S06.E13: The Change

[SoMuchTV]

On 1/23/2020 at 6:45 PM, shapeshifter said:

That didn’t bother me because Nick is not the sort who would do the physical labor himself of putting the money in the couch, and I can actually more readily imagine him hiring a custom upholstery designer to do it, rather than some poorly paid seamstresses who would have put the money in the cushions. 

Well, (spoiler for the Breaking Bad sequel movie),

Spoiler

if he had had someone put the money in the couch, he would have had to take them out in a rolled up rug...

 

[Empress1]

On 1/18/2020 at 4:19 PM, Harvey said:

When you think about it, it is really ludicrous she got that job. She barely has 1 year as an intern and that is ALL of her job experience. She has no credentials whatsoever, and she  doesn't even have the experience to back her up in supervizing multiple companies. But it will be an interesting plotline so it must happen.

I had the same thought. I was under the impression that that promotion involved running multiple business units. Mallory is wholly, completely unqualified. It was a promotion for Brianna, who has been running Say Grace for however long so at least has experience running a company. Mallory is like 10 rungs below Brianna on the career ladder, and there are however many employees in between them who would be more qualified to do that job. As an employee I'd be like "The intern is my boss now?" and polish up my resume.

Robert and Sol's finances confuse me. Both Robert and Sol's house and the beach house are multi-million-dollar properties. Robert and Sol are supposed to have been very successful attorneys who owned their practice. How are they broke?

I do think having the four of them under one roof will be great comedy next season.

[Oldernowiser]

I agree the show hand-waves financial reality much of the time, but this kind of makes more sense than usual:

1)They were successful lawyers, but they also had expensive divorces.

2) They seem to have gifted the law practice to Bud.

3) Their insurance company refused to pay for repairs and they said the whole house was flooded and it was going to be a construction site for months. That’s expensive.

4) Given that it was the Rise Up that wrecked their house, it makes some sense that instead of paying out of pocket for some insanely expensive short-term rental that allows dogs, the beach house is a better option.

But mostly it will make for great comedy. I love Frankie and Robert together and Grace’s no bullshit side plays well off Sol’s fluffy hippie thing.

is it January 2021 yet? Is there any chance Netflix might release season seven sooner?

[Empress1]

1 hour ago, Oldernowiser said:

Given that it was the Rise Up that wrecked their house, it makes some sense that instead of paying out of pocket for some insanely expensive short-term rental that allows dogs, the beach house is a better option.

Oh, for sure they should stay there. TBH, even if they COULD stay in a hotel for months, I'd think they should stay there. They're on decent terms with their exes (especially Sol and Frankie), that place is huge, and hotel living gets old after a while. Plus, you're right, the dog adds an additional wrinkle.

[possibilities]

I keep wondering who will sleep where. The place only has two bedrooms, I think.

[chitowngirl]

What I appreciated about this season is that Frankie seemed more “lucid”. Yes, she still had her moments, but it definitely seemed like Frankie knew what was going on and wasn’t “wacky Frankie”.

Edited January 27, 2020 by chitowngirl

[Harvey]

18 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

What I appreciated about this season is that Frankie seemed more “lucid”. Yes, she still had her moments, but it definitely seemed like Frankie knew what was going on and wasn’t “wacky Frankie”.

She didn't even smoke weed this season.

[shapeshifter]

55 minutes ago, Harvey said:

She didn't even smoke weed this season.

I missed that. Not even once?

[chitowngirl]

 

59 minutes ago, Harvey said:

She didn't even smoke weed this season.

 

4 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I missed that. Not even once?

Well, Frankie and Joan-Margaret did make a toilet bong...

Edited January 28, 2020 by chitowngirl

[sistermagpie]

Didn't Frankie start smoking with the home decorator who turned down the offer?

[chabelisaywow]

Quote

Brianna and Frankie, who were great together in earlier seasons.

the episode where they go to frozen yogurt

[txhorns79]

On 1/22/2020 at 9:55 AM, Night Cheese said:

I'm curious what they're planning to do with that. They barely mention her kids anymore, so I'm sure any question of uprooting them and moving to SF or custody arrangements with her ex will be swept up under the rug. It's not a bad flight from SF to San Diego, so maybe they will always be having her just flying down to SD when the storyline needs her to interact with the family? 

