Will & Grace – Friends and Lover

By: Kelly Kearney

Leave your gluten intolerance at the door as the King of Bread, Nick Offerman, kneads his way into “Will & Grace.” In the first episode since the holiday hiatus, BFFS Will (Eric McCormack) and Grace (Debra Messing) share more than their Netflix password when they find themselves dating the same man. It’s thrupple Thursday, and if you’re like me and still singing the song, “Trucks for Tykes,” you just might just be in need a slice of snake venom bread to dull the pain.

A Jingle For You and a Jingle For Me

Its another night of “Netflix and Chillingly boring,” as Jack (Sean Hayes) says, with Will and Grace. The two best friends are trying to enjoy a night of binge watching when their viewing gets cut short by the less than tech savvy Grace. They decide to watch regular TV (do people still do this?) and inadvertently land on a commercial for “Trucks for Tykes” and they subsequently freak out. Jack is confused and asks, “Why the Winona Ryder overreaction?” when the jingle comes on. That is until he finds himself stuck with a relentless ear worm of his own and this thing has some serious power.

The following day, Jack is still stuck with the “Trucks for Tykes” song in his head and it’s so deeply imbedded in his brain he hardly notices himself humming it through breakfast. Jack’s got it bad and that ‘aint good and now this jingle is contagious. Its not long before his partner in crime Karen (Megan Mullally) is hooked and nobody does addiction quite like Walker as it starts to consume her.

As Jack and Karen immerse themselves in commercial tunes, Will and Grace decide to get off the couch and do something productive, like a cooking class. The two friends sign up for a bread making course with none other than celebrity baker Jackson Boudreaux (Nick Offerman). Jackson has somehow combined his love for bread making and his love for love making into one harmonious loaf as he says, “We need both and we knead both.” It’s not long before Will and Grace are smitten. Of course, its no secret how much Grace loves a delectable baked good so, when she catches Jackson’s eye she turns on all the Adler charm. Its true her dough might resemble a kindergartener’s art project, but Jackson is less interested in her ashtray bread bowl and more interested in kneading her needs… so to speak. He tells Grace he likes her but asks her to keep this interest a secret, he doesn’t need their attraction to hit the tabloids. Grace is as awkward as ever, while Jackson flirts with her over his glutinous delights but she isn’t the only one who’s caught Boudreaux’s eye. When Jackson sees Will’s perfect Challah loaf, it makes Will (cloyingly) say, “My Challah makes all the boys holla.” Jackson admits he’s interested in more than his bread braiding skills. By the time the class ends, Grace and Will are both excited for a date with the celebrity baker but neither know about the other’s plans. The fact Jackson asked both Will and Grace to keep their budding romances a secret, leads to the two being completely in the dark about their soon to be thruppling.

The Bread Isn’t The Only Thing That’s Hot and Ready

The following day finds Will giddy and blabbing to Jack about his hot romance with the celebrity baker Boudreaux. Only, Jack can barely pay attention since that villainous jingle is wreaking havoc on his mind. He has tried everything to get rid of that song, even Will scaring him doesn’t do the trick. Luckily, his “Trucks for Tykes” obsession distracts Jack so much that he misses his chance to tell Grace about Will’s new beau.

As Will is spilling the beans to Jack about sleeping with Jackson, Grace is doing the same with Karen who is equally distracted by the jingle and thinks she’s sleeping with her doorman. Cut to later that night, and Jackson has somehow managed to sleep with both Grace and Will on the same night without either figuring it out. Naked and roaming from bedroom to bedroom, Jackson has the best of both worlds and his lovers are none the wiser. That changes in the morning when Grace catches Will bringing two cups of coffee to his bedroom. Will tries saying they’re both for him, but Grace isn’t buying it. That’s when Jackson wanders out of Will’s bedroom, looking quite satisfied and a little shocked the two best friends didn’t know they were both sleeping with the same man. He wonders what they’ve been talking about but, wasn’t he the one that asked them to keep these romances under wraps? From the tabloids yes, but not from each other but, now that the truth s out Jackson has other plans for the three of them. ‘We are gonna have an amazing journey together,” he says as he places all three of their hands together and things quickly go from hot to awkward.

With Will and Grace’s famous competitive nature, the two decide the journey Jackson was referring to will be a two person show. Grace assumes she’s ahead of Will in the Boudreaux game when Jackson invites her to a party at his loft. Not even a minute later Will gets the same text and the two friends are ready to battle for the bread man.

Snake Venom Bread and Threesomes

When the two friends at Jackson’s loft they quickly realize they’re the only ones in attendance. What kind of party only has three people? The kind where the host is dating both attendees and thinks its time to experience them together simultaneously. To get them in the mood, Jackson offers them some snake venom bread which Grace secretly spits into her purse and Will hides in the cushions of the dining area. They might be willing to try this threesome thing, but Adler and Truman draw the line at poisonous baked goods. After the three, break deadly bread, Jackson heads to the bedroom where he waits for Will and Grace to join him. The two friends don’t even make it past the dining table before they flee the loft, leaving Boudreaux in his boudoir, alone with his candles and bread.

With the threesome a no-go, the episode closes on Karen and Jack. After they failed to beat the jingle from each other’s minds in an elevator slap fest that only Mullally and Hayes could deliver, the two head to the emergency room for help. The jingle is bad, so bad that Karen is mistaken for a meth head and Jack is screeching at the intake nurse like a man jonesing for a fix. Obviously, the wait for jingle removal is long and the two addicts hang tight in the waiting area. In their song fueled haze, Jack notices Jackson being wheeled into the ER in need of an antidote to the venom bread he ate. Thank goodness Grace and Will spit theirs out because no amount of venom is safe no matter how good it tastes. Jack quietly confides in Karen that he’s the celebrity Will’s been sleeping with. Shocked, Karen admits that along with her doorman, he’s also the man Grace has been sleeping with. Finally, Grace and Will have what they’ve always wanted Karen surmises. Like any gay/straight marriage between two best friends, they’re finally one penis away from sex with each other and that truth is hilarious to Karen and Jack. So much so, that the laughter somehow erases the jingle from their brains! No, “Trucks for Tykes,” lobotomies for these two, they’re cured, and they owe it all to Will and Grace’s sexless marriage and almost threesome. As they celebrate their newfound freedom, Jackson wheels his way over to Karen for a little flirtatious banter only, she blows him off for not being her type. It’s a wink and nod to real life couple Offerman and Mullally and its exactly why the fans keep tuning in to Will and Grace. The bread might be poisoned, and the het/gay marriage might be virtuous, but the laughs and the jokes keep coming and that’s why, “Will and Grace,” is as timeless as ever.