Grace and Frankie: "The End" (Which is the Beginning)
Saturday, May 9, 2015 at 8:00PM Another week, another Netflix series debut. It seems like there are loads of them every month, yes? But this one, Grace and Frankie is right up The Film Experience's alley.
It stars two beloved actresses: double Oscar winner Jane Fonda (Grace) and Oscar nominee Lily Tomlin (Frankie) reuniting 35 years after their comedy blockbuster Nine to Five. What's more Grace and Frankie uses, at least as its launching pad, our favorite genre Women Who Lie To Themselves™ and mixes it with LGBT subject matter and comes from the creator of Friends Marta Kauffman. That's a lot of pluses in its column even before you get to its delightfully sweet opening titles sequence involving a multi-tiered wedding cake.
Don't believe whatever early buzz that had people shrugging. It's a lot of fun and it's damn beautiful to see these two actresses working together again. After the jump a quick recap of the first episode with best lines and MVP moments and such.
"The End"
Cheekily titled for a first episode but it applies. The first scene is a rug-pulling as Grace and Frankie's husbands (Martin Sheen & Sam Waterston) invite them to dinner and announce that they're in love (with each other) and are leaving them after 40 years of marriage. The rest of the episode is fallout from that shocker. It's actually beautifully written - the history of the specific marriages very clearly articulated in just two scenes just as they're ending. And Grace and Frankie's personalities are super well defined, not in the broadly comic hippie and uptight bitch archetypes kind of way but much deeper including how they deal with their grief and each others. The long scene on the beach which starts weird, gets really funny, and then ends with heartbreak is a beauty.
Best Jane Moment
I was happy enough.
Best Lily Moment
I've always dreamed that I would spend my remaining years alone. Hummus?
Running Gag With The Best Payoff
Yup, that's a chair with Ryan Gosling's face on it. (Well, he is the King of Memes)
Best Grace/Frankie exchanges
Grace: You do know that alcohol is made from potatoes
Frankie: Alcohol has its own rules
Grace: (stoned) Stop dancing.
Frankie: (stoned) I didn't realize I was.
Taking the Words Out of My Mouth
There's a whole world in there. Wow."
Exactly the feeling first episodes give when they're beautifully executed.
Episode MVP: Though her anger in the restaurant scene is super broad, Jane Fonda's in fine dramatic register in her subsequent scenes with Martin Sheen, alternating between open hostility, and confused self-reflected. And she's fully hilarious while stoned - "am I supposed to be able to smell color?!"
Grade: A- For a pilot episode (though perhaps we don't call them that anymore in the binge-watch model?) it's a wonderfully constructed launching pad with the four leads really registering and upcoming conflicts firmly in place. Not too sure about the supporting cast of adult kids yet (it's a little broad) but that pitch perfect ending between Grace and Frankie, giggling until they're utterly lost again, sure seals the deal on this being a must-see show.
Now what?
Reader Comments (11)
Doesn't everyone have a chair with Goslings face on the seat?
I scoped a few reviews that were sorta mixed but like yourself I really liked this first EP. I LOLed a few times as well. Will watch a few more.
This sounds too good to miss.
up to episode 6 or 7 already; adult kids grow on you (sheen and waterston become less engaging).
Fonda is excellent.
Keep waiting for a reference to Maui Waui - which must come soon.
I just finished episode 2 (I do all my TV watching after the kid goes to sleep, which rules out binging), and I also LOLed a few times. I keep reading things about how the showrunners don't want to have Dolly guest star because they want the show to be more than a 9 to 5 reunion. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to get so much time with the other characters.
I watched the first 3 episodes and really enjoyed them. I hate it every time they don't show Fonda and Tomlin :)
But to be honest the children are obnoxious and their story lines - all too familiar.
But why is Lily Tomlin's character photo airbrushed to oblivion?!
Only pilot is good. The rest is just... i don`t know even know what to say. There`s basically no story.
No characters development, no deep. It`s not even funny beyond the pilot. Husbands are more interesting than Grace and Frankie. Just a big waste.
I binge watched it in two days. It is an entertaining show that doesn't reinvent the wheel or anything. I avoided the reviews completely beforehand. But, I do feel they are actually accurate. Lily Tomlin is the MVP. The show's best moments come when Tomlin and Jane Fonda share the screen (which doesn't happen that often in the first few episodes). Frankie and Sol development doesn't quite work as the season progresses. Whenever Frankie and Sol are on screen, tonally it becomes a different show. The show's biggest weakness is the children. They represent all the stale sitcom stereotypes. I would much rather watch a show that is all about adventures of Frankie and Grace.
To me, the best line was when the UPS delivery guy wished Grace a wonderful day and she said, "Fuck you." That was hilarious.
I have no interest in this. Fonda is a plastic surgery junkie and the premise is pure sitcom hooey.