I was wondering if this was a way to write her off the show, or at least reduce her status down to recurring.  Out of the four kids, she's always seemed like the one who was the least developed. 

On 1/20/2020 at 10:58 AM, sistermagpie said:

I thought he knew her by name because he was pretty much a career criminal who'd been arrested and maybe done time plenty of times before. So I assumed that yes, he probably would be going to jail, but it would be with white collar criminals for a period of time he could handle, then he'd get out again.

My presumption was that he knew her name because he had been investigated before, not because he was a career criminal.  I don't think it would be plausible that Grace would marry someone who had a long criminal record.   

I kind of rolled my eyes at Brianna and Barry.  If the whole point of his leaving was that Brianna was not significantly committed to the relationship, I can't see them making it work with some kind of purgatory type never-ending engagement. 

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

I kind of rolled my eyes at Brianna and Barry.  If the whole point of his leaving was that Brianna was not significantly committed to the relationship, I can't see them making it work with some kind of purgatory type never-ending engagement

I guess one couple’s “purgatory type never-ending engagement” is another couple’s eternal bliss of wedding foreplay, heh. 

[sistermagpie]

12 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

My presumption was that he knew her name because he had been investigated before, not because he was a career criminal.  I don't think it would be plausible that Grace would marry someone who had a long criminal record.   

Good point, yes. I was thinking more just that he'd been doing this stuff for so long of course he'd had run ins before, but if investigations had gotten too far Grace would surely know about it and so would everyone else.

[iMonrey]

So I guess I know now why so much was made of Robert and Sol's financial situation this season. The writers wanted them to wind up having to live with Grace and Frankie through some contrivance and that only works if their finances are that tight. I still don't see why they would be though. If they had their own successful law practice they should have millions in the bank. If they weren't that successful they shouldn't be able to afford the home they have. 

Quote

My presumption was that he knew her name because he had been investigated before, not because he was a career criminal.  I don't think it would be plausible that Grace would marry someone who had a long criminal record.   

Yes, that was my assumption as well. The FBI has probably been interviewing and talking to Nick for a long time. I thought it was funny as he was being led away that he told Grace "this is all a misunderstanding and it will be cleared up in no time" and the FBI lady looked at Grace and shook her head. LOL.

Quote

Also, doesn't Sol and Robert have more than 1 bedroom and bathroom, why would they need to move out of their house during a bathroom/bedroom repair?

This is another contrivance. First of all, Sol and Robert's house is all one floor. It's not like the toilet dropped through the ceiling. And from what I can see their flooring is mostly tile. Water wouldn't ruin it. They might have to replace some carpets and rugs but aside from that I don't see what kind of damagethat  would keep them out of their house for months could have occurred aside from whatever happened in that one bathroom. 

(It might be different if this happened while they were away and the water ran for days and sat there, but they were able to shut it off as soon as it happened.)

I loved the waiter at the seafood restaurant. But haven't they been inconsistent about Frankie being vegan, or at least vegetarian? She even mentioned something about Grace stopping her from eating chili off the counter. 

Edited February 4, 2020 by iMonrey

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

This is another contrivance. First of all, Sol and Robert's house is all one floor. It's not like the toilet dropped through the ceiling. And from what I can see their flooring is mostly tile. Water wouldn't ruin it. They might have to replace some carpets and rugs but aside from that I don't see what kind of damagethat  would keep them out of their house for months could have occurred aside from whatever happened in that one bathroom. 

It was a little confusing.  Even if the toilet exploded like they suggested, I wasn't quite sure where that giant flood of water was coming from, or how it managed to destroy the entire house in what must have been a very short period. 

[Clanstarling]

On 1/19/2020 at 4:17 PM, sistermagpie said:

Some of the break ups are contrived, but it works for me because the Sol/Robert relationship is so central to the original premise that it's hard for me to consider any relationship for the women to really be a happy ending if it doesn't have the same comfort and intimacy of those two--which is different than swept off your feet romance. I don't always like watching them, but they're clearly true love forever. And it seems like the usual thing to do is to give the women some dream romance that makes up for their heartbreak in the past. But watching the show it's just obvious that their real best relationship is with each other so it just never makes sense for a guy to be the priority. They can still date, of course, but it makes sense to me that it never leads to something permanent. Even when Grace was with Nick her real life was with Frankie.

