Will & Grace Review: Of Mice and Men (Season 11 Episode 10)
Alas, the streak is over. After a few episodes showing promise of a season turnaround, Will & Grace dropped the ball, once again delivering an inspiring episode.
That’s not to say Will & Grace Season 11 Episode 10 “Of Mice and Men” doesn’t have its moments, but it mostly feels forgettable and overall, just meh.
Remember last season when there was at least some social commentary or character and relationship development? I miss those days. Why, oh why, is this march towards the finale such a sad one? Someone get me the Grief Panda, stat!
Megan Mullally is again absent from this episode leaving Will, Grace, and Jack to head up their own respective storylines.
Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, and Sean Hayes are fully capable of of carrying plots on their own but the problem here is that none of them are particularly good. It feels like an episode comprised entirely of C subplots.
The most successful of the three is probably Grace’s story with Will’s mother, Marilyn (Blythe Danner, back in all her WASPY glory).
While it somewhat follows that Will’s mother would be concerned about Grace’s desire to raise a baby on her own and try to connect her with potential adoptive parents, the scenes with them still feel bizarre.
The dog breeder background makes sense given that they’re supposed to be people from Marilyn’s circle, but watching Debra Messing be forced to trot around unwittingly while comments are made about her coat and gait are just painful.
She deserves better and so do we.
The thing that salvages this storyline is the end when Grace confronts Marilyn, trying to understand why she had tried to set Grace up with adoptive parents. The moment where the two discuss Marilyn’s experiences parenting and Grace’s firm belief that she can raise the baby and that she’ll have Will’s help, stands out, almost out of step tonally with the rest of the episode.
That moment — steeped in vulnerability, honesty, and finally humor (because Grace expects Grandma Truman to give her kid cash not a silly Gentile gift like stationary or napkin rings) — is what this show does best.
It’s a shame that it’s forgotten so much of this season that its strongest moments as a series are when it finds the absurdities and love within a basic human experience.
Eric McCormack’s story, which follows Will discovering that the baseball player on Karen’s team who made homophobic comments is gay himself, doesn’t fare much better, sans a hilarious comment about Mike Pence’s inability to be in a room with women.
While the Grace/Marilyn storyline is cheesy, Will’s story is worse: forgettable. Almost nothing about Will’s conversation with Hector, who’s struggling to come out, stands out, though I’ll give the show credit that they didn’t try to force a brief fling or kiss between the two.
There was a brief moment where I thought they might, when Will reveals to Hector that he’s gay, especially given this show’s history. I can’t recall too many gay men that Will has shared scenes with over the years that didn’t end up serving as a love interest, so I suppose that’s some growth?
The last story of the night, following Jack and Estefan’s war against a mouse in their apartment is relatable (been there, lived that) and gives us a nice chance to see their relationship, which admittedly, has grown on me over the seasons.
Sean Hayes still can sell the dumbest, most ridiculous bit of physical comedy, which the show continues to take advantage of, but I do wish that there had been another avenue through which we could get another glimpse into the Jack/Estefan dynamic. There’s just not much meat to the mice storyline.
Maybe this was just an excuse for them to make a Sia “Chandelier” reference? If someone told me that, I might actually be more okay with it.
Hopefully, Mullally is back for the rest of the season and everyone will get stories with more depth and meaning because Will & Grace in its current state would definitely not win Best in Show.
What did you think of this episode of Will & Grace? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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Will & Grace airs Thursdays at 9:00/8:00c on NBC.
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Cristina Iskander
Cristina is a Broadway enthusiast, book lover, and pop-culture fanatic living in New York City. She once won a Fantasy Bachelor contest (yes, like Fantasy Football, but for The Bachelor), and can banter about old school WB (Pacey + Joey FTW) just as well as Stranger Things and Pen15. She's still upset Benson and Stabler never got together and is worried Rollins and Carisi are headed down the same road, wants justice for Shangela, and hopes to one day walk-and-talk down a hallway with Aaron Sorkin.