What I’m Watching: Grace and Frankie

Grace and Frankie: Season 1, Episode 8 “The Sex” (B)

I want to really like this show so much, but there’s something about an episode like this that just feels forced. It’s convenient timing for both Grace and Frankie to start having to think about what sex at 70 is like, particularly because, as they’ve now learned, they were both having sex with gay men for forty years (not all that often, of course). Grace did decently well until she actually got into the bed and refused to turn the light on so that Guy hurt his knee, but he’s been a pretty good sport, bringing a flashlight to aid him in their next encounter. Them dancing together was sweet, but it’s clear that Grace needs a dependable romance more than a revitalization of her sex life. Frankie is on another plane entirely, never stopping to think that her yam man Jacob, played by the terrific Ernie Hudson, might actually be into her, and as soon as she did, she became hopelessly awkward, laughing at nothing at all for an uncomfortably long time. I liked seeing the brotherly interactions between Bud and Coyote, who apparently wants to reach out to his birth mother, which could be interesting. Sol being terrified of Brianna was entertaining, but he’s still the sentimentalist, trying to get her to feel something when both she and Robert are considerably more stoic. As he said when he interrupted their moment, “You just don’t get this with boys!” Sam Waterston is definitely one of the best parts of this show.