What I’m Watching: Grace and Frankie

Grace and Frankie: Season 1, Episode 12 “The Bachelor Party” (B)

This was a significant improvement over episode eleven, and the occurrence of a bachelor party means that the wedding can’t be far away – almost definitely happening during the season finale, which is next. The bachelor party was contrived mainly because of Robert’s casual inviting of a guest who clearly doesn’t support their lifestyle but who also doesn’t particularly like Sol, which seems to me to be the far greater offense. It was nice to see Robert step in to defend Sol, but I’m not sure that moment was entirely necessary. Its effectiveness is also reduced by the poor acting of Martin Sheen, who used to be so great but just doesn’t do a great job on this show. Sam Waterston isn’t putting all that much effort in either, but Sol is far better portrayed. What I did love about the bachelor party was that it put Bud and Coyote in an amusing situation where they had no idea what to do, and they enlisted Mallory to plan a run-of-the-mill fancy affair for them. That they called on Brianna to spice it up and saw her go too far was even funnier. During this event, it was great to see Grace and Frankie unwind, going out on the town after dressing each other and letting loose in a way that made them feel younger but also truly free. My one complaint is that one of their would-be suitors was played by Creed Bratton of “The Office” and he didn’t even have a hilarious line to utter.