grace To Pick Up Where The Show Left Off?

Cafe Society
1

I never finished the entire original run of Will & Grace. Never watched it on TV, then watched about half of the series on Netflix, then life got in the way, then I forgot about it, yada yada yada. And now it’s coming back.

What do I need to know about the plot and character development over the show’s run in order to be able to make sense of it on Thursday night? I know it came out (heh) that Jack had a son (who would now be in his twenties, I’m guessing), but I’m not sure how (if at all) their relationship progressed. I know that Karen’s never-seen husband died in like Season 6, did she remarry? Did Grace take up with Harry Connick Jr.?

Please give me the gist, thankyouverymuch.

2

edit: The original run dropped on hulu last Thursday, so I’m rewatching that before I start the revival. Man, I forgot how unpleasant Will Truman is sometimes.

3

Jack took up with some super-rich short person who was swept off the 99th floor balcony in a windstorm so Jack inherited Zillion$; Karen eventually moved in with him. The last relationship I remember Karen having was with John Cleese’s recurring character so I don’t remember what happened with her other relationship(s) before she moved in with Jack.

Grace and her husband (the world-traveling doctor) had a daughter; Will and ?? adopted a son; the daughter and son met in college, got married, and the final minutes of the last show depicted Will, Grace, Jack, and Karen having what seemed to be an after-the-wedding-reception drink at some bar.
I always liked Will Truman’s character more. Jack seemed too much like the stereotyped ‘flamers’ I knew in high school while Will seemed less flamboyant about it.

–G!

4

To respond to Grestarian, the final episode has been retroactively derogated…they’re going to pretend the jump into the future for the foursome that we saw never happened so they can continue to tell “classic” W&G stories. Will and Grace still live together, AFAIK. (Which is really kind of sad 20 years later, if you think about it.)

5

I always thought the whole premise was sad from the start, IMO. And I never quite bought how ‘close’ Will and Grace were… Their relationship was doomed to failure, no matter how many twists and turns, no matter how funny the show was.

6

Absolutely. W&G have one of the most passive-aggressive, codependent, unhealthy non-romantic/non-family relationships I can think of that fall short of actual overt abuse.