The development of their friendship has always been the best part of the series, in my opinion. And while I like that both of them have had romantic relationships after the devastation they faced in the first season, I like that they're the soul mates, in a weird, wacky way. If I'm ever single at their age (hopefully not), I'd much rather have girlfriends than go the marriage route again.

On 1/21/2020 at 4:56 PM, Crs97 said:

I also thought it was ridiculous that now supposedly he’s this career criminal and no one knew.

I mean, I've pretty much always thought of billionaires as career criminals...

On 1/22/2020 at 6:55 AM, Night Cheese said:

When Nick was taken away, and then when Frankie mentioned white collar crime, I thought for sure they were setting it up for Grace liquidating the penthouse apartment and Nick moving in with Grace and Frankie at the beach house on a year or so of house arrest.

She couldn't have liquidated the penthouse - his assets were frozen.

On 1/23/2020 at 11:37 AM, betha said:

I’m really gonna miss Sol and Robert’s house! It’s like the best character on the show. I’m so in love with it.

I know, right? I never knew I had a dream house until I saw it.

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

On 1/23/2020 at 1:37 PM, betha said:

I’m really gonna miss Sol and Robert’s house! It’s like the best character on the show. I’m so in love with it.

I know, right? I never knew I had a dream house until I saw it.

You guys can have Sol and Robert’s house. I have always wanted to live in a beach house.

 

6 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

It was a little confusing.  Even if the toilet exploded like they suggested, I wasn't quite sure where that giant flood of water was coming from, or how it managed to destroy the entire house in what must have been a very short period. 

 The exploding toilet made about as much sense as the finances on the show, but I suppose there could have been some sort of methane build up due to the mechanism’s design, and there are lots of rich musicians and athletes and *others* who manage to squander their millions —and even nowadays billions— and go bankrupt. 

Hah. I think there’s a joke here about squandering wealth on gold toilets and then going bankrupt which may have inspired the whole season. 

[FierceCritter]

On 2/4/2020 at 4:57 PM, Clanstarling said:

If I'm ever single at their age (hopefully not), I'd much rather have girlfriends than go the marriage route again.

I was married for 13 years. Very bad relationship in that he was a narcissist and possible sociopath, and I a clinically depressed empath with major caretaker issues. I completely lost my own identity in being the one keeping us afloat while he constantly leaped before looking. And he saw me for who I was and totally and completely depleted me of self, energy, autonomy. We divorced in 2013 after he left me for someone else. I was devastated.

Not anymore. I'm in such a better place now. Thriving, happy, living for myself for the first time, ever. I can't ever conceive of living with someone again. With him, I couldn't even watch some TV shows that bothered him for one reason or another. Now I can watch what I want, eat the same thing for 5 days in a row if I want, do EVERYTHING to please myself and not someone else. 

I'm an extreme example, I know. I've seen plenty of great relationships. But I'm just so happy now, that at 51, i can't imagine having to do all the compromising that comes with a relationship. It's a great thing when both parties are on board. I'm not willing to risk trying.

So yeah. Girlfriends, sisters, etc - wonderful. Marriage ever again? Highly, highly doubtful.
 

[rejnel]

Just finished the season, and until I hopped onto Primetimer, I 100% thought I'd just seen an OK series finale, not great but sort of satisfying to have them come full circle and all be living together at the end. But I'm so glad there's another season to come!

Wishes: virtually every season has ended with G&F having some kind of big blow-up or betrayal and then coming back together in the last episode. That's getting awfully predictable; maybe they could mix it up next time? 

I was a Nick fan, but I suppose it's OK to let him go. I do like the kids, though, and hope they are substantially involved next season. 

[Clanstarling]

10 hours ago, rejnel said:

I was a Nick fan, but I suppose it's OK to let him go. I do like the kids, though, and hope they are substantially involved next season. 

Peter Gallagher is on Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, so that may be why the exit (which allows the possibility of a return next season, though they're filming that now, to my understanding).

