Season Three

Credits | Summary | Quotes | Did You Notice?

"Sons and Lovers"

Episode #3.22 | Original Airdate 05/17/2001

Written by | Directed by James Burrows | Eric McCormack (Will Truman) | Debra Messing (Grace Adler) | Sean Hayes (Jack McFarland) | Megan Mullally (Karen Walker) | GUEST CAST: Woody Harrelson (Nathan) | Michael Angarano (Elliot) | Claire Malis Callaway (Jo Black) | Helen Eigenberg (Vicky) | Michael Philip (Chris, The Imaginary Boyfriend) | David Correia (Sky Cap) | John David Conti (Man) | Marcia Ann Burrs (Woman) |

Summary: Will is upset when he finds out that, despite what she says, Grace is still dating Nathan. He is further hurt when Nathan moves in with them after his ex walks in on him and Grace at his apartment (which, it turns out, is really hers).

Meanwhile, in the ongoing search for his dad, Jack writes a letter to the 11 Black boys, one of whom his mother says is his father. Jack is thrilled when he recieves a reply from Joe, one of the Black boys, but is utterly disappointed when Joe's wife arrives with the sad news that Jack's father died 5 years ago. So Will and Nathan decide to cheer Jack up by toasting to Joe with alcohol. They end up bonding and collapsing on the bed together.

Will's disappointment returns when Joe and Larry have to cancel on their planned scuba trip. Grace is also in a bad mood when Karen hints that, as Grace's relationship with Nathan heats up, her relationship with Will will change for the worse.

That night while at the movies, Grace and Nathan are sitting together, with Will sitting further away due to lack of seats. Grace panics when she thinks Nathan is going to tell her he loves her, and she goes back and forth between the two men, hoping to get Will's help. Will doesn't see why Grace is so worried, and Grace returns to Nathan, but by then, he's dropped the subject and is watching the movie.

Meanwhile, over at Grace's office, Jack is going through different stages of his adjustment to not having a father. As he and Karen discuss the situation, a young boy enters and asks for Karen. When Karen identifies herself, he asks if she knows Jack. When Jack identifies himself, the boy introduces himself as Elliot. He asks Jack if he made a donation at the New York sperm bank 13 years ago. Jack admits that he did, and the boy continues, telling Jack that his mother was nurse there and wanted a baby, so she took Jack's sperm and...he's Jack's biological son.

At the cafe, Grace surprises Will with tickets to Maraco to make up for his missing the scuba trip. Will asks if Nathan's going, but she brushes it off, and Will thinks no more of it.

Back at the office, Karen tricks Jack into talking to Elliot. Jack at first denies Elliot's parentage, then says he doesn't want a son. Elliot says he just wanted to meet him and hits home with Jack when he mentions how hard it is not knowing your father. Jack tells Elliot that he never knew his father either. Elliot asks if maybe he and Jack could hang out a bit sometime, and just as he's leaving, Jack asks Elliot if he wants to go get a burger.

Back at Will and Grace's, he and Grace prepare to go to the airport . As Will's packing, Nathan enters and Will finds out that Grace broke up with him. Will is shocked and tries to figure out why she dumped Nathan. As he's leaving, Nathan mentions to Will that he loves Grace.

Will arrives at the airport in a limo and immediately asks Grace about Nathan. Grace replies that she's worried that if she and Nathan become close, her relationship with Will will change. Will assures her that if it did change, it would only be in a good way. He then tells her she can either get in the limo and go back to Nathan, or fly away to Maraco.

Grace takes the first choice and finds Nathan waiting in the limo for her. Meanwhile, Will runs into his "imaginary boyfriend", a man he's been interested in for a while but has yet to talk to. The man says he, too, has been interested in Will and tells him that he's flying to Paris. Will decides to change his plans and join him.


Quotes
NATHAN (to WILL, who's reading a book in the nude): "Careful, that's a nasty paper cut waiting to happen."

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GRACE (to WILL): "Wow, you are more gay before 9am than most people are all day."
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GRACE (eating NATHAN's breakfast): "Mmm, mine is yummy."
WILL: "You'd eat your own foot if it had parmesan cheese on it."
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WILL: "If this day gets any better by noon I should be rolling in glass."
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GRACE (to KAREN): "Back off or I will force you into a brightly coloured poly-blend."
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WILL: "Ran into my imaginary boyfriend down at the market. He was standing in the check-out line, so I had no choice but to check him out."
GRACE: "Did you talk to him?"
WILL: "I would have, but I was too busy choking on my fear."
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GRACE (after finding WILL, JACK, and NATHAN asleep on the bed together): "Oh my God, I turned another one."
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KAREN (to GRACE, who is jumping on a trampoline): "Hey what's that, what's going on, what's happening? Are you jumping or am I undermedicated?"
GRACE: "I am jumping on my little gift from my boyfriend. You know what? If I had your boobs I'd have two black eyes right now."
KAREN: "Yeah, you'd also have a rich husband."
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Following quote submitted by Barry
KAREN: "It's like it says in the Bible: When you've got the beau, who needs the 'mo?"
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GRACE: "I'm twenty-seven years old, I'm not getting any younger."
WILL: "Really, because in that sentence you got five years younger."
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Following 2 quotes submitted by Kim
GRACE (to WILL): "Come on, it'll be fun! Jack and his Dad, you and Nathan, Karen and her drink."
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WILL [TO GRACE]: "This has been fun. Yeah, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go dip my head in alcohol."
[WILL EXITS TO HIS BEDROOM.]
KAREN: "Oh, wait for me. Wait for..."
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WILL [INTO PHONE]: "Come on! We have been planning this-- Fine, fine. Thanks a lot. No, I Don't want to talk to Hannah. Don't put the kid on. Don't-- [BABY TALK] Hi, Hannah. Hi. Booby booby boo. Your daddies are losers. Bye."


Did You Notice...
~3rd season finale, 1 hour long.
~First appearance of recurring character Elliot.
~This is the second time Will cracks a rather lame joke, then says "No wonder I'm alone". The first time was in "Crazy in Love" when he made a joke about dating Matthew's business card.
~In a bit of irony, Jack and Karen, the two characters who seem least likely to want children both have children (Jack has Elliot and Karen has her step-kids, Olivia and Mason). Meanwhile, Will and Grace, who want children, don't have any.
~Elliot lives in Queens and his mother worked as a nurse at the sperm bank where Jack went, which is how Elliot was able to get Jack's file.
~Entertainment Weekly magazine wrote a brief review of this episode in their two page article on "Will & Grace", saying that Nathan will probably not be around for long, as Woody Harrelson has a movie career to work on. Also, People magazine wrote that, even though the plot of Jack's son and Grace's uncouth boyfriend are weird, Jack's preformance from "Yentil" is worth it.

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