Will & Grace Review: Broadway Boundaries (Season 11 Episode 15)

For much of the season, we’ve been treading water, wasting time and not really moving forward on any of the supposedly key storylines of the season. Everyone seemed a bit stagnated, and it’s only over the last few episodes that things have really started to speed up and get a little more interesting. 

Will & Grace Season 11 Episode 15, “Broadway Boundaries” makes up for extensive lost time, wrapping up some dangling storylines (Karen and that damn baseball team), and pushing others forward so we can get a greater sense of where they’re headed as the series comes to a close.

The episode’s pace is zippy, quick, and funny, and it’s nice to feel like things are actually happening.

I don’t want to complain, because it’s certainly one of the strongest episodes the show has had in awhile, but imagine what the season could have been like if all the writing had been like this over the season?

Karen’s baseball storyline is put out to pasture, and while that likely means we won’t be seeing as much of Vanessa Bayer’s Friday, this is for the best.

Karen herself admitted that she was just working with the team to spite her ex, and this entire story has felt like a convenient way to keep Karen occupied away from the group.

I will grant that the final scene with Karen and the baseball team is certainly one of the funniest moments of the season.

It’s impossible to suppress laughter as Karen gives an inspirational speech to her team about how “being unqualified for something is no match for a totally unfounded sense of self confidence” (a truism for present day culture if I’ve ever heard one) followed by a rousing chant of “it’s not delivery, it’s Digiorno.”

Such a stupid, absurd, completely hilarious moment. Truly the kind of comedy Will & Grace does best.

It still reads as odd that Jack’s bar hasn’t been mentioned since he bought it on Will & Grace Season 11 Episode 13 “Filthy Phil, Part II.” 

Despite that, it’s nice to see him make some actual, tangible progress in his acting career, even if that progress is Third Understudy for Sailor #5/4th Workman.

Jack’s acting career was such a huge part of the original series and played a more significant role earlier in the revival, but has been noticeably absent this season.

Circling back to it feels like a return to form, though I am surprised we didn’t have an opportunity to actually see the audition. That feels like a missed opportunity, both for laughs and a great reason to feature an exciting guest star.

There’s some strange logic in Will’s storyline; while it’s sweet that he wants to stay connected to Jenny (and I genuinely love Demi Lovato’s character!), as a lawyer, I’d expect him to be more intentional about setting strict boundaries with his surrogate. 

I appreciate that Will feels such gratitude, appreciation, and genuine affection for her, though it feels altogether a little out of character. With that said, if that means we get Demi back for the the remaining episodes of the season, I’ll allow it.

By far the strongest story of the episode is the gender reveal storyline, particularly Grace’s journey.

I have some personal misgivings about gender reveals, in large part because they can encourage gender stereotyping, but they are a huge part of pregnancy-culture in this day and age so it’s appropriate that they’re part of Grace and Will’s pregnancy experience this go-round.

The gender reveals on Will & Grace certainly encourage gender stereotypes. Upon finding out he’s expecting a girl, Will breathes in a huge sigh of relief that his daughter “will smell like an expensive hotel bathroom and she won’t be a gross smelly boy [he has] to teach sports to.” Oh, Will. Let’s hope that works out for you.

While Grace eventually discovers that she’s having a boy, her path there isn’t quite as simple as Will’s. From the beginning, Grace’s journey to parenthood has been a bit harder than Will’s. (You might recall her sheer panic on Will & Grace Season 11 Episode 1, “Eat, Pray, Love, Phone, Sex”).

It follows that she’d have more complicated feelings about finding out the sex of her baby. As she spirals and recalls her own loving, but deeply problematic relationship with her mother, including all of the body image issues she inherited from her, it’s hard not to empathize with her conflict.

As special as the mother/daughter relationship is, it can sometimes instill some troubling patterns in our psyches. Grace doesn’t want to perpetuate any of her own neuroses and insecurities as a woman.

As beloved as Bobbie is as a character, I respected that Grace — and the show in general — is willing to acknowledge that some of the patterns that existed between them weren’t always the healthiest. Mother doesn’t always know best, and Grace is concerned about the model she’d make for another woman.

It’s thrilling to see her have that general sense of self awareness, and such immense love for her child that she wants to give them the best opportunity at a healthy self image and identity

Interestingly, this is the exact opposite of how things played out in the original series, and another thing that convinces me they’re trying to “right all the wrongs” of that original finale.

What did you think of this episode of Will & Grace? How are you feeling about this final batch of episodes? 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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