When Will and Grace (and Jack and Karen) returned to our TV screens last Friday, they reminded us of a simple truth – not everyone gets their happily ever after.
And that’s OK.
In the first few minutes of the reboot, the cast cleverly explained away the final scene of the original series as Karen’s dream sequence.
When we left Will and Grace 11 years ago, Grace had remarried Leo (Harry Connick Jr’s character), and they had a daughter together named Laila. Will had married Vincent and they’d had son named Ben. Over 16 years, Will and Grace had slowly drifted apart until they were reunited when their kids moved into the same dorm room.
We found out in the first episode that only some of this actually happened. While Grace did remarry Leo, they don’t have a daughter together and they’re currently going through a divorce. Will has also divorced Vincent and they never had a son.
“Oh, what a relief,” Karen says when she wakes. “Nobody wants to see you two raise kids.”
Will and Grace are back living together in their apartment and navigating the dating scene for over 40s.
Jack is also single and living back across the hall, and Karen, well, she’s still with Stanley… so pretty much single.
This is what’s so clever about the series revival – it shows us not everyone’s lives are wrapped up in a neat little bow. When a couple gets together and the movie or TV show ends, it’s not the end of their story – it’s just the beginning.
LISTEN: Why we need Will and Grace more than ever. Post continues after audio…
Top Comments
I've only seen the first episode of the new series and it was funny enough. But I rolled my eyes at how they explained away the absence of Will and Grace's husbands and their now non-existent children.
"It was all a dream" is pretty much the cheapest, laziest trope out there. It's about as far away from clever as I can imagine. It's just an easy way out for writers who make poor decisions for their characters they wish they could take back.
Yeah, just reading about it has convinced me not to watch. I didn't love the original ending, but the whole dream thing is just stupid.