What I’m Watching: Will and Grace

Will and Grace: Season 11, Episode 12 “Filthy Phil, Part I” (B)

I was surprised to hear that Karen had a new boyfriend since her last dalliance was with Will’s surrogate’s brother, and that had seemed to end a few episodes back. Enter Joel McHale, a terrific choice to play the man who definitely isn’t an OBGYN or a heart surgeon, and is most certainly a con man trying to control Karen and take all of her money. Complimenting Will and Grace consistently made him seem like the perfect catch, but the moment that McHale demonstrated why he was exactly the right person to play this part was in his delivery of a sentence that, repeated in a normal tone, didn’t sound anywhere near as threatening as the way that he first uttered it. After Grace once again fell for Karen’s voicemail prank, it seemed she might be back to heed her friends’ warning, but instead she’s decided to cut them out for life, something that likely won’t last long but could result in her emerging from this bad relationship without her vast fortune. Jack wasn’t the one I would have expected to be able to secure a bank loan to buy a bar, especially since he thought that he looked smart chewing on a pencil while wearing classes, but he managed to do it in a very passionate and impressive way. I also enjoyed that he initially thought Estefan was suggesting Tyra Banks rather than to “try the banks.” This show makes fun of Estefan’s accent on a regular basis, and sometimes it’s really worth it for the misunderstandings that ensue.