Grace and Frankie: A Season in Review
Netflix’s hit series, Grace and Frankie, returned to our screens on January 15th with the release of Season 6. 13 brand new episodes of love, laughter, friendship, hilarious misadventures and… toilets? SPOILER ALERT, don’t read ahead if you haven’t yet finished the season!
The Season 5 finale went off with a bang – after waking up from a deceiving nightmare in which all the characters’ lives are flipped, Grace (Jane Fonda) and Frankie (Lily Tomlin) realise, yet again, why their friendship is worth fighting for. To throw a spanner in the works, Grace reveals she secretly got married to her rich-rich boyfriend, Nick Skolka (Peter Gallagher). We left the two as they contemplate these decisions on their beach chairs, as concludes every season.
Season 6, as we have now come to know with Grace and Frankie, is full of ups and downs. Grace has moved in with Nick, and quickly realises she will need to find a balance between her new husband and her best friend. She also battles with feeling as though she is Nick’s ‘trophy wife’, and is challenged with this concept when she is introduced to some of the younger wives in Nick’s circle. Grace is also confronted, yet again, with the challenges faced with her age. She realises there are certain things in her new house that cause her major issues, including standing up from a couch that sits quite low to the ground.
Frankie is still living at the beach house, and is, well, Frankie! She spends a lot of her time with Joan Margaret (Millicent Martin), who makes quite an appearance this season. The two of them are a well-equipped match, and get up to all kinds of mischief, including attempting to marry off Joan Margaret when they discover she is about to be sent back to England. Frankie also faces a few love interests of her own, including the return of an old crowd favourite.
confession time: who binged S6 is less than a day? pic.twitter.com/D7tmFgIqpE
— Grace and Frankie (@GraceandFrankie) January 28, 2020
Robert (Martin Sheen) and Sol’s (Sam Waterston) marriage spikes when the two try to plan a honeymoon, and realise they are having money issues. Robert doesn’t particularly help the situation when he donates a large sum of this money to his theatre in order to continue acting. Their relationship is also tested with a medical scare from Sol.
Brianna (June Diane Raphael) and Barry’s (Peter Cambor) relationship takes on many twists and turns on his journey to help inseminate his lesbian friends. Brianna also continues to run Say Grace alongside her sister, Mallory (Brooklyn Decker), whose character remained quite static this season. Bud (Baron Vaughn) and Allison (Lindsey Kraft) tackle some hurdles in their first season being married, especially when Bud encounters an old flame. Coyote (Ethan Embry) continues his fight with sobriety by attempting to make amends with family. He also falls for Bud’s said old flame, but he is able to face his brother and explain his feelings, a big step forward for his character.
This season addresses a powerful message – “Rise-Up”. This is also the cleverly-named hydraulic toilet Grace and Frankie create for Vibrant – their still-thriving business.
Continuing with the issues she faces in her new home with Nick, Grace gets stuck while using the toilet. Being too embarrassed to face Nick about this, Frankie comes to rescue her. After some extensive deliberation, the pair decide to create the hydraulic toilet in order to help those, like Grace, to stand up easier from the seated position – thus the “Rise-Up”.
presenting the Rise Up. she’s chic. she’s sleek. she’ll cradle those cheeks. pic.twitter.com/SRstKCsPRz
— Frankie Bergstein (@suckitaynrand) January 30, 2020
The message “Rise-Up” is then continually addressed throughout the season. Anything from Grace rising up to face her problems, to Frankie rising up and facing the consequences of her decisions, to Robert and Sol rising up to deal with issues in their marriage. This message was also mirrored on the Grace and Frankie Instagram page, asking the question, “What did you rise up for today?”
Once again, Grace and Frankie have returned to teach us to embrace life and live it to the fullest. With the “Rise-Up” theme, the show again delivers a strong influence over its viewers, and though many themes are recurring, this show just keeps on delivering. Bring on Season 7!
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