On this episode of Grace and Frankie, our main characters are trapped. Sometimes it’s fun to ignore your problems and stay in bed with a lover, but eventually, it just isn’t. When you run out of options, you have to face the music.
Frankie is trying to paddle the hell out of a ball, waiting for Grace to resurface after her date with Phil. When Grace finally calls, she tells Frankie that she has to spend the night with Mallory (another trapped character), but she’s really going to meet Phil for the tryst they never had. Frankie needs Grace’s advice about what kind of gift to bring Brianna to smooth over LubeGate (pun intended) and the best kind of pyrotechnics to make her final case against palm oil. Also, could Grace bring her a burrito? Grace tells Frankie to forget the theatrics and rushes off to Phil’s hotel room.
And what a hotel room it is. There’s all sorts of reclaimed driftwood. There’s candles and champagne. This is still technically their second date. I can’t wait to date as an old lady. Dudes got hotel candle money. Phil welcomes Grace into the room, letting her know he’s glad she showed up. Grace lets him know she doesn’t make the same mistake twice. Daaaaaaang, Grace.
Meanwhile, Robert comes home with John and Oggie Oggie Oxen Free after their day in the park. Sol busts in on the trio and essentially screams, “J’ACCUSE!†Robert accuses him of not understanding how doors work, then gives him a quick history of enclosed structures. Sol tells John that Robert is still married and inadvertently reveals that he’s been stalking him. Sol also yells at Oggie. Oggie didn’t do this to him. Sol storms out in a huff before he can embarrass himself, since he’s definitely not embarrassed himself already.
Back at the bang pad, Phil is bragging about using his AARP discount and Grace giggles like a schoolgirl. They share a bottle of champagne and make out like teenagers. The pair wind up rolling around in bed together, banging in the silk sheets like it’s a candlelit Boyz II Men video.
Frankie isn’t having as much fun as Grace. She opens her anti-palm-oil speech with a gift for Brianna: it’s a weird striped poncho or a Christmas tree skirt, depending on how you look at it. Frankie can’t start her audio-visual presentation, but she’s prepped some research and the word of the day is YEAST. Brianna tells Frankie that women spend a lot of their time trying to keep yeast out of their vaginas. What about jojoba or rapeseed oil instead? You know what’s less popular than yeast, Frankie? Something called rapeseed oil. After Brianna refuses the holy ointment that is coconut oil, Frankie says she wants her lube back. She will not stand for this, so she attempts to rip up her contract. Brianna has to finish the job for her.
After a night of passion, Grace and Phil wake up hungry for more than each other’s bodies: Paul Scheer appears, playing an overly excited room-service guy who shows them where the nut compartment is. I think Grace knows where the nut compartment is after the night she’s had — oh, it holds actual cashews. Grace tells the room-service guy that she’s paying for Phil’s company by the hour. The pair wind up eating breakfast and lunch in their hotel room. They never want to leave.
Frankie recruits Bud to help look for the secret loophole he put into her contract that protects her from herself. Unfortunately, Frankie insisted on nixing the loophole this time, since there was no way this deal could fall apart. Oh, Frankie, know thyself better. Bud knows they need to bring in the big guns, so he wants to call Sol. Ooh, that’s another show! That’s fun. Sol finds a potential loophole, then goes with Frankie and Bud back to Brianna’s office to confront her. Sol hasn’t totally recovered from yelling at a dog, but he’s ready to fight. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Brianna is busy showing her father around the new office. Frankie is hopped up on ginko biloba and ready to rumble. Robert insists he’s going to leave, but once he hears Sol’s flimsy attempt at a case, he grabs his reading glasses.
Grace and Phil are feeding each other burgers in bed when he gets a phone call. His wife Elaine ran out of the house with the dog and she’s nowhere to be found. There goes their romantic plans for the botanical gardens or a walk in the park. Grace offers to come with, but Phil says it’s better if she stays. When he leaves his cell phone in the hotel room, Grace rushes after him.
After speed-reading the contract, Robert can see the framework of a case and already knows that if this went to court, it could cause some real trouble. Sol and Robert are going back and forth about the case when it morphs into not-so-thinly-veiled metaphors about their crumbling relationship. Brianna, Frankie, and Bud excuse themselves to the patio. Brianna and Frankie argue about whether the contract is ironclad or flimsy. They’re doing a real “duck season, rabbit season†thing.
Grace arrives at Phil’s house just in time to see him walking his wife back inside with a nurse. A random millennial on a bike rolls up to fill Grace in on some important exposition. Elaine’s dog tries to jump into Grace’s car, so she walks the dog back into Phil’s yard. Elaine offers Grace a cup of tea. Phil says it’s okay for Grace to stay.
While Sol and Robert are yelling at each other about the accuracy of Robert’s favorite FDR quotes, Bud asks Brianna and Frankie to regroup, rethink, and remember that we all love each other. Brianna tells Frankie that she’s not putting her company and her employees at risk for another one of Frankie’s principled stands. Sol pleads with Robert to not throw away their life together, especially after they wasted so many years hiding and lying. Robert thinks they’re being punished because of all the hiding and lying. He takes Sol’s hand; he doesn’t want to be mad anymore. Brianna is about to storm out in a huff when Frankie says she wanted her lube to remove friction in the world, then concedes the palm-oil issue.
While Grace sits with Elaine and Phil, Elaine has a moment of lucidity and remembers hearing Grace’s name. She knows Grace and Phil have had a history. When Grace rushes out, Elaine can’t remember her name anymore. Phil stops Grace in the yard and Grace asks how could she have done this to another woman. Philip tells her that Elaine doesn’t always know what’s happening. The rare moments of clarity just make things worse. Grace says she can’t do this and runs off, leaving Phil alone again.
Back at the beach house, Grace sneaks a bottle of vodka up to her room and continues her lie to Frankie that she was spending time with her children. Frankie takes a bag of marshmallows to her studio. They’ve both been freed from the situations that trapped them, but now, they might just be left with nothing.