Grace and Frankie

I have watched every episode of seasons 1 to 4 and absolutely glued to the screen. I'm not feeling it so much in season 5. Do others feel the same way? To me, it feels like it's lost something between season 4 and 5. I noticed a lot more swearing too. It's not an issue but much more noticeable in this season. It's still charming and fun but I'm not glued to the screen like the other seasons.

I started out absolutely loving this show, now I am part way through the 5th season and I find myself hating Frankie.. no longer fun and quirky, just unbearably irrational

Brianna is the best part of the show.

Getting divorced at the age of 70? Leaving your wife for a man at the age of 70? In the past, people with more than 20 years of marriage just stuck together. Maybe they were not in love anymore, maybe there was only respect and companion, but a new start at the age of 70 was never a chance. Grace & Frankie makes the opposite happen in a such a real way. Because they are 70 years old people, but they live in 2015. They have cellphones, computers, they masturbate, they have sex, they get high, they feel lonely, they cry, they laugh (and make us laugh) about what happens when you are 70 and don't spend your days in a rocking chair.

I'm only 28 years old and find this show so refreshing. A reminder that getting older does not prevent you from doing stupid things, making mistakes and/or hurting people you love. Because getting older never means you stop failing at life, but you can always take it in a humorous way.

*Note* This review was written after finishing Season 1. I hope it continues this good.

I will admit the first episode is kind of "meh." I wasn't thrilled. I mean this was Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda! It should have been rolling funny.

It wasn't. And the second episode? Well...

But then!! OMGosh!

By the third episode the writers and cast and crew had found their stride and I was in love. So clever! So funny! So sweet! So engaging! Yes, that is a lot of explanation points but I couldn't help it. The show deserves them all.

Lily is simply wonderful as Frankie. I mean I fell in love with her. I want her as my BFF. Fonda was wonderful as well as the uptight Grace. She could have played it as a cliché but I was happy to find myself slowly warming up her as the episodes passed. In other words, Fonda showed up the person beneath the outer shell.

I liked Sheen but was crazy about Waterston playing the men who leave their wives to be with each other.

I wasn't crazy about some of the kids, but that wasn't the actor's faults. They did great. I just didn't find them very likable people. But again that was all right.

For instance is Brooklyn Decker cold as Mallory--but she was a chip off her old mother (Fonda). And Fonda's other daughter, June Diane Raphael as Brianna, is a bit of a bit*h. But again, she was a product of a mother who was never there and very self involved.

I did however love Ethan Embry as Coyote (one of Tomlin's adopted kids). He is a recovering addict of all kinds and my heart went out to him. The only member of the cast that I was cold to was Baron Vaughn as Nwabudike (the other adopted son). I don't want to be mean but he was terrible. He approached his character as if this show were a 70s sitcom and not a Netflix dramedy--his acting over the top. He jolted me out of the story every time.

I really hope this show comes back for a second season. I loved it!

I binged the series over a 2-day period and wished there was more. The characters were well developed and the whole thing was very entertaining. It covered many bases that divorce can bring about to family and friends, and dealt with issues of loss, honesty and aging, among others.

I wish Sheen and Waterston had had greater chemistry between them, but their interactions with the family members were believable and poignant. I especially enjoyed June Diane Raphael and Baron Vaughn, as two of the four adult children.

What I can't decide is who I liked better, Fonda or Tomlin. In each case, they braved characterizations that were vulnerable and multi-faceted. In the case of each, this is their best performance, and the two together were phenomenal. Funny one moment and heart-tugging the next.

This is an adult story, in the best sense of the word.