The Third Wheel Gets the Grace

The Third Wheel Gets the Grace is the 1st episode of Season 4 and 72nd overall.

After Will gets back from Paris, Grace's boyfriend Nathan starts to feel like the third wheel. Karen takes Rosario shopping for their anniversary while Jack spends time with his son Elliot.

Synopsis[]

Denied, Denied, Approved[]

To bond with his newly discovered biological son Elliot, Jack takes him shopping for back-to-school clothes. After making him try on flashy clothes, Jack realizes that Elliot does not particularly like the clothes he chooses for him, but rather just wants Jack to like him.

At the same store, Karen and Rosario go shopping for new clothes for their 15th year anniversary. Karen soon notices that Rosario is stalling from buying anything which she admits is because she just wants to spend time with Karen. Karen is unable to handle feeling touched by this so she rushes out of the store.

Shop and Poop[]

Will returns from Paris after his affair with his imaginary boyfriend did not work out. However, his and Grace's plans together start to conflict with her time with her boyfriend Nathan. Nathan begins to feel less important so he brings him with her to the annual shopping at the busy Barney's sale, an annual tradition for Will and Grace. When Nathan fails inadvertently causes Grace to break down around marked-down cashmere, Nathan "cracks under the pressure" of the Barney's sale and accepts that he cannot fill in Will's role and sticks as her boyfriend.

Cast[]

Main[]

Guest[]

Woody Harrelson (Nathan)
Michael Angarano (Elliot)
Jacqueline Beatty (Woman #1)
Karin Co (Woman #2)
Jessica Margaret Dean (Woman #3)
Debra Kay (Woman #4)

Notes[]

Grace mentions that she and Will have gone to the Barney's sale every year since college. This is referenced again in Swimming from Cambodia.
Title of the episode is a play on the saying "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" modified to allude to the fact that Nathan has become the third wheel in their relationship.
Planet of the Apes and The Three Stooges are mentioned at the end of this episode. Sean Hayes went on to star in The Three Stooges (2012) and Woody Harrelson went on to star in War for the Planet of the Apes (2017).
Behind-the-scene photos show a deleted scene with actor Chris Hogan.

Cultural references[]

Rosario describes the heels she was trying on as "too Sex and the City", a reference to the show's reputation for popularizing Carrie's obsession to shoes.