What I’m Watching: Grace and Frankie

Grace and Frankie: Season 1, Episode 10 “The Elevator” (B+)

This episode offered the rare opportunity for all this show’s characters to appear together on screen, and also presented a flashback that clued us in about the state of affairs in these two families five long years ago. Understanding that Robert and Sol were ready to break the news to their wives that they were in love with each other and that circumstances made them wait five years adds to the drama and meaning of their divorce proceedings actually occurring. Frankie’s comment thanking her son for giving her and Sol five more years of happiness was sweet, and it’s nice to know that these people did care about each other in a way that meant something, particularly Robert sticking around to be there for Grace when she said she was retiring so that they could spend more time together. I wouldn’t have imagined seeing Grace more stressed than she usually is, but her working and dealing with squirt tops that don’t squirt was definitely agonizing. I liked watching a more lackadaisical Brianna step in to take charge and channel her energy by being mean, and to see Coyote and Mallory’s husband getting along pretty chummily. I’m eager to see what transpired during those five years to make things change so much. Mallory’s baby falling out before she could take two steps was an appropriate way to break the tension and ensure that these two families could return to a good point that doesn’t look all that different from how they are in the present.