What I’m Watching: Grace and Frankie

Grace and Frankie: Season 4, Episode 9 “The Knee” (B+)

I guess this show doesn’t provide happy endings all the time. I was cheering when “Longmire,” an acquired Netflix show I love, was referenced by Frankie and Jacob since I know very well that its average audience was much, much closer to that of the actors on this show than my own. Unfortunately, snuggling up to watch the slow but strong Wyoming-set mystery series was part of what did in the relationship between Frankie and Jacob, which was felled not by an act of betrayal or any real event at all, merely a realization that a long-distance relationship at this point in their lives wasn’t what Jacob wanted. Grace has had to help Frankie through a lot in the past, even if this season has been more about Grace coming to terms with her physical decline that Frankie is more than willing to acknowledge, and we may see an overly mopey Frankie in the coming episodes. I really enjoyed watching Nick try to be helpful for Grace only to realize that he had never done anything for himself, and Brianna and Mallory teaming up against him was particularly funny. Coyote was quite chivalrous in trying to respect Nadia not wanting to have sex, but those beans were not helpful enough when he spilled them, forcing him to remove his shirt. Parenthood has been covered in sitcoms so many times, and I’m glad to see that this show is doing well by just showing how lost and frazzled Bud and Allison are by their inability to be sure that they’re doing the right thing.