Grace and Frankie S7
IMDb rating: 8.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 86%
First thought: the seventh and final season of Grace And Frankie is a whopping 16 episodes, hooray! Second thought: Oh no, five of them have already aired. Sadness.
Anyway, onwards and upwards. We pick up the tale, no recaps, of these two unlikely friends, played by Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin respectively, with Grace’s husband Nick (Peter Gallagher) out of prison and annoyingly under house arrest with them. Their latest business venture, the Rise Up toilet, is still looking for funding. Sol (Sam Waterston) is skittish after his and Robert’s (Martin Sheen) house is burgled.
As for the various children, Bud (Baron Vaughn) is questioning his career as a divorce lawyer with the law firm he has inherited, and considering a wildly different career path. His brother Coyote (Ethan Embry) is rehearsing a proposal that doesn’t go as planned, while Brianna (June Diane Raphael) and Mallory (Brooklyn Decker) are still butting heads at Say Grace. At home, Brianna and Barry (Peter Cambor) are having problems as well, and not only when she’s introduced to his uptight parents, who get far more than they bargained for.
Driving the last part of this sparkling series are two realities of ageing: Robert’s increasing memory loss, and Frankie being given the news that she will die in three months’ time. It’s specific because it comes from a psychic, and of course Frankie is wholeheartedly on board with her imminent mortality.
With advance screeners, Netflix always asks us not to reveal certain details; this time it only refers to the final episode. I’ve seen it and I know what they mean, and it is so wholesome and amazing I sincerely hope no one on the planet reveals it so each and every viewer can experience that beautiful moment with no advance warning. It’s a poignant farewell to a series that has maintained its style and humour throughout, but there is nothing unsatisfying or left undone.
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