As Grace hurries about the apartment getting ready for work, Will suggests lunch, then dinner to Grace; she can't do either because she's busy. Will exclaims, "Grace, you've been working seven days a week. I haven't seen you in like - forever!" Grace promises they'll do something soon - or the day after soon. As she rushes out she passes Jack, greeting him with, "Hi Jack. Bye Jack."
Jack turns, calling after her, "Dad?! Was that you?!" The door closes after her.
Plot 2: Perry Gayson: The Case Of Just Jack
Jack reminds Will that his court date is this afternoon and asks if Will has any last minute advice. Will replies, "Yeah - you shouldn't have slapped a meter maid!" Will has already advised Jack what to say and do, although Jack has made some adjustments. Will warns him not to do the whole 'Perry Gayson thing', and then asks when he's going downtown to the courthouse. Jack goes into a rendition of Petula Clarke’s ‘Downtown’; Will grabs him by the scuff of the neck and tells him to take it seriously.
Jack asks him for some money to get blonde highlights, Will tells him to stick lemon on his head, then leaves the apartment.
Plot 1: Elevator Chanteuse
Will gets into the elevator humming 'Downtown', a woman in the elevator joins in, then gets off at the second floor, they exchange a smile as she passes Will.
Plot 2: Deadbeat Walking
Jack enters Will's office in an orange jump suit, causing Will to remark "and they said Tinkey-Winkey was the only gay tele-tubby!" Jack looks unamused, he was given forty hours community service picking up trash. Jack is astonished that his hard earned tax dollars are used to prosecute people like him who did nothing wrong. Will points out that he "Zsa-Zsa'd a meter maid" which is against the law.
Putting on a Hungarian accent, Jack replies "Yah, vell the law sucks dahling!" Then asks Will to take him to dinner for his last meal. Will explains that he already has plans with Grace, then phones her to confirm.
Plot 1: We’ll Meet Again...Don’t Know Where...Don’t Know When...
At Grace's studio, Karen answers the phone to Will. Grace picks up and cancels on him because the rugs and curtains in the Snydermen's townhouse have to be ripped out.
In Will's office, while he is on the phone, Jack flicks paperclips at him, declaring, "Tell Karen I love her!"
In Grace's studio, Grace tells Will that she's going to be working late.
In Will's office, Jack crawls onto Will's desk and pulls at the phone cord, saying "Tell Karen I want to French-kiss her when I see her." Will says goodbye to Grace and hangs up.
Plot 1: Dirty Laundry
Will takes his washing to the laundry room where he meets Val, the woman from the elevator. She remembers him, claiming she caught his act between floors nine and two. Will retorts, "All those years on the escalator really paid off!" Then introduces himself properly. Val tells him she’s just moved into the building and is recently divorced, but has now been "de-magnetised" as a jackass magnet. Will applauds her, Val takes a bow. She guesses that Will is gay and asks him if he wants to go to dinner, as friends.
Plot 1: Out With The Old, In With The New
At Grace's studio, a stressed-out Grace is unsuccessfully attempting to fluff the pillow of a chair, proclaiming frustratedly, "What is this over-stuffed bigness?! This chair is where foam goes to die!" Noticing how pressurized Grace is, Karen, who is filing her nails, stops to tell Grace that whenever she gets stressed out she likes to - then stops as she realises that she's never actually been stressed out. Walking towards Grace she says, "Why would I be? I've got practically no responsibilities, my jobs a breeze and I've got a killer rack - good morning!" Karen breaks into laughter, leaning on Grace and then doubles over the table, she sighs and straightens up, then continues to file her nails.
Grace smiles and strokes Karen's arm, telling her that when she was laughing, she got "the cutest little wrinkles" on her face. Panicked, Karen rushes over to the mirror to examine her face, Grace remarks, "Feel that?! That's stress!" Karen scowls at Grace.
Will and Val walk into the studio. Will introduces Grace to Val, they shake hands. He point to Karen and claims, "She - I use this term loosely - works here." Karen and Val shake hands. Karen declares, "Well, any friend of Will's..." then looks uncertain, "Grace... ?!" and moves back to her desk. Grace tells Val that Will has said the best things about her, and she’s sorry, but she can’t make lunch with them, Will is disappointed. Val and Will exchange a little friendly banter. Repulsed, Karen exclaims, "Get out already!"
Will tells Grace that he will see her sometime before autumn. They turn to leave when Val spots an eyelash on Will’s cheek, she removes it with her finger, then holds out her finger and tells him to make a wish, he does and blows the eyelash away. He looks over at Karen, "No, she’s still here!" They leave.
Karen tells Grace that she doesn’t like the way Val is "so chummy with your husband." Grace asks Karen not to refer to Will as her husband. Karen concedes, "Alright, fine... I don’t like how chummy she is with your non-romantic life-partner!" and shakes her bottle of nail polish. Grace claims that she’s glad Will has a new friend.
Plot 1: My Best Pal Ain’t Called Val
Back at the apartment, Rob, Ellen, Val and Will are playing Pyramid, Will and Val are winning. Will dips her in celebration, Grace walks in, having just popped home to change for a meeting. Rob claims that Will and Val are awesome at Pyramid, Grace reminds them that she and Will are champions and that they once finished a round in two minutes and fourteen seconds ... which is exactly the same time Will and Val finished their last round. Everyone laughs at the co-incidence and Val claims, "see Grace, we’re the same." Grace looks disgruntled, as the others leave for their dinner reservations, Will accidentally calls Grace ‘Val’, and she’s devastated.