[mojito]

Quote

I was a Nick fan, but I suppose it's OK to let him go. I do like the kids, though, and hope they are substantially involved next season. 

Funny you say that because I have always thought that the kids ruin the show. Two of them are unlikable and uninteresting and the other two are too uninteresting to know if they're likable.

I watched this episode thinking that this was the final show of the series. For me, the show was ready to go, and I watched the last four episodes at once so I could see the whole thing wrap up.  When the show ended, I thought that finally this show might get more interesting, too bad it was finished, and now that I know otherwise, I'm hoping next season focuses more on the four main characters and sidelines those god-awful kids. 

 

[lgprimes]

Somebody mentioned earlier that they would watch a Coyote/Jessica spin-off. 
My dream spin-off (although I would settle for a storyline next season) would focus on Joan-Margaret and Bruno. I think they are adorable together!

[Mom x 3]

On 3/8/2020 at 8:32 PM, lgprimes said:

My dream spin-off (although I would settle for a storyline next season) would focus on Joan-Margaret and Bruno. I think they are adorable together!

Sadly the actor playing Bruno was struck by a car and killed back in February.  

I hope the last season with the four of them is funny.  The reasoning is stupid, but I imagine there will be some funny moments, especially when one of the ladies has a gentleman stay over.  I still think Sam and Martin have zero chemistry though as a couple.  Hell, I think Jane, Lily and Millicent have more chemistry together.  I do hope we haven't seen the last of Nick.

Brianna was a little more likable this season, because I never saw her dressed as an elf, but yea, Mallory is booooooring.  

I am so glad that they made Bud's wife more likable as well, although Bud drives me crazy.  Coyote is cute in small doses.  
 

[Yeah No]

On 1/21/2020 at 12:43 AM, Yeah No said:

Nick seems well intended but I'm just waiting for Grace to realize she made a mistake marrying him.  He seems like one of those guys that makes grand gestures and proclamations of love before he "gets" a woman, but once he does he may suddenly change.  I don't like it that he didn't tell her about his ex.  I have a feeling we will be seeing more cracks in his facade in the future.  He alluded to lawsuits for some stuff he did.  I think there's probably a lot more there that Frankie has never seen and may not like when she finds out about it.

Hah, I kind-of predicted what happened in episode 2's thread months ago (in my quote above).  I only just got around to watching the season finale recently so I didn't even know that my earlier post would sort-of come true.  Too bad Grace didn't realize it herself and needed the FBI arresting him to find out.  I think she was blinding herself to the signs.  

On 1/18/2020 at 11:14 AM, MissLucas said:

Apparently I'm in the minority but I hated it. How many relationships has the show broken off just so Grace and Frankie can stay together? What is the lesson here - that women have to chose between friendship and romance? That women of a certain age have no chance to ever get a happy romantic relationship? And in the end - in a twist right out of the 'Full House' handbook of plot contrivances - Sol and Robert move in with their ex-wives. I'm sure the two lawyers will never ask about the money in the freezer.

Yeah, I had the same gut feeling myself.  I understand all the reasoning behind why Sol and Robert need to be together as the basis for the predicament Grace and Frankie find themselves in, but continuing to rub it in this way with the attendant implications is just IMHO insulting to women.  The show didn't have to make Grace get involved with a shyster or Frankie self-sabotage herself out of two potentially wonderful relationships in order to make the point that Grace and Frankie are primary to each other and will never drift apart.  It doesn't have to be an either/or proposition and to make it seem that way is IMO just outdated and insulting to women in general.   Thanks for bringing that up, it was bothering me all season.

[Bastet]

I loved this; watching them stroll down the beach together, Grace back where she is happiest, made me cheer.  This was a good season, and a great finale.  Grace realizing what she was doing, losing herself in a marriage yet again, was just what I expected, and Frankie hit it right on the head – it’s not necessarily that she never should have married him, it’s that they need to figure out what unconventional arrangement works for them, just like Brianna and Barry have done (her proposal was perfect!).  This one-size-fits-all shoehorning everyone into traditional marriage doesn’t work for a lot of people, and requires them to give up too much, mostly women.  I really like seeing that explored and celebrated on this show.

