Editor’s note: The below article contains spoilers for the series finale of Grace and Frankie.
Last month, Netflix’s longest-running original comedy seriesGrace and Frankieconcluded after seven years. One of the few series to center on the lives of senior characters,Grace and Frankie’s depiction of life after seventy rewrites the expectations for aging characters on screen. Though the series’ four principal characters, Grace (Jane Fonda), Frankie (Lily Tomlin), Robert (Martin Sheen), and Sol (Sam Waterston), deal with the complexities of growing older, they are also sexually active, forge intergenerational relationships, and are not caricatures of the elderly. Because the characters are in their mid-eighties during the series’ final episodes, many might expect the show to end with one of the characters dying. Perhaps to play to these expectations,Grace and Frankieuses its final episodes to foreshadow the death of one of its leads. And yet, in keeping with the show’s tradition of rewriting conventions, the series finale pulls the rug out from audiences and subverts its own death-oriented set-up.
The last season sets the stage for a finale death by narratively foreshadowing Frankie’s passing. When Frankie’s death is foretold by a local psychic, her succeeding storyline concerns her coming to terms with her impending passing. The season’s seventh episode, “The Psychic,” sets up the validity of Frankie’s later fortune. While trying to find a missing friend, Grace and Frankie visit Frankie’s psychic, Madame Elsbeth (Artemis Pebdani), who reliably predicted the two would become best friends. This detail indicates that Elsbeth’s visions are to be believed.
Elsbeth predicts Frankie’s death in the ninth episode, “The Prediction.” She calls Grace to ask her to tell Frankie she will die in three months. Grace, who does not believe in psychics, tries to dismiss Elsbeth’s prediction. In response, Elsbeth says, “You’re right, I’m not that great at this stuff anyway… bless you,” followed by Grace immediately sneezing. Though played for comedy, this moment solidifies what their earlier interaction did: Elsbeth is always right. Even though Grace later tries to convince Frankie that Elsbeth is not to be believed, Frankie fully trusts Elsbeth and spends the remaining episodes of the Season preparing for her death.
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The foreshadowing of Frankie’s death is also supported by two narrative events that occur in the penultimate episode, “The Fake Funeral.” In preparing for her death, Frankie hosts a funeral for herself while she is still living, so she can hear all the nice things people have to say about her before she is gone. When paired with Elsbeth’s prediction, the fake funeral is positioned as likely turning into a real one. This leads to the second foreshadowing event, the episode’s cliffhanger ending. Frankie retreats to her art studio when the funeral does not go as she planned. As she puts the brush to paper, her hand shakes, and she drops the brush. The camera follows the brush to the floor, shifting to slow-motion cinematography to punctuate the significance of the fall. A close-up on Frankie’s confused expression leaves room for the audience to wonder what is happening to her. Because she had a stroke in Season 3, it is also possible that Frankie is experiencing similar symptoms again.
The series finale immediately opens by subverting the foundation set up by Frankie’s predicted death, fake funeral, and the previous episode’s unresolved ending. When her son, Bud (Baron Vaughn), opens the door to the art studio, slow-tempo music and the image of brushes in the foreground appear to suggest a tragic opening. However, Bud looks offscreen and says, “Hey, girl,” and the show then cuts to a shot of a healthy Frankie on the couch. Though this moment does not completely resolve Frankie’s brush drop, it subverts the expectation that Frankie may have succumbed to failing health.
The final episode further subverts the season’s set-up when Grace and Frankie have a brief, but only brief, encounter with death. After the fake funeral is transformed into a fake wedding, Grace and Frankie have an argument at the altar. When they embrace, Grace’s martini and Frankie’s microphone collide, shocking them both. Once again, the series transitions to slow-motion for dramatic emphasis. The two characters drop to the floor and then the show cuts to Grace and Frankie in heaven. Once in heaven, the dramatic suspense is quickly resolved with comedic dialogue. Death is thus not depicted as an ultimate tragedy, but as a comedic backdrop.
As Grace wants to return to Earth, the two characters approach their angel case manager, Agnes, played by Fonda and Tomlin’s9 to 5co-star,Dolly Parton. Parton’s appearance adds even more levity to the scenario, as the three women’s appearance together is sweetened through its extratextual reference. Though Agnes approves Grace’s request to return to the living, she does not allow Frankie to return. This begins an emotional exchange between the two women, punctuated by a soft, ethereal score, where the characters say their goodbyes. Seemingly, the moment where Grace and Frankie say goodbye to each other is a suitable way to end the series named after them. However, Agnes, touched by their relationship, instructs them to forge her paperwork, allowing Frankie to return with Grace. After presenting multiple signals that the series would end with Frankie’s death, the show subverts its own trajectory and ends with both characters happy and alive.
Grace and Frankie’s subversive series finale is especially significant because of the ending it offers for its elderly characters. Rather than presenting another depiction of older characters’ stories ending with their death, Grace and Frankie simply begin a new chapter of their life. The final moments of the show see the two characters on the beach together. Grace and Frankie come out of the ocean and approach the shore. Grace, who has feared the ocean her entire life, has finally overcome her fear. This moment suggests that there is still time for the characters to evolve. The two women then walk down the shoreline together and Grace asks, “Now what?” This final line furthers the series finale’s subversion, as it suggests there is much more to life for its two protagonists. Rather than fall into the convention of older characters’ narratives ending with their deaths, the two continue into the next phase of their lives. For this reason, the series finale is perfectly named “The Beginning.”
