Big Brother is Coming (Part I)

Big Brother is Coming (Part I) is the 14th episode of the first season.

The episode is the first of the two-episode arc featuring Will's brother Sam Truman coming to visit.

Synopsis[]

While shopping for Jack's birthday party, Grace runs into Sam, Will's estranged brother. Thinking it is time for the two brothers to settle their issues, she invites him to the party.

During the celebration, an irritated Will refuses to speak to his brother and hides out in his room out of frustration. In an effort to get Will's sympathy, Sam tells him that he and his wife Ginny are getting a divorce but Will simply brushes him off. Grace is able to persuade Sam to stay and talk things over with Will after the other guests leave.

Just as Will is about to loosen up, he gets a call from an Jack who is still unnerved after realizing he is celebrating his 30th birthday party and not 29th as he thought. After Will leaves, Sam expresses his gratitude to Grace for her orchestrating the whole thing and they end up having sex.

Cast[]

Main[]

Guest[]

John Slattery (Sam Truman)
John O'Brien (Salesperson)

Notes[]

Sam's first appearance. He is first referred to during the pilot as Will's brother who had cut him out of his life. Sam appears again during the final season and is portrayed by Steven Weber.
Will mentions his nephew he had never met because of his fight with Sam. This nephew is Jordan Truman who makes his appearance in the episode A Little Christmas Queer.
John O'Brien who appears as a salesperson in this episode would later appear again in season 6 as a patron of Happy Noodles.
Grace mentions her Aunt Pesha. She mentions her again in the episode Fear and Clothing.

Cultural references[]

Jack impersonates Cher "circa 1978" while standing in front of a big bundle of bushy wheat. This is a reference to the Cher's spiky hairdo during that era, especially in her highly publicized appearance at the 58th Academy Awards.
Jack's line "my daughter's a what?" pokes fun of Cher's reaction to her eldest child Chaz Bono coming out as a lesbian in 1986.
Will blames Alanis Morisette's album being reduced on her "thanking India". Morisette released the 1998 song "Thank U" after her vacation to India and actually became one of her most successful singles.

Grace exclaims that because Will's family are gentiles, their fight could last for 40 years. This is a reference to the recurring number 40 in the bible as representation of large numbers.
While trying to get Grace reasons with Will to make up with Sam, he mentions resolving "that whole mess" in the Middle East and she mentions calling truce "to hide the nerve gas". These are references to the recent cruise missile strikes in Iraq on August and December of 1998 as part of the US and UK's early disarmament operations of Iraq.
Grace mentions the wedding of Kennedy family member and journalist Maria Shriver to Arnold Schwarzenegger, who rose to fame as titular character in The Terminator.
Theater and television actress Leslie Uggams attends Jack's party for approximately 5 seconds.
Grace describes Will and Sam's reconciliation to be slower than Merchat Ivory films, which traditionally feature slow-paced Edwardian dramas.

When Jack is in denial in turning 30, Will tells him to "cut off your arm and count the rings", referencing the method in determining the age of trees.