TMC
02-13-2020, 10:16 PM
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katefryan/grace-frankie-netflix-jane-fonda-lily-tomlin-aging
I’ve always found Grace and Frankie uniquely disturbing. At first, I couldn’t quite pinpoint why. I initially chalked it up to me watching 100% of the first five seasons while 100% stoned. In this Netflix series about two women and their ex-husbands who left them for each other, there are plenty of opportunities to think too deeply about mortality. Lily Tomlin (who plays Frankie, a freewheeling Deadhead) and Jane Fonda (who plays Grace, a type A, martini-drinking entrepreneur) are now 80 and 82, respectively. So it makes sense that I might fixate on the too-close-to-real-life quality of Grace getting a knee replacement or Frankie having a stroke. The possibility of dying at any moment isn’t so much a conceit of the show as it is a sobering reality.
Then the sixth and penultimate season dropped in the middle of Dry January or, in my case, 100% Sober January. In this latest season, Grace is married to billionaire Nick (Peter Gallagher) and her insecurities about being much older than him lead her and Frankie to develop a hydraulic toilet for seniors. Much like the vibrator business they launched at the end of Season 2, this business pushes them to get creative with fundraising, culminating with them pitching the idea on Shark Tank. Other than that major development, the two best friends are up to all of their usual antics involving romantic misunderstandings, social media snafus, and minor run-ins with the law.
I’ve always found Grace and Frankie uniquely disturbing. At first, I couldn’t quite pinpoint why. I initially chalked it up to me watching 100% of the first five seasons while 100% stoned. In this Netflix series about two women and their ex-husbands who left them for each other, there are plenty of opportunities to think too deeply about mortality. Lily Tomlin (who plays Frankie, a freewheeling Deadhead) and Jane Fonda (who plays Grace, a type A, martini-drinking entrepreneur) are now 80 and 82, respectively. So it makes sense that I might fixate on the too-close-to-real-life quality of Grace getting a knee replacement or Frankie having a stroke. The possibility of dying at any moment isn’t so much a conceit of the show as it is a sobering reality.
Then the sixth and penultimate season dropped in the middle of Dry January or, in my case, 100% Sober January. In this latest season, Grace is married to billionaire Nick (Peter Gallagher) and her insecurities about being much older than him lead her and Frankie to develop a hydraulic toilet for seniors. Much like the vibrator business they launched at the end of Season 2, this business pushes them to get creative with fundraising, culminating with them pitching the idea on Shark Tank. Other than that major development, the two best friends are up to all of their usual antics involving romantic misunderstandings, social media snafus, and minor run-ins with the law.