Will & Grace: Season 05  (2002)

Theatrical Release Information:
Will & Grace: Season 05

Fans of Will & Grace were taken aback by the series' fifth season, in which plotlines bordered on the ludicrous and the main characters became more wildly inconsistant--and much, much, more abrasive. For starters, longtime friends and roommates Will (Eric McCormack) and Grace (Debra Messing) (he's the gay lawyer, she's the straight interior designer) have a bitter falling out when she decides not to bear his child by artificial insemination, choosing instead to impulsively marry a handsome Jewish doctor named Leo Markus, played by singer-composer Harry Connick Jr.) (the fact that TV journalist Katie Couric is present at the ceremony would seem to prove beyond doubt that the marriage was preplanned as a fall-sweeps ratings stunt, rather than a logical outgrowth of Grace's character). At the same time, Grace's business partner Karen (Megan Mullaly) goes into full harpie mode when her wealthy incarcerated husband Stan throws her over for prison cafeteria worker Lorraine Finster (Minnie Driver), reducing Karen to homeless destitution (for a while, she lives in the family limo!) And Stan's flamboyantly gay buddy Jack (Will Hayes) morphs from harmless eccentric to menacing stalker when he spots Kevin Bacon (one of several celebrities playing themselves) strolling down the avenue. Guest actors this season include Gene Wilder, whose performance as Mr. Stein, the long-missing, hyperneurotic senior partner of Will's law firm won the actor one of the series' four Emmy awards for 2002-2003 (another Emmy went to star Debra Messing, and about time!); Rosanna Arquette as a masseuse who evidently has the "hots" for Grace; Dan Futterman as Grace's gay cousin Barry, only recently and very awkwardly "outed", who briefly becomes the object of affection for both Will and Jack; and Madonna as Karen's new, high-maintenance roommate. As the season winds down, Stan starts divorce proceedings against Karen, who is incensed to find that Will is representing her husband (HER attorney is a greenhorn played by Macauley Culkin)--but the courtroom proceedings are interrupted by some shocking news about Stan. Everything comes to a head in the season's cliffhanger finale, which takes place during an ocean voyage, wherein Grace weighs the possibility of moving to Guatemala to be closer to husband Leo. . .until she finds out about Leo's sexy coworker (Nicollette Sheridan). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide