Will & Grace series finale recap: The 5 best burns in Season 11, Episode 18
By Reed Gaudens
Will & Grace takes its final bow as Will, Grace, Jack, and Karen reminisce on their pasts as they each move forward in the series finale.
That’s all, folks! Will & Grace have left the building. The final episode of the sitcom’s revival saw the fab four off into the sunset without big swings, flash-forwards, or decade-spanning feuds. In a sense, the series finale played it safe to correct (maybe even over-correct) for the original series’s polarizing finale, but longtime fans couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful, or fitting, farewell. As one door closes, though not all the way, another door opens to a brand-new beginning.
For one last time, let’s recap the final episode of Will & Grace with the gang’s five sharpest burns. This post contains spoilers from the series finale. Read on at your own risk!
1. “I stopped reading after ‘and so it begins…'”
More from NBC
- It’s Thanksgiving Eve! Tune into the SNL Thanksgiving special to get into the spirit of the holiday
- Final season, release date set for La Brea season 3: Everything we know so far
- Law and Order: Organized Crime season 4 release date revealed!: Everything we know about the new season
- QUIZ: Finish these Friends quotes from “The One With All the Thanksgivings”
- Is Quantum Leap on tonight? (November 22, 2023)
The contents of Will and Grace’s apartment, where they have called home for more than two decades and 11 seasons of television, have been packed away in boxes. But Will still refuses to get all mushy about the past. He went so far as to send letters to the group laying out rules for the big move.
Unsurprisingly, none of them took Will’s letter seriously, and all Karen wants to talk about is the painting on the wall that everyone assumes is of Will, but he vehemently insists isn’t. (He later relents.)
2. “You’re not dying, Judith! You’re just having a panic attack because your DVR didn’t record Chicago Fire.”
During the gang’s conversation about steering clear of reminiscing, Grace thinks she goes into labor. However, it’s just the first of a few false alarms. Jack knows a thing or two about false alarms, thanks to his mother’s devastation at her DVR not recording her favorite show and his fits and starts as a Broadway actor. Estefan interrupts the party to announce Jack has been moved up from the fourth understudy to the third, bringing Jack closer to his Broadway bow dreams than ever.
3. “Yes, you’re my ex-stepdaughter, and yes, we had a four-way for three hours with two of the One Directions, but you know zero about me.”
After Karen receives an email (a concept she’s unfamiliar with) from Stan, she wonders whether she should follow through and meet him at the top of the Statue of Liberty or leave the past in the past. She ultimately decides to give Stan a shot and the gang accompanies her to the meeting, only to discover their cab driver is none other than Lorraine Finster (guest star Minnie Driver). It’s Lorraine’s compelling argument that helps Karen understand that she’s never stopped loving Stan, no matter the money or madness that got in between them.
4. “This is the first good thing to happen to me on top of a woman!”
Jack’s hallway cafe outside his apartment may not have returned, but his inability to remember which jobs he’s currently working does. While celebrating his potential run on Broadway, he remembers his job at the rec center and the bar he owns.
Nevertheless, at the top of the Statue of Liberty, Jack receives the call that he’ll be living his dreams on Broadway. In true Jack fashion, he makes his wobbly debut, fulfilling his lifelong dream. (Anyone else get misty-eyed over Jack and Karen’s nostalgic final slap fight?)
5. “Maybe we’ve been Will and Grace long enough.”
Now that Jack’s dream has come true and Karen got her happy ending with Stan, it’s time for Will and Grace to get theirs. Will learns McCoy (guest star Matt Bomer) returned to New York, and at the urging of Grace, Will goes after him. Although he resists, Will opens himself up to letting McCoy into his new life with Grace.
The series ends as Grace goes into labor, before we can even catch a glimpse of the future life Will and Grace have planned for themselves and their children. Will pops back into the apartment to grab the painting, effectively ending this chapter of their lives. Because the story feels like it’s just begun, it makes saying goodbye that much harder.
dark. Next. 31 thoughts I had while watching Seinfeld for the first time
What did you think of the series finale? Sound off in the comments!
Will & Grace is available to stream on Hulu and will be on Peacock.