Will and Grace Season 9 Episode 3 Review: Emergency Contact

This Will and Grace review contains spoilers.

Will and Grace Season 9 Episode 3

In “Emergency Contact,” Grace headed to her annual gynecologist’s checkup only to discover she might have a life changing disease. In another part of town, Tasha, a young girl in an afterschool program needs assistance during a pivotal moment in her life. The connective tissue between both characters is the sometimes mean-spirited Karen.

Grace woke from heavy sedation and was informed that she’d had an emergency biopsy on her “good, bigger, left breast.” She was temporarily comforted by the thought of Will being on hand as her emergency contact, but that was soon erased because of Karen’s inattention on her medical documents. Her ex-husband, Leo, was still listed and contacted.

There was no rest for the weary, Grace or Leo, and they tore into each other about their failed marriage rather than waiting on cancer results in peace. Leo’s cheating remained a source of contention during an anxious moment that ought to have been reflective. Grace broke down emotionally with Will after having returned home, something she would’ve never done with Leo at the hospital. Leo asserted that there was no room in their marriage due to Grace’s codependent relationship with Will. Grace was a third wheel in her doomed relationship to Leo, and returned home to Will.

Devil’s advocate: without Leo still as her emergency contact, it would’ve been Will, and thus a different storyline altogether.

I preferred Karen as Tasha’s emergency contact because it was spontaneous and organic. Karen doesn’t have a maternal bone in her body. When she was needed as a female role model, she reluctantly took the reins and helped someone in need.

Karen bonded with Tasha when she recalled her coming of age as a twelve-year-old. She talked her through the experience and assured her that she would also survive the passage into womanhood.

If not for Karen and Jack’s unique relationship, Tasha might’ve been left in the lurch living with a father and brothers who wouldn’t have been able to explain what was happening to her body. Jack and Karen are fraternal twins separated at birth, whereas Will and Grace might be one body split into two. I’d bet my money on two distinct individuals versus a single entity always searching for its completion.

The show is called Will & Grace, yet would anyone complain if it were Will is Grace? Viewers know what they’ll get with Will & Grace’s character. I like unpredictable comedic characters that are interspersed with realism. Viewers get that in the form of Jack and Karen.

Read the full Den of Geek NYCC Special Edition Magazine right here!