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Val Bassett is an upstairs neighbor of Will and Grace who has psychotic tendencies. She resides in 15F (later 12E), and for most of the series serves as a rival to Grace, and briefly a stalker of Jack.

Biography[]

She has recently moved into Will and Grace's apartment building during the first season after a messy divorce from her husband Gerry,[1] who wanted her to get a boob-job and was having an affair with his dental hygienist. She mentions her husband loved and collected snow globes which she made sure she got in the settlement.[2] Val recalls being a "sad, angry little girl" who used to run around the school yard stabbing other kids with pencils.[3]

During the later seasons, it is revealed that Val is a recovering alcoholic and is attending AA meetings. She admits that she has once stripped for her father.[4] She has also stated that she has been on a psychotropic drug that kills her sex drive and makes her dizzy.[5] She mentions that she lived in her storage space because of the Millennium bug.[3]

She first meets Will during an elevator ride where Val awkwardly sings along Will's rendition of Petula Clark's Downtown. Val later invites him to dinner and the two end up playing charades with Rob and Ellen, where they score the same as Will and Grace's highest score. This unnerved Grace who has been very busy and had little time for her friends.

Relationships[]

Rivalry with Grace[]

When Grace first meets Val, she immediately feels threatened at how much she has gotten comfortable with Will. When Will stays at home due to a cold, Val takes care of him which drives Grace jealous, culminating in a brawl at their apartment. They make amends later after Val reasons that she is the one jealous of what Grace has with Will.

When Val and Grace spend a girls' night together, Val steals a music box which they later recover from her apartment after another violent confrontation.[2]

During the fourth season, Val uses Grace's discarded design for a mediation room and pitches it to a potential client as her own, stealing business (and supplies) from Grace. They start to fight again before Karen knocks Val unconscious.

Stalking Jack[]

After seeing Jack's cabaret act Jack 2001, Val begins to stalk Jack. She breaks into his apartment and surprises him as he goes to bed. Val claims that she is carrying Jack's baby, is wearing his dirty bath water in a vial around her neck, and that she wore his jockstrap like an oxygen gas mask all day, prompting Jack to throw her out immediately.

Obsession with Karen[]

After Val gets hit by the car Jack is driving, she begins to demand time with Karen.

Appearances[]

Quotes[]

Accept the things you cannot change, bitch! One Gay at a Time

They belong to my ex-husband. He loved them more than anything. So naturally, I made sure that I got them in the settlement. On her snow globesGirls, Interrupted

Hey, Grace, we're the same After scoring the same high scoreGrace, Replaced

References[]

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