‘Will & Grace’ Series Finale: How The Beloved Sitcom Wrapped Up For A Second Time
Published on April 24, 2020.Chris Haston/NBC
The beloved NBC sitcom Will & Grace has come to an end once again.
The series wrapped up for the second time on Thursday, April 23, closing the chapter on its three-year-long revival.
While plenty of guest stars swung by for Will & Grace‘s final bow – including Matt Bomer and Minnie Driver, each reprising their recurring characters – the series finale focused on tying up the storylines of the four core characters, played by Eric McCormack (Will), Debra Messing (Grace), Sean Hayes (Jack), and Megan Mullally (Karen).
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In the Will & Grace series finale episode, Karen began a new chapter with an old flame, Jack saw his career dreams come to fruition, and Will and Grace packed up their New York City apartment to move to their new home in the suburbs, where they plan to raise their two babies together.
“Everything’s going to be so different,” Grace told Will at the end, just before she went into labor. “A whole new life. A new house, kids. We’ve always been just been Will and Grace.”
“It’s okay. Maybe we’ve been Will and Grace long enough,” Will responded, later reassuring her, “We are going to be great.”
Fans of the sitcom never got to see a glimpse of what family life would be like for the duo, but, with the show ending before they become parents–fans will be left wondering what Will’s daughter and Grace’s son’s name would be.
This series finale is entirely different from how the show originally ended in 2006. In the original series run, viewers saw Jack inheriting a ton of wealth, Karen losing all her money, and Will and Grace estranged, each living their separate lives with their spouses and children.
Eventually, the children – Will’s son Ben (Ben Newmark) and Grace’s daughter Lila (Maria Thayer) – met each other for the first time in college, after coincidentally moving across the hall from one another. Furthermore, Will and Grace, 20 years later, also bump into each other and rekindle their friendship.
However, that ending was completely wiped out when Will & Grace returned to TV in 2017.
This time, series creators Max Mutuchnick and David Kohan erased Will and Grace’s children and instead made Grace move back into Will’s apartment after their respective separations. As for the other core members, Karen’s marriage to Stanley is on the rocks, and Jack got a teaching job at a community theater.
Over the course of three seasons of the revival, things changed for the foursome. Will got serious with newscaster McCoy Whitman (Bomer), and Grace and her once-rival Noah Broader (David Schwimmer) found themselves in a love affair. Karen and Stanley officially separated, and Jack married flight attendant Estefan (Brian Jordan Alvarez).
In season 11, Will and Grace set out to become parents – Grace miraculously got pregnant but never learned the identity of the father, and Will hired surrogate Jenny (Demi Lovato) to carry his baby.
In last week’s penultimate episode, Will and Grace find a new home in Walkerland, where they both decided to move to in order to change their lives. In the same episode, Karen came to a realization that she’s in love with Stan, and found out that he feels the same way.
In the Will & Grace series finale, Karen reunites with Stan on the top of the Statue of Liberty, where the duo had their first date.
“I guess it ain’t over until the fat man choppers in over restricted airspace,” Karen said of her ex, who has famously never been seen. She then agreed to marry Stan again. “You’ve done terrible things, I’ve done terrible things,” Karen said. “There are bad people on both sides.”
Simultaneously, Jack got the chance to see his dream of performing on a Broadway stage come true. He typically planned the actor’s first, second, and third understudies. In typical Jack fashion, his performance in the fictional revival of On the Town didn’t go without blunders. His legs gave out after a day of traipsing around the city, he climbed the Statue of Liberty, and tapped throughout the musical.
While at Jack’s show, Grace bumped into McCoy, promoting him to try and win Will’s heart back.
“It was all just so much so fast, getting married and the baby. I got scared. I’m only thinking about the future,” McCoy told Will, apologizing and emphasizing, “the gay guy gets to have his Prince Charming, too.”
In the end, Will remained undecided about his former flame, leaving their future at a “we’ll see.”
The group then reunited back at Will and Grace’s now-empty apartment to say their finale goodbyes. Will finally felt the one thing he had been trying to avoid all day: nostalgia for the life he was leaving behind soon.
“I’m happy for you,” Grace told Will. “Just like you’ll be happy when it happens for me.”