‘Will & Grace’ Premiere Recap: So Where The Hell Are Those Kids They’re Supposed To Have?

I don’t know why I was frightened, but after watching the premiere of the reboot of ‘Will & Grace,’ everything’s as if we never said good-bye. Will is still a delight, Grace is still a slob. Jack is still fabulous and Karen … is still drunk. In short — everything’s PERFECT!

Aptly titled ‘Eleven Years Later,’ the premiere of Will & Grace‘s ninth season after over a decade on hiatus picks up exactly where you’d want it to: in Will’s apartment on game night. Not much has changed: Will and Grace are competitively crushing it with the name game, Jack is vainly trying to take a new profile pic of himself, and Karen’s dazed in a drunken stupor. When she’s snapped out of it, Karen proceeds to describe a conveniently familiar dream she had about Will and Grace having kids who get married. Sure enough, the pair quickly tell her neither of them have ever had kids, they’re both divorced, and they’re living together again after their respective break-ups, Grace’s divorce a more recent situation than Will’s. And just like that, we’re done talking about anything that happened in the series finale and go right into a new era. Yay for simple and quick plot devices of old!

Considering that the show’s revival came about after the gang joined forces to encourage people to vote in the last election, it’s perhaps no surprise that the first episode back focuses on how everyone is dealing with the ramifications of Trump being in the White House. With help from Karen’s close relationship with the FLOTUS, Grace is offered the opportunity to redecorate the Oval Office for The Donald. Meanwhile, Will is caught up in an online flirtation with a Republican congressman who stands for everything he’s against, but is just too handsome to resist. As luck would have it, unbeknownst to the other, Will and Grace find themselves in D.C to pursue their shameful secrets.  As you can imagine, hilarity ensues in the form of a pillow fight, in the Oval Office. Like I said — nothing has changed.

If you’re a longtime fan, like myself, you won’t be surprised to know that the standout moments come from scene stealers Karen and Jack. Jack reconnects with an old flame while in the nation’s capitol, who just happens to be a member of the Secret Service. He shares that his life has changed… very little since the last time we saw him. He’s still a struggling actor, he’s still bouncing from man to man to man, and he still lives across the hall from Will. And STILL, he continually pulls focus as Mr. Truman goes to Washington with his flirtation with a POTUS protector . And then — there’s Karen, hilarious and HIGH as ever! From sitting Kellyanne Conway style in the Oval to harassing the new office intern, she’s the same bitchy boozehound that you just wish you could have a drink with every day.

By episodes end, everything is as it should be: Will and Grace decide to keep their living situation a permanent one, Jack will keep in touch with his D.C. daddy, and Karen heads home to be with Stan. (Yes, he IS still alive! That part of the final season did carry over. We still haven’t seen him yet… but all in due time, friends!)

And now, I’d like to end our time together with my favorite Karen one-liner of the episode:

Karen: (while being served a martini in the Oval Office) “What’s with the Laura Bush pour?! Give me the full Pat Nixon!”

HollywoodLifers, did you love the return of Will & Grace as much as I did? Sound off in the comments and let me know!