Of course, with only one season left, conveniently dispatching with Nick would work too, heh (I love “It’s white collar – in three years he could be president”).  LOL at him telling Grace everything will be okay, while the FBI agent shakes her head no.  And Grace and Frankie realizing that, yeah, he bragged about evading taxes a lot.  Love the couch being stuffed with money, and them not having any qualms using it rather than turning it over to the Feds.  I know I swing back and forth on when realism matters to me and when it doesn’t, but this is a time it doesn’t. 

I don’t want the repairs to take the whole season, and again with the ridiculousness of Robert and Sol’s finances, but having the foursome living together at the beach house for several episodes worth of comedy (and possibly a true final reckoning) is something I greatly look forward to.

J-M and Frankie both checking their breasts for their phones was funny.  (As was "stop bogarting the toilet".)  I like the role Joan-Margaret plays in the relationship, the voice of reason – only sometimes that reason is a little crazy. 

It’s completely unrealistic that Mallory, with her extremely-limited experience, period, and none in management, would be offered the same job Brianna turned down, but her getting revenge by being Brianna’s boss - and taking such great delight in using Brianna's hated "supervisor" word is funny.  I like Brianna a lot more than I like Mallory, but I still enjoy Mallory's moments of getting one over on her sister.

Did they get season seven filmed before COVID-19 shut down Hollywood?  Because, with an entire cast in the high-risk category, ain't no one going to insure this production until there's a proven vaccine.

[sistermagpie]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

Did they get season seven filmed before COVID-19 shut down Hollywood?  Because, with an entire cast in the high-risk category, ain't no one going to insure this production until there's a proven vaccine.

They could all be stuck in the house together AND sheltering in place!

[Yeah No]

On 4/27/2020 at 4:46 PM, Bastet said:

Did they get season seven filmed before COVID-19 shut down Hollywood?  Because, with an entire cast in the high-risk category, ain't no one going to insure this production until there's a proven vaccine.

This should answer your question (from What's-on-Netflix.com):

Quote

Where is Grace & Frankie season 7 in production?

According to our sources, Grace & Frankie began production soon after season 6 released on Netflix. In fact, filming for the seventh season is began on January 27th, 2020.

As per previous seasons, all the new episodes are being shot in Los Angeles with Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris returning to show running duties.

In March 2020, however, the show’s production was shut down alongside other Netflix productions such as Russian Doll as the global pandemic of Coronavirus takes its toll on productions. There’s currently no news when season 7 will be back in production but this could have a material effect on the release date.

In April 2020, to continue preparation for the inevitable return to production, the cast and crew of Grace & Frankie did a special live stream table read of an upcoming episode in season 7. The table read was supporting Meals on Wheels.

The live table read was watched by thousands who actually managed to crash the Meals on Wheels website thanks to their kind generosity.

Here's the video of the live table read.  It starts with them all in boxes saying hi to each other.  I haven't watched the whole thing but it's really worth watching:

 

[MicheleinPhilly]

Finally wrapped this up after a bit of a late start to the season. The first 5 or 6 episodes were some of the funniest I've seen all year but everything started to grate on me after a while. I think the Shark Tank stuff was a bit too drawn out and with the exception of maybe Frankie, Sol, Coyote, Barry, and Joan-Margaret, everyone pissed me off at one point or another this season. 

Add me to the chorus (line) of folks that think Robert and Sol's stories are lacking. Also thought the theater donation stuff dragged on for far too long. And if it means I have to watch Martin Sheen perform in another community theater production and/or interact with Peter, I wish they would just let the theater go under. Ugh.

I downright despised Brianna this season and was actually saying "Run Barry, run" out loud at the t.v. during her "proposal." 

I'm hoping that next season the focus will largely be on the "core four" navigating their new living situation. Although I'm sure I'll be ready for Robert and Sol to move out by episode 2. 🙂

[femmefan1946]

On 1/21/2020 at 4:06 AM, shapeshifter said:

A few weeks ago I saw a woman around Grace’s age use cash in the grocery store.

I'm horrified each time DH uses his credit card in the grocers. That's the one place you don't want to go into debt. And credit cards are encouraging you to spend money you don't have.

It's odd with the pandemic and most shops taking cards only for staff safety, but until this happened, I almost never used my debit card (which in Canada draws only on cash in the bank) and my credit card only for things like hotels or travel.

