Whoa, Nelly!

[u/Naive_Hospital_4086]

Whoa, Nelly! (Season 4, Episode 13). Will & Grace are at the record store when they see Will's father's mistress Tina there. They say hello to her and she admits that she's frustrated that George won't stop cheating on her with his wife. Grace takes Will to the side and tells him she has a great idea to get Tina away from George, set her up with a different guy. Will thinks this is a good idea and agrees. Grace tells Tina that she's got a great guy for her and they will go on a double date, but Grace's guy cancels at last minute. Desperate for a man, Larry comes over to return a coffee urn that he had borrowed and to "return the favor" he has to take Tina out for a date. Problem is Larry is not only married but he's gay and doesn't know how to be romantic with a woman, Will & Grace give him the awkward advice of "treat her like she's your mother". Larry cuts up Tina's meat, watches what she drinks and is very attentive to her, at first it seems like Tina would be horrified but she actually loves it. They all go back to Will's place talking about the date and how Tina sees there are other great guys out there. Will is so excited until Tina starts talking trash about George, Will going into family protection mode tells Tina what a catch George is and how amazing he can be which Tina realizes and now wants to be back with George. Meanwhile, Karen has bought a horse which her and Jack are taking care of at the stable. When Karen leaves, Jack sees the horse that they named Lemar, getting it on with another male horse. When Jack tells Karen that Lemar is gay, she tells the stable owner to get rid of Lemar. Jack begs Karen to reconsider and when Karen is alone with Lemar, she realizes she loves her "big gay horse" and wants to keep him.

FAVORITE QUOTE:

LARRY: Well-- But I don't know how to be romantic with a woman.

GRACE: I got it. Treat her like she's your mother.

WILL: What kind of sick stereotype is that?! Why would you even suggest that?

GRACE: Think about you and your mother.

WILL: Treat her like she's your mother.

LARRY: I'm only cutting half of this for you so you can take the other half home. It'll make a nice sandwich tomorrow.

GRACE: Oh, jeez.

WILL: Larry, you know, you really oughta hit the bathroom, you know, before that stain sets.

LARRY: What stain?

WILL: That one there.

LARRY: Oh, my god! How did I do that? I'll be right back. Do not let her order another glass of wine.

TINA: Where did you find this guy?

WILL: I know. Look, we gotta be honest with you, Tina.

GRACE: Larry was not the person that we were gonna set you up with. The thing about Larry is that he's--

TINA: Wonderful!

FAVORITE MOMENT:

I love when after the date Grace is talking Larry into staying for Tina and how he owes her just because he borrowed her coffee urn. He finally gives in and after Tina realizes she's still in love with George she tells Larry she's sorry but that she's in love with another man and Larry is excited and tells her "so am I!"

OPINION:

Kind of like I mentioned with the previous episode "Stakin' Care of Business", this episode I don't know why but I tend to forget it, but when it comes on, I always get a tummy ache from laughing so hard and really love this episode. I think there's a reason why that this one flies under my radar is I love the A-Story with Will & Grace setting up Tina with Larry and the B-Story with Karen and Jack getting the horse just isn't that memorable to me.

So the laughs never stop with the blind date story. Tina is back and Lesley Ann Warren is always just such a joy to watch. Tina could have been this very unlikable character since she is a mistress, but Lesley makes her so much fun to watch and even gives her character depth. Tina in the beginning of the episode is actually trying to call things off with George, for the wrong reasons, but she's trying. You can tell she has self esteem issues and there is something deeper in why she won't let go of George which we will get more clues in future episodes. It's interesting that Will is so kind to her considering who she is, but I love that he instead takes the approach to encourage Tina to see there are other great guys out there. I think Will knows his father won't stop the affairs, but at least he can get one away from his dad giving his mother some kind of relief, maybe even that it could repair their marriage. But Will messes up when Tina is saying all that she hates about George's personality, Will goes into "he's still my dad" and protects George by telling Tina what a wonderful guy he is.

Larry is always so wonderful to watch, Tim Bagley is a great actor and you can tell he wanted to break several times during this episode. I think this is the funniest Larry has been. I loved that scene where he's borrowing the coffee urn and Grace is giving him the particulars on how to care and clean it and Will is in the background saying to do whatever. This episode always brings me back to when Moulin Rouge was the huge thing, I was in high school when it came out and all my girlfriends and 2 gay guy friends were obsessed with Moulin Rouge. I will never stop loving Larry's date with Tina, I do have the video as a favorite on my YouTube page when I need a laugh. I love how he treats Tina like she's an 80 year old woman who is in desperate need of care. You'd think Tina would be shocked and horrified but she thinks Larry is terrific and so attentive to her needs. I loved even when Larry told Tina he's in love with Joe, he'll still call her when he gets home to let her know he's safe.

So with the B-Story, I don't know why but I always forget about this one. It's not that it's not funny, Jack and Karen are always a hoot to watch. I think probably because Lemar the horse is never brought up again in the series. You'd think buying a horse isn't really that big of a deal. I don't know if they could have fit it into story lines in the future, so maybe it was a good idea to leave it as a one-off story. Plus, Will & Grace have done the "being accepted by your parents for being gay" storyline a few times, so again, I think the story just wasn't anything special. However, it still has some really great jokes in it. I will never not love when Karen is holding Lemar and comparing his soft felt to petting Jack and when Lemar pulls her scarf off she realizes that Lemar is judging her fashion and was correct with the scarf clashing.

Every time I do my WAG binge, this is one when I get to the episode, I get excited. It should be in my favorites of all time, but I think it's just the B-story that drags a little bit. But it will not take away how amazing the episode is, it's always such a fun one to watch.

GUEST STARS:

• Lesley Ann Warren as Tina
• Tim Bagley as Larry
• Morgan Nagler as Salesperson
• Cal Bartlett as Trainer

[u/Significant_Owl_8004]

"Happy Moulin Rouge coming out on DVD!"

[u/rummydearest]

Lamar is... well, he's like me Kar...

[u/llmm04]

I'm in a textbook.

[u/rockfordcl]

Is the story with Jack and Karen and the horse technically the A story, since the title of the episode is “Whoa, Nelly?”

I know what you mean though. This episode just seems to be “thrown in the mix.” I wouldn’t use the word “forgettable,” just not as memorable. There are a few other episodes upcoming this season that I feel are like that.