Will & Grace Review: The Things We Do For Love (Season 10 Episode 17)

While the penultimate episode of the season has its moments, Will and Grace Season 10 Episode 17 “The Things We Do For Love” lacks the joyful and playful energy of Will and Grace Season 10 Episode 16 “Conscious Coupling.”

Historically, despite being a sitcom, Will and Grace is not afraid of ending its seasons with more serious finales (see Season 6, Season 8 for examples) and it seems that this season may be heading that direction. Much of that is tied to the fate of Noah and Grace’s relationship.

Despite being the most fully developed romantic relationship of the season — or at least the one that the audience has gotten to engage with the most — Noah and Grace have lost their footing. More on that in a moment.

The most delightful parts of this episode come early, in the form of not one, but two, Jack and Will scenes.

As much as the show pushes Will/Grace and Jack/Karen scenes, it’s fortunate to have a quartet of actors who can easily play scenes in other combinations with equal amounts of chemistry.  

The Will/Jack dynamic vacillates between a big brother/little brother energy and one with suppressed romantic undertones.

While earlier in the season it appeared that the show might finally be driving more intentionally toward a romantic relationship for the two, the last episodes have pushed the relationships between Will/McCoy and Jack/Estefan.

Admittedly, the significant about-face, especially in the case of Will and McCoy, who seemingly went from nothing to living together in a flash, is a bit grating, but at least it is a choice.

With that said, Jack and Will are back to their old devices, which in this case, means Will teases and messes with Jack.

As someone from the arts world, their first conversation, likening how to respond to a friend’s unsavory relationship to how you respond to a theatre friend’s terrible play was right-on. 

Say something nice without getting specific? Drawing out adjectives (“SPEC-TAC-U-LAR”)? Been there, said that. Both about friends’ personal updates that seem misguided and many a theatrical performance. 

Eric McCormack’s faux surprise that if Jack had been bad in Gaybraham Lincoln that he could have relied on these tactics is hilarious but even better is a scene midway through the episode where Jack is panicked and in search of 13 coins Estefan has set aside for an important wedding ritual. 

When Will finds the coins, and, noticing that Jack hasn’t realized this, encourages him to “run around the apartment like a crazy person” to find it, it felt like the most fun Eric McCormack has had all season. 

Karen and Nikki’s storyline is less satisfying. While Samira Wiley is lovely and has a voice like butter, this episode does nothing to add to our understanding of her character or really to understand why Karen is so invested in her.

Furthermore, as this episode picks up weeks after Nikki and Karen first met, we’ve missed the interesting stories and experiences that pop up in any burgeoning relationship.

Given that this is Karen’s first same-sex relationship and new territory, it’s a missed opportunity for character development — on both sides — and comedy.

Will and Grace has been guilty of similar mistakes throughout this whole revival — and particularly this season — when it comes to relationship development. With McCoy/Will, Grace/Noah, Karen/Nikki, we continuously miss out on some of the most essential milestones.

What was Grace and Noah’s first date like? How did McCoy do such an about-face and fall so hard for Will? What was the immediate aftermath of the first time Karen and Nikki slept together? We don’t know and it’s a disappointing pattern.

In the same vein of frustrating relationship development, the central storyline of the episode, surrounding Grace and Noah leaves something to be desired.

Will is concerned that Grace is the only one making compromises in her relationship.

In many ways, this feels consistent with Grace over the years, as we have seen her make concessions time and time again. On the other hand, Noah’s behavior is confusing.

Yes, the show has established he is particular, but he is also the one who pushed for her to move in, so why make him so resistant to her actually moving in? 

Furthermore, he knows she’s an interior designer, so why does he seem so irked that she’s adding new things to the space? Let the woman design.

Grace’s response also doesn’t make a lot of sense. Much of the revival has been focused on Grace finding more of her power so it seems strange that she’d so willingly make herself smaller.

This is the same woman who this season stood up to her father and who boldly demanded Noah be direct about his feelings for her or she was out. It doesn’t follow that she’d revert so much to an overly accommodating partner.

Of all the couples, I would have guessed that Noah and Grace but would be the one to survive the season.

Given his disappointing announcement that he was skipping Jack’s wedding in Spain to stay and see his best friend from college, that seems unlikely. 

Stray observations:

• While I’d never thought I’d say it, my favorite blink-and-you’ll-miss-it bit of the episode was an Estefan moment when he arrives at Grace and Noah’s dinner party and greets Noah with a thickly accented, “Hola, Curmudgeon.”
• Given his sensibilities and his affinity for Jewish women, it follows that Will would make a Marvelous Mrs. Maisel reference. That he would do so in reference to a blow-up sex doll, less so.
• Hopefully, Karen’s bisexuality will be more than just a convenient, easy punchline. Her dressing up as a lumberjack — her vision of a butch lesbian — was a little too on the nose.

What did you think of this episode of Will and Grace? Do you have any predictions for Jack’s wedding? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Will and Grace airs Thursdays at 9:00/8:00c on NBC.

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