Enfin et Finale (Deux)

Finally and Finale (Two). Finale. I don't know how many of my readers are Will & Grace fans, or for that matter I don't even know how many readers I have, but I am a huge fan of the show and watched the Finale tonight. As you probably know this was the last season, so this was the last show.

**I should warn anyone that follows the show, but missed the finale that I intend to talk about it and will probably spoil it for you so you may not want to read further if you care about that.**



I was really surprised at the way they ended the show. I thought they might end it with Grace marrying Leo again and going off to Rome and Will getting back together with Vince, with Karen and Jack up to their usual hijinks. I expected several tearful goodbyes and promises to visit and so forth. Or as many shows end up, not saying goodbye to each other so the viewers are left with the feeling the characters are going about their lives, perpetually the same as you last saw them. I did not expect them to show you the future of the characters and to get into a discussion of changing lives, moving on and destiny. It floored me.

The subject eerily resonated with a great deal of my thoughts of late, and with those written about on my friend's page (The Zed in my links). It's the idea that life operates much like a television show in that you have similar dramatic moments, cliff-hangers and even cast changes. Often very important and even essential characters are killed off or move away, and the plot keeps moving along with new important and essential people. That idea is shown perfectly with Will and Grace in the final show. After Grace gets back with Leo, they don't talk for two years, and then after a brief encounter drift apart for twenty years before their kids get together and eventually reunite their friendship in the end. I think the last part is a bit of a stretch, but most of that seems very likely.

The idea of two people that connected; the kind of people that finish each others thoughts and know what the other one's thinking, and are that comfortable and invested in a rut, even if the relationship is far from conventional, suddenly end up worlds apart is a strange one to me. It's a struggle I really identified with while watching the show. I have a relationship that in many ways is similar to the one shared by Will & Grace, and it is just as deep, and confusing and wonderful and aweful as is theirs. The primary difference being that Will & Grace are actually actors that memorize a script handed to them by very witty and talented writters, while I am forced to work without a script. I often sit and wonder what twists, turns, and changes are in store for my "show". I wonder what the ideal future and ending might be. Although I have never really spent much time dwelling on the scenario played out on tonight's finale...partly because it is in many ways a sad and scary ending, I now find it to be a very compelling possibility. I'm sure if they fleshed out the years they skipped over in the show tonight, it wouldn't be easy, funny, or totally without regret...but in the end, the characters ended up in very happy and healthy places, and even preserved their tried and true friendship in the end.

I'm not sure what I'm saying in this post, or if I'm saying anything at all. I just know that the Will & Grace finale really hit close to home tonight. The show both saddened me and gave me hope. It made me think of future cast changes, and those that have already happened, and a few I fear are happening now. I tend to avoid change like the plague, but circumstances, distance and the ever-steady drumming of time demand it anyway. I sit here tonight, and wish I could read the next season's script.

Feel free to weigh in with your own thoughts...if you can follow any of my convoluted ramblings, or at least feel free to discuss what you thought of the finale if you watched it.