Episode
Will & Grace: Past and Presents
Overview
The new lawyer in Will's firm is the same lout who bullied him as a child; Nathan's birthday flusters Grace, who's outdone in the gift department by Karen.
Details
- Series
- Will & Grace
- Season
- Season 4
- Episode
- Episode 2
- Air date
- 2001-10-04
- Runtime
- 22 min
Episode context
Past and Presents is Episode 2 in Season 4 of Will & Grace. It aired on 2001-10-04. The runtime is 22 min.
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Episode 1: The Third Wheel Gets the Grace
Will returns from vacation to discover that Grace's romantic relationship with neighbor Nathan is humming along. Nathan feels neglected when Will and Grace resume their chummy friendship, complete with their own private language and code. Meanwhile, Jack proudly takes his new-found son Elliot shopping for school at Barney's while Rosario and Karen each cruise the merchandise looking for the perfect "anniversary gift".
Episode 3: Crouching Father, Hidden Husband
Jack is puffed up with paternal pride as he escorts his long-lost teenaged son Elliot to a junior high school dance but not before he coerces Grace into posing as Elliot's date â€" which only revives her own tortured memories of rejection from school dances many years before. Elsewhere, Karen has great fun at her lawyer Will's expense when she continues to capriciously summon him for bogus ""emergencies"" â€" that is, until she really needs him.
More episodes from this season
Episode 4: Prison Blues
After Stan is arrested for tax evasion, Grace and Karen timidly visit him in prison. Grace is so moved to help her worried friend that she moves right into Karen's deluxe apartment-in-the-sky, where she becomes a demanding guest who's soon hooked on servants, bubble baths and an extravagant lifestyle. Meanwhile, as Stan's attorney, Will struggles with stage-fright when he babbles on during a TV news interview, so Jack convinces him to polish his communication skills by attending an acting class ruled by an imperious teacher.
Episode 5: Loose Lips Sink Relationships
In a sneaky ploy to bum a night off from work at Barney's department store, a conniving Jack plays matchmaker and takes advantage of his geeky female supervisor's interest in Will, while mindful of Will's fantasy of modeling in the store's catalogue. Jack parlays their mutual desires into a "date", even though his unsuspecting friend doesn't have a clue of her intentions. Elsewhere, Grace goes where no woman should when she compares her previous sexual experience with her boyfriend Nathan's.
Episode 6: Rules of Engagement
During an intimate moment, Nathan pops the question of marriage to Grace but she recoils simply because the situation didn't fit her childhood fantasy of a proposal. When she realizes her mistake, she returns the favor, but doesn't get the response she hoped she'd get.
Episode 7: Bed, Bath & Beyond
While a baleful Grace wallows in bed as she grieves over losing her boyfriend Nathan, an enterprising Will tries all his old tricks to spring her from her mattress and back into the real world's whirl. But when Jack and Karen arrive, Will fears that their bizarre efforts to help might actually drive Grace futher into her shell -- not to mention therapy.
Episode 8: Star-Spangled Banter
Will and Grace elect to disagree when it comes to choosing sides during a mayoral election; she supports the female Jewish candidate and he's voting for the gay nominee. To settle matters, the roomies host fund-raisers attended simultaneously by both aspirants.
Episode 9: Moveable Feast (1)
Rather than be apart on Thanksgiving Day, Will and Grace join Jack and Karen for a festive holiday motor tour of their respective dysfunctional families, including Grace's domineering mother as well as Will's willful mom and Jack's stepdad -- with unsettling results. Meanwhile, back home, a waiting Rosario bastes and tastes their juicy turkey.
Episode 10: Moveable Feast (2)
This episode is also known as "Thanksgiving." Will and Grace join Jack and Karen in a motor tour of their respective families. (Double-length Episode)
Episode 11: Stakin' Care of Business
At the gym, Will spies another guy who looks maddeningly familiar, while Jack gets a workout as he keeps repeating one of his nonsensical catchphrases in hopes of seeing it become popular among the sweat set. Meanwhile, Grace gets some bad advice from Karen when she seeks a loan to expand her company so she stoops to asking her wealthy employee herself for the moneyâ€"even if she has to resort to drastic measures to get the point across.
Episode 12: Jingle Balls
Grace is hired as seasonal help to decorate the Christmas display windows of fashionable Barney's; Will meets a ballet dancer but is too embarrassed to introduce his friends.
Episode 13: Whoa, Nelly
Will & Grace try to lure Tina, Will's dad's mistress, away from Will's father by setting her up with another man. Unfortunately the only man available is Will's gay friend, Larry. Also, Karen buys a horse for breeding, but the stud is more interested in stallions.