There are few places that won't take cash, so spending from the freezer would be simple enough.

It can even be cheaper, since in an owner operated business the owner may be happy to take cash which goes into his freezer, and is not reported to the tax man.

 

[possibilities]

It would be easy to launder money through the vibrator business. I am not sure I want to see the show turn into a show about money laundering, though.

[JAYJAY1979]

On 1/27/2020 at 8:41 AM, Empress1 said:

I had the same thought. I was under the impression that that promotion involved running multiple business units. Mallory is wholly, completely unqualified. It was a promotion for Brianna, who has been running Say Grace for however long so at least has experience running a company. Mallory is like 10 rungs below Brianna on the career ladder, and there are however many employees in between them who would be more qualified to do that job. As an employee I'd be like "The intern is my boss now?" and polish up my resume.

Robert and Sol's finances confuse me. Both Robert and Sol's house and the beach house are multi-million-dollar properties. Robert and Sol are supposed to have been very successful attorneys who owned their practice. How are they broke?

I do think having the four of them under one roof will be great comedy next season.

I actually knew a stay at home mom that ended up getting promoted as a manager after a year or two of job experience so Mallory getting the job is realistic.

Plus, why is she unqualified?  Managing 4 kids, a house, and schedules make her qualified.  She had to multi task, keep to a schedule, plus she's the demographic that Say Grace was trying to appeal to as well.

[sistermagpie]

46 minutes ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

I actually knew a stay at home mom that ended up getting promoted as a manager after a year or two of job experience so Mallory getting the job is realistic.

Plus, why is she unqualified?  Managing 4 kids, a house, and schedules make her qualified.  She had to multi task, keep to a schedule, plus she's the demographic that Say Grace was trying to appeal to as well.

I don't see how this situation or her being a mom relates to running multiple businesses. Being promoted to manager of, say, a store after a couple of years experience as worker is pretty standard. Going from administrative assistant to executive vice president or whatever her title would be really isn't.

[Empress1]

17 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

I don't see how this situation or her being a mom relates to running multiple businesses. Being promoted to manager of, say, a store after a couple of years experience as worker is pretty standard. Going from administrative assistant to executive vice president or whatever her title would be really isn't.

Yeah, managing a household isn’t a professional qualification. Nepotism is real (I’ve sat in meetings with people, usually men, who were dropped into positions of power with no relevant experience) and it’s what happened here. She was promoted because someone in a position to promote her liked her, not because she’s qualified. She may rise to the occasion but the role is a huge stretch.

[AZChristian]

2 hours ago, Empress1 said:

Yeah, managing a household isn’t a professional qualification. Nepotism is real (I’ve sat in meetings with people, usually men, who were dropped into positions of power with no relevant experience) and it’s what happened here. She was promoted because someone in a position to promote her liked her, not because she’s qualified. She may rise to the occasion but the role is a huge stretch.

And the position they were dropped into is one you applied for but were turned down because they found someone more qualified . . . whom they then asked you to train.

Right?

[Empress1]

1 hour ago, AZChristian said:

And the position they were dropped into is one you applied for but were turned down because they found someone more qualified . . . whom they then asked you to train.

Right?

Yep! “I don’t know anything about this stuff!” said in an aw-shucks tone. And yet you’re supposed to evaluate my work, which affects my livelihood. Cool cool cool.

Again, the job was pitched to Brianna as a promotion, and Brianna has been running the company (so, working at a much higher level than Mallory) for years.

[ahisma]

This episode finally has the Adam scene I wanted all season! The Toblerone bit was genius, and I loved him with Mallory discussing Hallmark Santa movies.

The sofa was a gift from the Sultan of (somewhere), so I’m assuming the sultan had the money sewn in and gifted it as a bribe to Nick. A piece of furniture would by easy for Nick to import without having to declare the cash. I agree the FBI would probably have descended on it in their search after that super unsubtle message, though. 

This season leaned really heavily on the trope of “you should really trust your loved ones and tell them the truth” vs “I can’t bring myself to tell the truth and then it all comes out horribly.” Like, practically every plot point. I hope they mix it up next season.

I like where it ended, though, with the main four back at the house.