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| Grace and Frankie |
Grace and Frankie has so many characters with so many issues, it never knows which ones to focus on and which to leave behind -- everything's always happening to everyone all the time! Along the way, numerous plotlines are revealed that go nowhere (so far, anyway -- this is only the first season), most of which involve Frankie's drug addict son whose character keeps growing more complicated without ever really taking off.
[SPOILER ALERT]
Grace and Frankie introduces a lot of players and even though it's enjoyable to see so many older and recognizable actors together and working, the show itself asks too much of the audience for too little in return. The meatier elements are passed-over in order to twaddle about the average, daily affairs of "ordinary" people and the cast is so diverse that it comes off as preachy.
For example, the titular leads despise one another in the pilot yet apparently solve all their differences within the silence of a deadpan at the very end -- while they continue to bicker, their friendship is all but cemented in that single shot. Which... doesn't really work.
The series gets a little steam off the Odd Couple relationship, but it's lost in a mire of other, mostly hot-button, issues including Grace's dating habits, Grace's daughter's dating habits, their ex-husbands' wedding plans, Frankie's interracial step-sons' relationship, Grace's other daughter's pregnancy... Did I mention the drug addict son? He's hopelessly in love with the pregnant daughter. Oh, and the entire premise of the show is that Frankie and Grace's husbands, law partners for some 20+ years, have recently come out as gay lovers... of about 20+ years.
Like I said: There's a lot going on.
And that's the problem: Far from being deep, it's just overly-, and unnecessarily, complicated.
Grace and Frankie starts twice as many ideas as it finishes, leaving really big questions unanswered. It also indulges in the bittersweet without committing to a resolution, making many situations feel even more forced than all of the overly-liberal, incredibly diverse, characters do.
Take, for example, the aforementioned wayward, adopted, drug-addicted, star-crossed son who decides to look for his biological mom -- a storyline developed and dropped in the span of a single minute in a single episode.
It has a loving spirit and an undeniable chemistry amongst the cast, and Netflix grants it a few extra minutes and all the swearing network TV wouldn't, but that may not be enough to save Grace and Frankie. The show needs stronger writing that doesn't feign boldness with a cavalier attitude which it conveniently drops when it wishes to wrench emotion from the audience. If you're going to tackle big, controversial issues -- and so many! -- you better have something more to say about them than, "Good things are good," and, "Bad things are bad."
At its best, it's two-parts Thelma & Louise and one-part 9 to 5 (despite being literally 2/3 9 to 5 to start with) but it's only at its best every few episodes. The rest of the time, Grace and Frankie plays like an afterschool special -- and a disappointing one at that.
Diversity is great and everyone has their issues, but I have no idea who can relate to anyone in this family. Expanding Grace and Frankie into a full hour dramedy would be a step in the right direction but there are an awful lot of characters and (overly-politicized) issues vying for the spotlight in this directionless romp.
© The Weirding, 2015
1 comment:
I too feel this show lacks entertainment. I know it can't be the main actors because they have proven themselves over the years. Is it the directing? I feel the deliverance is off but the main culprit is the writing. This story line with this cast had the making of a hilarious series and someone let us down. I painfully kept watching last night episode after episode and waiting for the delivery of something worth while watching and.......nothing. I was really hoping for something like birdcage comedian deliverance and acting but this was not even close. Sorry they wasted such good talent on this writing and directing.
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