Coffee & Commitment is the 11th episode of the third season and the 58th overall.
Couple Joe and Larry get married in Vermont and invites Will, Grace, Jack and Karen. While Jack tries to kick his addiction to coffee, Will has had it that Grace always assumes that he will handle all of their expenses.
Synopsis[]
Mr. Jock-full-of-nuts[]
"I don't have an addiction, thank you very much."
Because of a guy who works at the coffee shop, Jack gets hooked on caffeine and starts to get addicted. Karen recognizes the signs and helps him quit by avoiding coffee as well.
At Joe and Larry's wedding, they find out that no alcoholic drinks are served and only coffee and coffee-flavored treats are available, which forces Jack and Karen let out their frustrations by hitting each other. They decide to distract themselves by inappropriate touching. After the ceremony, Jack has seemingly kicked his addiction but then a cute guy offers him a cigarette and he willingly lights a smoke.
Mrs. Will Truman[]
Will has grown tired of Grace always assuming that he will take care of their responsibilities such as paying for dry cleaning, dinner, and buying the gift for their friends Joe and Larry's wedding in Vermont.
Right before they leave, Will states that the gift he has bought, a kayak, is his own and that it is Grace's fault for assuming that he will buy for her as well. Grace improvises and makes a last minute gift out of cement and twigs, saying it's "real and from the heart".
During the ceremony, where they have been invited to read a poem, Will admits that he is tired of Grace acting like his wife which robs him of the opportunity to look for an actual guy to be with.
Cast[]
Main[]
- Eric McCormack (Will Truman)
- Debra Messing (Grace Adler)
- Sean Hayes (Jack McFarland)
- Megan Mullally (Karen Walker)
Guest[]
- Jerry Levine (Joe)
- Tim Bagley (Larry)
- Jeffrey Patrick Dean (Waiter)
- Butch Klein (Male Guest)
- Wanda-Lee Evans (Justice of the Peace)
- Lori Alan (Jean)
- Jimmy Shaw (Cute Man)
Notes[]
- Although repeatedly referred to as a wedding, Joe and Larry's ceremony is technically a civil union as explained by Will. Same-sex marriage was not recognized in the US until 2015.
- Megan Mullally mentioned in 2016 that director James Burrows choreographed all the slap scenes in the series including the one in this episode between her and Jack.[1]
Cultural references[]
- After Jack finds the pint of mocha almond fudge, he exclaims "Hello dark roast, my old friend," a play on the first line of the Simon & Garfunkel song The Sound of Silence, replacing "darkness" with "dark roast".
- When Karen suggests giving up coffee and drinking her Baileys straight, she mentions it will still be the "best part of waking up", after Folgers' famous slogan, "The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup".
- When Jack and Karen decide to quit coffee, he hopelessly asks "when will the lambs stop screaming?", a reference to the 1991 thriller The Silence of the Lambs, where the lead character FBI agent Clarice Sterling tries to solve a case to desperately stop her dream of screaming lambs.
- During the ceremony, Jack reads from Tina Turner's 1984 song What's Love Got to Do with It.
- While Jack is craving for coffee, Karen refers to him as Billie Holiday. Holiday was famously plagued by her drug addiction during her career in the 1950s.
- Jack says that he has money on his back named "Juan Valdez". Juan Valdez is the name of the character in the advertisements for the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia. "Money on my back" is an expression denoting a serious problem such as addiction.
- While experiencing withdrawal from caffeine, Jack says "fill it to the rim, with Brim," the catchphrase used in TV commercials for the defunct brand of decaffeinated coffee Brim.
- Grace mishears Will saying "You might as well be my wife" as "Marcus Welby's my wife," of the 70s medical drama series Marcus Welby, M.D.
Media[]
Quotes[]
| Grace: | Jeez, sorry. I thought you liked paying. |
| Will: | Oh, that's right! I do like paying. Yeah, that's why I do the cancan every time I read the gas bill. |
| Grace: | You know that someday you are gonna make someone a beautiful bride or husband. Or brusband. Whatever. |
| Will: | Promise you'll give me away? |
| Grace: | Gladly. |
Oh, it's a beaver. Sweet! Didn't think we'd be seeing any of those at a gay wedding. — Karen, at Joe and Larry's wedding
Don't tell me to take it easy! I'm looking at a room full of outlet clothing and Fantastic Sam's haircuts! I can't breathe, I tell you, I can't breathe! — Karen
| Grace: | What, you think my gift is funny? |
| Will: | I think it's funny you call it a gift. |
| Will: | When I'm feeling like there's no love coming to me... |
| Grace: | And I have no love to give... |
| Will: | When I'm feeling separated from the world... |
| Grace: | And cut off from myself... |
| Will: | When I'm feeling annoyed by every little thing... |
| Grace: | Because I'm not getting what I want; I'll remember that there is an infinite amount of love available to me. |
| Will: | And I'll see it in you. |
| Grace: | I'll remember that I am complete within myself... |
| Will: | So I'll never have to look to you to complete me. |
| Both: | And most of all, I'll remember that everything I really need I already have, and whatever I don't have will come to me when I'm ready to receive it. |
| Jack: | Why isn't there any coffee? |
| Karen: | Same reason you don't have a wife and three kids: it's the way God wants it. |
Why don't you save your anger for the bedroom, where it belongs? — Karen
Hey, friends, lovers, mothers, and other strangers. You're never going to believe what happened to me. Oh, my gosh! Did you see that? I almost did the half nelson. I almost bruised my delicates, my delicates, my domo arigato Mr. Tomatoes. Huge news! I have met-- Are you ready for this? Mr. Right. Well, Mr. Right Now, anyway. Ba-da-bum! Good night, folks, I'm here all week. Jack 2000! He works over at the Jumpin' Java. You know that coffee shop on 72nd? And his name is Paul. He is cute with a capital "Q"! And the busier it gets, the hotter he gets. And the hotter he gets, the sweatier he gets. And the sweatier he gets-- I forgot where I'm going with this, but the point is... Me likey he, and he likey me. And the best part is-- Shazam-- he gives me free iced coffee every time I go in, which is every hour on the hour. Thank you very much! And occasionally on the half hour! Bah-da-da-da-da! Blblblbt! — Jack, on caffeine
You may wanna take a look in the mirror because you got a little crazy on your face. — Karen
| Grace: | Do you take a check or should I pay you in pettiness, Mr. Petty? Tom Petty? Petticoat petty? Peppermint petty? |
| Will: | Bite me! |
| Karen: | Oh just climb on top of each other and get it over with already! |