By the end of its final season, Grace and Frankie will be Netflix’s longest running show to date. Season 6 will be released on January 15th and a seventh and final season is confirmed as well. The total number of seasons and episodes exceed that of all other Netflix series, making it an unprecedented success.
Heartfelt, funny, and genuine, Grace and Frankie has managed to attract a wide variety of audiences as it tackles important issues. The superb acting and chemistry between stars Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Martin Sheen, and Sam Waterston certainly help as well.
As the new and penultimate season approaches, it’s the perfect time to look back at the best and worst episodes this Netflix gem has to offer, as voted on by IMDb users.
Best: “The Vows” - 8.4
The Season 1 finale confronts the fact that unlike Grace and Robert, Frankie and Sol deeply loved each other. They haven’t fully dealt with their longstanding connection and their lingering feelings. Of course, these things bubble to the surface when they are reunited with their children one last time in the house they lived in for years. When the children leave, one thing leads to another, and once again Sol has cheated on his partner, only this time it’s Robert instead of Frankie.
Sol’s betrayal is particularly heartbreaking when juxtaposed with Robert working tirelessly throughout the episode to write wedding vows that capture the love he feels for his soon-to-be husband. While not a series known for its cliffhangers, this finale offers an intriguing one as audiences wonder how Sol will reveal his infidelity, how Robert will react, and what it means to their future. To top it all off, Grace and Frankie find solace in one another, with the final scene on the beach serving as a testament to the beautiful and unlikely friendship that they’ve forged.
Worst: “The Pharmacy” - 7.7
“The Pharmacy” is not a bad episode, but it’s not one of Grace and Frankie’s finest installments either. Frankie’s fight against the injustices of the pharmacy is entertaining enough, but not as captivating as other issues she’s taken on.
After the Grace and Nick relationship seemingly ended earlier in the season, the episode features a few clunky scenes that make it clear their relationship will be rekindled. The subplot with Coyote and his half-brother also feels out of left field, especially considering how much time has passed since the episode where Coyote met his birth mother.
Best: “The Rats” - 8.5
The beach house is literally falling down around Grace and Frankie in this Season 4 episode. Grace’s knee is causing her a great deal of pain and Frankie is still considered legally dead thanks to her shenanigans at the post office. Both characters go to great lengths to conceal these truths from their family, unwilling to admit their considerable struggles and that they need help.
It inevitably doesn’t end well, with Grace and Frankie’s kids discovering their mothers perched on a table in a rat-infested house that’s falling apart around them. Pride and stubbornness to admit struggle — and the consequences that come when help is continually refused — is a universal story audiences understand all too well.
Worst: “The Lodger” - 7.7
Enjoyment of “The Lodger” is somewhat dependent on whether or not you’re a fan of the new character Sheree, played by Friends star Lisa Kudrow. The close friendship Grace and Sheree have formed since Frankie moved to Santa Fe feels forced.
Everyone knows Grace and Frankie will soon be best friends again and Sheree is only temporary, which makes the episode feel a bit tedious. The Robert and Sol storyline is solid, though, as they have to face the consequences of their protesting and spend the night in a police station cell, which leads to several humorous moments.
Best: “The Sign” - 8.6
From a hot air balloon ride to protesting in the streets, Grace and Frankie’s Season 3 finale finds new and imaginative ways to further the development of the characters and their relationships. The hot air balloon ride is a beautiful way to show Grace and Frankie letting go of their fears and taking a leap of faith as they know their unique friendship will endure, regardless of whether or not Frankie moves to Santa Fe.
By coming together to protest in the streets against homophobia, Robert and Sol also strengthen their relationship and embrace their queer identity. There’s also a very touching scene between Robert and Mallory, as Mallory shares that she separated from her husband, and that Robert coming out and doing what was best for him gave her the strength to now do what was best for her.
Worst: “The Tappys” - 7.7
This episode suffers from the implausible ways Grace and Frankie help Sheree get her house back, which requires too much suspension of disbelief and feels out of place for the show. That isn’t the episode’s only drawback, as Robert accidentally not thanking Sol in his Tappys acceptance speech feels like a contrived and arbitrary way to sew unnecessary conflict between the married couple, even more so because the problem is so quickly resolved.
Best: “The Party” - 8.7
Babe is one of the quirkiest and most important supporting characters in Grace and Frankie. She is the kind of person who breaks boundaries and accepts all people. Despite Grace and Frankie being incredibly different from one another, Babe was good friends with both of them long before Grace and Frankie ever found common ground.
Babe helps Grace and Frankie see the value in themselves and the importance of their bond, no matter how different they may be. The episode also confronts the issue of an older adult’s right to die when quality of life is compromised. It’s a heavy subject, but the show handles it gracefully.
Worst: “The Credit Cards” - 7.6
After a strong first episode, “The Credits Cards” is a bit of a setback. Much of the conflict hinges on Robert and Sol freezing their ex-wives’ credit cards so they don’t make any rash and destructive financial decisions. The audience knows this is a terrible idea from the moment they hear it and it seems inconsistent with what’s been established for Robert and Sol’s characters. Yes, they’re lawyers, and from that standpoint freezing the credit cards makes sense.
On the other hand, Robert and Sol took twenty years to come out, largely because they didn’t want to hurt their wives. Now they’ve left them, and yet they’re choosing to be controlling and hurting them further. That being said, the episode continues developing the delightful dynamic between Grace and Frankie and it helps the audience get better acquainted with the adult children, Bud, Coyote, Brianna, and Mallory.
Best: “The Coup” - 9.1
The Season 2 finale episode “The Coup” is where Grace and Frankie truly take charge of their own lives. Instead of being dismissed by countless people — including their own families — Grace and Frankie do what they want and what they believe in, regardless of how everyone else reacts. They embark on creating a revolutionary business idea, finally doing what’s best for them and not just being the people that their families need them to be.
The way they exit Bud’s birthday party is hilarious and epic, once again solidifying the strange, yet beautiful relationship between these two women and the wonderful things that happen when they’re on the same page. Best of all, their actions are influenced by Babe, their dear friend who helped them realize what was truly important in life.
Worst: “The Alternative” - 6.5
An alternate universe where Grace and Frankie never became friends after their husbands left one another sounds like a promising premise, but in reality, it was poorly executed. Despite the episode’s best efforts, none of it is particularly heartfelt or funny, and it all comes off as rather depressing in the end.
A season finale was not the time to experiment with this idea, especially considering that Grace and Frankie work through most of their feelings in the alternate universe. This makes their reconciliation in reality feel cheap. It’s a strange decision considering the prior episode, which focused on Bud’s wedding, felt like a satisfying and proper conclusion to the season while still leaving enough unresolved business to set up the next season.
