Will and Grace Review: Tex and the City (Season 10 Episode 3)

Will and Grace’s first episodes of this season, the premiere, “The West Side Curmudgeon” and the second installment, “Where in the World is Karen Walker?” had their funny moments (or in the case of Jack’s banana gag, side splittingly-funny), but as a whole, they still felt heavily expository in nature as they set up the plotlines for the season.

This isn’t terribly surprising, but it does influence the rhythm of the show and there is a discernible difference in Will and Grace Season 10 Episode 3, “Tex and the City.” Rather than worry about introducing new characters or themes, the characters simply get to play.

WILL & GRACE — “Tex and the City” Episode 209 — Pictured: (l-r) Megan Mullally as Karen Walker, Debra Messing as Grace Adler — (Photo by: Chris Haston/NBC)

We are not privy to Noah (guest star David Schwimmer) and Grace’s first date(s).

By the time we catch up to them, they are several dates in and are both frazzled, worried that they are going to miss what they deem “their window,” or the period during which they can expect to have sex or accept that their relationship will never be a romantic and sexual one.

The chemistry we saw between Messing and Schwimmer in the premiere was clearly not a fluke, and their exchanges here only made me like them more. While I need to know more about Noah as a person/character, the relationship with Grace does not feel shoehorned in, as love interests often do (looking at you, Estefan!) so I am eager to see where it leads.

I also have to praise Messing’s utter commitment to delivering lines like “He made such good sandwiches, I thought I was into him, but it was just the sandwiches,” while making it look easy. Why did we subject this woman to two whole seasons of The Mysteries of Laura and waste her talent?

The rest of the gang travel to Texas to visit the portion of the border wall Karen sponsored. While initially disappointed, I can appreciate that Will and Grace skipped over the immediate aftermath of Stan’s divorce filing. I trust that the residual emotions will bubble over in coming episodes.

I was concerned by the beginning of this storyline — Karen, inexplicably clad in a catsuit riding a four-wheeler as she races towards the border — feels somewhat like the writers engaged in a game of plotline Mad Libs. However, this storyline ends up being the strongest of the episode.

Thrown in jail with Beverley Leslie (guest star Leslie Jordan) after a run-in by the border wall, Karen manages to have both a meaningful exchange and throw out some of biting political commentary that has been missing from the show for awhile.

Will and Grace can sometimes be too heavy handed with the attempts at political commentary (the revival’s first episode back where Grace redecorated the White House is a great example of that) but it wisely uses Karen, the resident conservative of the bunch, to make some calculated jabs.

Upon discovering that a woman in her cell was detained after attempting to cross over into the States to escape the violent cartel and join her husband and daughter, Karen muses that she should do what other immigrants do to get to America: “Be white, look white, or marry the President.”

What started as a run-of-the-mill joke that perhaps this woman knew Rosario because naturally, all immigrants from El Salvador know each other, evolves into a revelation that the wall is, in fact, bad.

Shocked, Karen explains, “I hadn’t heard one bad thing about the wall and I watch Fox News all the time. I’ve heard a lot about the War on Christmas.”

It dawns on Karen that the wall, or something like it, could have kept Rosario from Karen. As we saw last season, Karen’s love for Rosario seeps out of her as easily as vodka does out of her pores.

Moments like this are when Megan Mullally really shines. She is able to make Karen funny — irreverent, absurdly privileged, prejudiced and judgmental — and then immediately soften her edges and show Karen’s humanity, all while convincing you that both sides are aspects of the same character.

All of this accounts for maybe 10 minutes on screen, which is all the more impressive, taking us from one end of the spectrum to another.

Jack’s storyline is the weakest for me. Concerned that his grandson, Skip, will be teased mercilessly by unaccepting Texans as he performs “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” at a talent show, Jack breaks down into histrionics, high kicking because he’s so exceptionally emotional (because, obviously).

This storyline boasts some funny lines, the best being Will’s aside to Jack that “[he] doesn’t recognize that sound because it’s applause.”

However, I cannot shake the fact that at its core, it does not make sense that Jack would want his grandson to inhibit his self-expression. It runs counter to everything we know about Jack as a character.

The show almost seems to sense its own lack of lack of logic, trying to explain away that Jack is simply nervous because he’s in Texas and worried that they would not be as accepting as New Yorkers, but it still doesn’t work for me.

Perhaps it’s an attempt to support Karen’s story and make a point about challenging our own views, but it feels disingenuous, regardless of the laughs it produces.

While few people can throw a sarcastic barb like Eric McCormack, I hate that his most substantive storyline so far this season is about painting on a fake beard, as funny as it was. I hope next week’s episode gives him a more central, robust plotline.

Stray thoughts:

• Noah’s comment about getting distracted and appalled by the fact that their waitress’ name was Paisley sounds eerily like something I would say—and have said—in my normal life. Am I truly the West Side Curmudgeon?
• The Pixel3 product placement was a bit much. I am willing myself to forget that it happened.
• I love when Jack’s voice pitches higher and higher when he is irritated and this is out in full force as he agitatedly tells a pastor to give him the floor to share his revelations about his Texaphobia: “It’s a teachable moment, pastor, thank you, go in peace.”
• As much as I enjoy the occasional visit from Beverley Leslie, I hope that is the only visit we get from him for a while. I can only tolerate him in small (pun intended) doses.

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Will and Grace airs Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC.

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