Plot 1: What To Do When Your Non-Romantic Life-Partner Dips Out On You
At Grace’s studio, Grace is relaying the previous evening’s events to Karen, who shakes her head disapprovingly, claiming, "oldest story in the world, honey. Boy meets girl, boy meets new girl, boy dips girl, boy sleeps with boys- wait a minute...maybe that’s not the oldest story!"
Karen advises her to "work it a little bit" if she wants to hold onto her man. Grace decides to call him and arrange lunch, Karen tells her not to bother because he’s not in his office, he’s off sick. Grace can’t believe that she didn’t know Will was sick. She calls him at home and Val answers. Grace hangs up and turns to Karen, "taking care of him when he’s sick - could she be more hateful?!"
Plot 1: Grace, Displaced
Grace rushes into the apartment, Will is on the sofa wrapped in a blanket and Val is preparing split pea soup for him. Grace tries to comfort Will and tells Val that she can go home now that she’s here. Val tells Grace to go back to work because she’s got it covered.
Plot 2: Miss Demeanour
At Grace’s studio Jack, in his orange jump suit and rubbish collection bag, is complaining to Karen about his community service duties. "I bitch-slapped the law and the law won!" He tells her, Karen strokes his arm comfortingly. Jack tells her that New Yorkers are pigs and pulls a phone bill out of his rubbish sack, the bill just happens to belong to "Soon-Yi Allen", excitedly, Karen suggests that they make some prank phone calls.
She picks-up the phone, ready to dial when Jack snatches the bill out of her hand, declaring, "No! That would be wrong...if there’s one thing I’ve learnt from this experience it’s that you need to respect the rights of others!" After a pause, they both break into laughter. Karen moves beside Jack, picking-up the phone as Jack claims, "I can’t believe I got that all out with a straight face!"
Plot 1: The Hand That Stirs The Split Pea Soup
At Will and Grace’s apartment Val carries a tray with a bowl of soup over to the couch. Grace tries to take the tray, they quarrel and both pull at the tray, it tips, spilling soup all over Will, who yells in pain and retreats to his room to change clothes.
In the most supportive way, Val tells Grace that she seems "very threatened and insecure." Grace orders her to get out. Before she goes, Val tells Grace that she has a soup stain on her blouse and goes to wipe it, as Grace pushes Val’s hand away, the pocket of her blouse is ripped away - revealing her white bra underneath. Grace blames Val, crying out, "Look what you did!... this was a really expensive blouse." She reaches out and tears Val’s collar, which practically rips her shirt in half, claiming that Val had some soup on her collar. Val moves forwards and rips both sleeves from Grace’s shirt saying, "I’m so sorry ... I thought that was soup, but I guess it was part of the pattern!"
Grace declares that they’re both behaving childishly and should stop. Val agrees and turns to get her coat, Grace lunges at her from behind and wrestles her to the floor. As they fight, Will comes out of his bedroom and watches them, muttering to himself, "once again, girl-on-girl action and it’s totally lost on me!" Then he intervenes, pulling them apart and asking what’s going on.
Grace explains that she’s been really busy lately, and feels as if "that wacko" has replaced her!
"It takes one to replace one!" retorts Will, he then asks if she’s jealous of his friendship with Val. Grace laughs, "No! Are you kidding?! Like I would be... Like I would even... yes I’m totally jealous!"
Will sits beside her on the couch and assures her that she is and will always be his best friend. Grace is insecure because recently it hasn’t felt that way, Will says this is because she hasn’t been around lately.
Grace and Val make-up. Val asks if she can borrow a shirt from Grace to wear back to her apartment. “You know what – I have a great turtle neck that will cover-up that welt… that I gave you.” She takes Val’s hand and leads her into her room. Will shakes his head, exclaiming "straight guys have gotta be outta their minds!"
Quotes
WILL [INTO PHONE]: Hi, Karen.
KAREN [HOLDING OUT PHONE]: Grace, the reason you're not in a relationship is on line one.
WILL [INTO PHONE]: Hey, are we still on for dinner? 'Cause there's a new kosher Chinese place around the corner. I'm in the mood for a little sweet-and-sour "oy, my back."
[CUT TO GRACE'S OFFICE]
GRACE [INTO PHONE]: I can't. Big problems with the Schneiderman townhouse. I have to rip up all the curtains and the carpet. Apparently, the only rug Mr. Schneiderman is interested in is the one that's on his head.
[CUT TO WILL'S OFFICE]
JACK: [THROWING PAPER CLIPS AT WILL TO GET HIS ATTENTION] Hey, hey. Tell Karen I love her.
WILL [INTO PHONE]: Yeah, well, I'll--I'll wait. I'm gonna wait.
GRACE [INTO PHONE]: No. Eat without me. I'm gonna be late-late.
WILL [INTO PHONE]: Late-late? Why, why, why, why, why?
[CUT TO GRACE'S OFFICE]
GRACE [INTO PHONE]: Because, because, because, because, because. Ok, Dorothy, I gotta go.
[CUT TO WILL'S OFFICE]
JACK: [CRAWLING ON THE DESK TO TALK INTO THE PHONE] Hey. Hey. Hey, tell Karen I wanna French-kiss her when I see her.
JACK: Poor Will, now he's being blown-off by women!
WILL: It’s not feed a cold, scold a fever!
GRACE: I like your split-pea soup... I got a little taste when you shoved my face in the rug.
Did You Notice...
~First appearance of recurring character Val.
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