With nostalgia proving to be an extremely profitable trend on entertainment, there have been a ton of long awaited sequels and TV revivals arriving in the past two years. On the TV side of things, perhaps no revival has been quite as successful as NBC's new season of Will and Grace. Will and Grace was one of the most popular shows on TV this fall, bringing back the original cast and picking up exactly where they left off. The new season has also had its fair amount of emotional moments, and now it looks like a future episode will explore the background of everyone's favorite drug enthusiast, Karen Walker.
This news comes to us from TV Guide, which reports that Will and Grace will soon delve into the past of Megan Mullally's signature character. Karen's history is almost cartoonish, and has taken many forms during the show's original eight season run. The show alternates between being sincere about Karen's past, and making Karen into an ageless creature that has been essentially embalmed from her drug and liquor use. But considering how sincere the current season has been, smart money says Karen will show her softer side when exploring her colorful past.
Karen's history is one of the most inconsistent aspects of Will and Grace, which also makes it one of the most hilarious. Karen has made references to various cultural events throughout history, making her true age a mystery. And with access to botox and other ways to stay ageless, she doesn't even change physically throughout the years. We even saw this in the former series finale, during the time jump forward. While Will, Grace, and Jack aged normally, Karen looked exactly the same as she had throughout the series' run.
But Karen has also shown vulnerability plenty of times throughout the series, usually coming as as surprise and hitting the audience like a ton of bricks. We saw that this season with the episode "Rosario's Quinceanera", where Karen broke down during her beloved maid's funeral. Karen was also shown to be surprisingly vulnerable when it comes to Grace, being deeply hurt when her friend and boss wrongs her. She's also got serious problems related to her mother's neglect, as well as her trust issues with Stan.
Overall, there is a ton to look forward to once Will and Grace returns from winter hiatus. In addition to Karen's past, the upcoming episodes will feature the return of cast members like Molly Shannon and Bobby Cannavale as Val and Vince. Val is a crazy woman who lives in Will and Grace's building, while Vince is who many believe to be Will's true love on the show.
Will and Grace will return on January 4, 2018. In the meantime, check out our midseason premiere list to plan your next binge watch, and our cancellation list to see if your favorite show got the chop.
