Credits | Summary | Quotes | Did You Notice?
Episode #4.16 | Original Airdate 02/28/2002
Written by Alex Herschlag & Jhoni Marchinko (Story by Jeff Greenstein) | Directed by James Burrows | Eric McCormack (Will Truman) | Debra Messing (Grace Adler) | Sean Hayes (Jack McFarland) | Megan Mullally (Karen Walker) | GUEST CAST: Suzanne Pleshette (Lois) | Sandra Bernhard (Herself) | Tom Gallop (Rob) | Leigh-Allyn Baker (Ellen) | Nealla Gordon (Eileen) |
Summary: Karen's birthday is coming up and Jack decides to film a documentary on her life. While in the filming process, he decides to track down a mysterious woman who's name appears in Karen's chequebook, Lois Whitley. When he finds her, he is shocked to learn that Lois is Karen's mother.
Meanwhile, Will and Grace are getting tired of always running into each other in their apartment, so they go searching for a bigger apartment. While out looking, they run into Sandra Bernhard, who has been having trouble selling her place ever since their last encounter, and they quickly hightail it out the door. Later, they find the perfect apartment for them, but it's too much money. Then Will comes up with a plan to sublet the apartment to Rob and a very pregnant Ellen, who are looking for a place to live in New York before their baby is born.
At this point, Jack runs in, full of news about Karen's life acquired from her mother. It seems Karen's father died when she was 7 and her mother and her moved around a lot until her mother met a man named Bernie. When Karen was 16, she had a falling out with her mother, and they haven't spoken since.
Later, at Karen's birthday party, the gang watches the documentary and it seems Karen is quite happy with how her birthday has turned out. Will and Grace, meanwhile, are looking for a way to tell Jack and Karen the news about their new place. As they think about it, Jack reveals one last surprise to Karen: he's invited her mother over. The minute Lois steps into the apartment, Karen is stunned, then emotionally tells her mother that she never wants to see her again, and runs out of the apartment. It's at this point that Will and Grace decide to tell the gang their news. The episode ends here, to be continued in "Something Borrowed, Someone's Due".
Quotes
GRACE: We don't need a library.
WILL: That's right, we don't read. And we don't need a meditation room.
GRACE: That's right, we don't believe in anything.
Did You Notice...
~Part 1 of 2.
~We finally get to meet Karen's mother.
~The title of this episode and the second part of it is based on the wedding saying, "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue". It was thought that if a bride had one of each of these things before her walk down the aisle, that her wedding would be a happy one.
~Karen's mother calls her "Kiki".
~Karen was lying about having her mother commited.
~Karen's mother works as a cocktail waitress. Karen's father died when she was seven, and she and her mother travelled around a lot until her mother met a man named Bernie. At 16, Karen had a falling out with her mother and they haven't spoken since. Karen apparently told her mother she never wanted to see her again.
~Since we last saw Ellen and Rob, Ellen has become pregnant and stopped dyeing her hair red. In truth, Leigh-Allyn Baker (who plays Ellen) had dyed her hair for a pilot she was filming; the creators weren't that happy with it and added in the reference to her hair at the last minute.
~Sandra Bernhard last appeared in "Swimming Pools....Movie Stars".
~The first time Sandra was on, all of her swearing was covered by the sound of a blender. In this episode, it's covered by the sound of a drill.
~Karen's birthday is sometime in February/March.
~In the 3rd season episode, "Husbands & Trophy Wives", Rosario makes a comment about how, in a week, Karen was going to be the same age Stan's ex-wife had been when he divorced her. This seems to indicate that Karen's birthday was actually nearer to October, when the episode aired. However, Rosario doesn't actually say Karen's birthday is in a week, just that she'll be the same age as Stan's ex-wife was. She may have been something a little more exact, like 42 years and 65 days.
~This is the second time the show has used a camcorder to show certain scenes. The last time was in the episode "Alice Doesn't Lisp Here Anymore".
~Karen's speech to Will about how she makes fun of him and calls him names is similar to the birthday speech Will gave to Jack at his 29th-turned-30th birthday party in "Big Brother Is Coming Part 1". Also, this is the 2nd time someone is reunited with an estranged relative during a birthday party. The first was Will being reunited with his brother at Jack's party.
~Following DYN? submitted by Sebbie:
At the end, when Jack asks to Karen what person did she miss and that would fulfill her life, she says "Sonny von Bülow, get your ass in here!" It's not the first time Sonny von Bülow was mentioned. She was first mentioned in "The Young And The Tactless" when Jack explained that Karen had a garter phone for emergencies, "like if Sunny von Bülow comes to and starts pointing fingers". Sonny von Bülow was known to be a drug and alcohol addict, plus she was wealthy, just like Karen. But Sonny von Bülow went into a coma that she never came out of. The coma was caused by drugs and probably alcohol.
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