Cowering Out Distastefully

I can't begin to express my disappointment in the finale of Willl & Grace. Here you have a show completely dedicated to the strength, beauty and irrepressible devotion between the kind of friendship that can only come from a gay man and a straight woman. And yet with one, swift sweep the last episode managed to dispel all of the hard work of the past eight years.

There is perhaps nothing more sacred, more innocently complex, than the relationship between a gay man and what would have been his wife. I didn't follow Will & Grace religiously. But I did manage to catch most of the episodes in reruns over the years. And the thought that crossed my mind more often than not was, "Wow. They nailed it." I'm a firm believer that what makes true comedy good is that it taps into a universal truth. Something that speaks to some part of us. Something that makes us go, "Oh my God, that's happened to me too!" There is nothing more fascinating than the sharing of human behaviors...especially when we are cowardly or clumsy. Which is what made "Will" & "Grace" work so well.

If you haven't already seen it, the final episode has Will and Grace in an unforgivable argument that results in the separation that was never supposed to happen. It's sacrilegious, really. A petty attempt is made to "hook up" their children in a flash-forward scene. At first, the effect is somewhat sweet. You're led to believe that their children are the perhaps more perfect versions of their selves - the more classic manifestation of true love. But in the end, you are cheated. Because you realize that the real couple, the Will that is so endearingly unsure of himself and the Grace that is so charmingly tactless, have failed you. They didn't make it. They spend the next 20 years apart from each other caught up in insignificant argument. Something that would never happen in real life.

So while I hold my champagne glass up high for an unforgettable series, I refuse to clink my glass in final salute. Instead, I flick my wrist and drink deeply to all the real Will & Grace couples out there who, day-by-day, prove their undying loyalty, and love, to each other. "Queers" to all you pickle biters!