Summary: It's the night before Thanksgiving and Will, Grace, Karen, and Jack are waiting for a table at a crowded restaurant when Grace notices a young woman crying at the bar. Grace asks the woman, Pam, what's wrong and she tells them about her boyfriend, Tom, who is becoming distant. When they hear about some of the things Pam and Tom have in common, such as dancing, musicals, and doll collecting, the gang realizes why Tom's pulling away and Grace decides to tell Pam the story of when she and Will were a couple in college...
Flashback to 1985. Will and Grace are dating, but have yet to have to have sex. Will is invited to spend Thanksgiving weekend with Grace and during a party in Will's room, Rob hints that girls always like to do it in their parents' home. When the party ends, Will finds a 16 year old Jack in his closet, sorting through his clothes. Jack accuses Will of being in the closet and laughs at Will's claims that he's straight. Jack leaves, but only after giving Will his card.
At that point, flashforward to 2000. Pam is confused as to how this story is related to her and Tom. Karen attempts to shorthand it, but ends up beginning the story about how she decided to marry Stan. Grace interrupts her and continues her story.
Will and Grace arrive at Grace's house and are greeted by her mother and sister. Grace is told by her mother that Will cannot sleep in the same room as Grace, but that night, Grace sneeks into Will's room and convinces him to have sex with her. But he panics and runs into the bathroom. There, he finds Jack's card and phones him. Jack keeps on telling Will that he's gay, despite Will's protests. When Will claims he can't wait to have sex with Grace, Jack asks him why, if he's so anxious, is he instead talking on the phone to Jack. This leaves Will speechless and Jack hangs up. Will then decides to go have sex with Grace.
Again, Karen interrupts and continues with her story, since Grace's is boring. She tells about how she dumped three lovers in order to marry Stan. Pam asks for the continuation of Will and Grace's story.
The two are trying to have sex, but Will finds himself getting turned on only when looking at a poster of Kevin Bacon. When he tells Grace that they should wait, he accidentally purposes to her and she freaks out and runs downstairs. When Will gets downstairs, Grace's whole family is up and celebrating the couple. At that point, Will drags Grace into the kitchen and tells her that he's gay. Heartbroken, Grace tells her family, then kicks Will out. Grace confides in Ellen and Will works on telling his family and friends, including Rob.
Back in 2000, Karen decides to finish her story by revealing that the night she decided to marry Stan, she found out that he was married and is crushed. As she sits drinking at the bar and critisizing Stan, a woman tells her to shut her trap. The woman is Rosario, working as a cigarrette lady and after a bit of banter, Karen asks Rosario to work for her. The story ends there and Will and Grace decide to finish their story.
Now it's Thanksgiving 1986, and Will and Jack are best friends, going groccery shopping. Jack tells Will that he's in love with him, but Will says they should just remain 'girlfriends' not boyfriends. Jack jokes that he was testing Will, but is obviously hurt and runs off to the frozen foods section. At that moment, Grace walks by and Will greets her. The two engage in small talk and Grace says that she was never mad at Will. Just then, Will ducks down, then comes back up and continues talking to Grace.
Back in the present, Will sums it up by saying that he and Grace have been best friends ever since. But Grace wants to know why Will ducked down in the groccery store. Jack reveals that Will was trying to avoid Diane, the woman he slept with after he came out. Grace is angry and storms out, followed by Will. Pam is still confused as to what the whole story had to do with her and Tom, so Karen and Jack tell her that "Tom's queer, dear".
Outside, Will is frantically trying to get Grace to listen to him. When she finally does, she is obviously hurt. Will admits that he was 99% sure that he was gay, but there was still that 1% he needed to get. So he slept with a woman he met at a party and admits that it was awful, but that it was better that he did it with her instead of with someone he loved, like Grace. He then asks if he and Grace are okay and she says, "We will be".
As the two walk home, the scene changes again to 1986. Will and Grace exit the store and Will asks if he and Grace are okay and she says, "We will be".
Quotes
WILL: But... Don't you see what a compliment that is? I mean, I mean, I love you, so if I can't make it work with you, then it'll never work with any woman, because you're perfect for me.
GRACE: That is not a compliment. A compliment is "You're sexy, you turn me on," not "One look at you proves I'm a queer."
KAREN: Well, you're all boring and I'm fun. I better get back to the kids. Smell you later.
[KAREN STANDS UP AND PUTS ON HER COAT.]
GRACE: Who's Diane?
JACK: You know, the girl Will slept with after you two broke up.
GRACE: What?
KAREN: You know, the kids will be fine. I cracked a window in the limo.
KAREN: Oh, cripes. Honey, let me give it to you in a nutshell. Your boyfriend's a big flaming feather-wearing, man-kissing, disco-dancing... [TAKES A DRINK] Vermont-living, Christina Aguilera-loving, Mikanos-going-- [TO JACK] Honey, take it on home.
JACK: Tom's queer, dear.
KAREN: Merry Christmas!
Did You Notice...
~We would later meet Diane in the season 6 episode "Last Ex to Brooklyn" and Grace's other sister Janet in season 6 episode "The Accidental Tsuris".
~Special hour-long Thanksgiving episode.
~We learn that in 1986, Jack told Will that he was in love with him and was turned down, which may be one of the reasons Jack is always claiming that Will is secretly in love with him.
~According to what we learn about Karen's past, she too is a bisexual, like her alter-ego Megan Mullally.
Back to Season Three
Back to season list
Back to Show
Back to the main page