Allison Lips – Grace & Frankie

Netflix’s Grace and Frankie attempts to straddle the line between comedy and drama, but falls closer to the drama end of the spectrum than it realizes. It’s not a bad thing because the show’s growing pains are apparent in its first 12 episodes. However, the series hits its stride around episode 6 and will continue to grow in its already picked up second season.

Part of the reason Grace and Frankie doesn’t work as a laugh-out-loud comedy, even though Netflix advertised like it was, is that the eponymous characters are going through a lot of pain and are polar opposites. Grace (Jane Fonda) and Frankie (Lily Tomlin) are constantly going back and forth between admitting that they need each other and hating each other’s guts. At times they have a harder time getting along than they do admitting that their husbands, Sol (Sam Waterston) and Robert (Martin Sheen), are gay and leaving them for each other. To make matters worse, Frankie and Sol are still codependent, which drives both Grace and Robert crazy.

The series would be better if it focused more on Sol and Robert because, let’s be honest, we’re more interested in the coming out of two 70 year old men than we are about their ex-wives. Grace and Frankie are interesting characters on their own, but the show hasn’t fully explored how exactly two law partners discover they want to be life partners.

At this point, you’re probably wondering why is this show my current TV obsession when it’s far from perfect. The answer is simple: Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston are a couple and Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin play their ex-wives. Do you really need a better reason to watch?

For those who want to watch Grace and Frankie, but haven’t yet, even though it is sweet that Sol and Robert are a fairly normal gay couple in the grand scheme of things, it is a little awkward watching Sheen and Waterston kiss. You can’t shake the image of the president kissing New York’s district attorney.

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