The Silly, Awkward, and Bizarre Moments to Remember From “Grace and Frankie” Season 5 (2024)

• You can stream season 6 of Grace and Frankie on Netflix starting January 15, featuring Jane Fonda as Grace Hanson and Lily Tomlin as Frankie Bergstein.
• As one of the longest-running original series on Netflix, the beloved show has stacked up a layered plot. Here’s a recap of what you should know from Grace and Frankie season 5 before you delve into the next chapter.

It’s that time again. The stoic, martini-devoted Grace Hanson (Jane Fonda) and free-spirited, Del Taco-loving Frankie Bergstein (Lily Tomlin) will return to your Netflix gallery with season 6 of Grace and Frankie to do what they do best: start fires, fight about them, and ultimately snuff them out in the most comedic, endearing ways possible. With the end of season 5, the beloved original series has stacked up quite the layered plot, making it easy to lose track of its latest developments (or setbacks, depending on how you see them).

If the awkward Season 6 trailer is of any indication, the latest installment is going to pick up at a pretty intense spot. So before you dive into the drama, you’ll want to make sure you’re caught up on what happened in season 5 of Grace and Frankie. Thankfully, despite its whopping 13 episodes, most of the big updates happen in the last three. The first 10 see Grace and Frankie simply living their lives and attempting new, independent routines—after buying back their beach house, that is.

❗Spoilers ahead if you have not watched season 5 of Grace and Frankie.

Against their childrens’ wishes, Grace and Frankie move back home.

At the end of season four, the duo escape from an assisted living facility to find that their adult kids sold their house. Determined to avenge what’s rightfully theirs, with the help of their attorney ex-husbands Sol and Robert (Sam Waterston and Martin Sheen), they squat on the property until its new owner finally decides to show up. It’s Nicole Richie as Kareena G, a pop star who’s “laying low” after a reputation-damaging video of her went viral. Surprisingly (except not really), Grace and Frankie befriend the Los Angeles girl and convince her to find a hideaway that’s a better fit. And just like that, they’re back.

Grace returns to work at Say Grace.

While her sex toy company with Frankie, Vybrant, continues to coast along, Grace barges in to monitor her original business, Say Grace, after discovering that her daughter Brianna (June Diane Raphael) is struggling to keep the company afloat. After some expected pushback, Brianna ultimately agrees to let Grace help, as long as she follows some ground rules and doesn’t take her controlling tendencies too far.

Naturally, Grace goes too far by wearing red (Brianna’s power color), sitting at the CEO’s desk, and humiliating Brianna and her other daughter Mallory (Brooklyn Decker) by taking over an important negotiation meeting before they even clock in for the day.

Concerned about their aging bodies, their kids try to hire a home health aide.

Toby (Eddie Shin), the “human pill dispenser,” as Grace calls him, only lasts one shift before Frankie fires him to ultimately replace him with someone who’s a little more their speed. Jean-Margaret (Conchata Ferrell), an older, slower friend of theirs moves in and offers them help in more ways than one—like fighting ageism with Frankie in “The Crosswalk” and directing Vybrant’s apology video in “The Video”—throughout the season.

Robert continues theatre and Sol adopts a dog.

After stepping away from their law office, Sol and Robert are still figuring out retired life. Robert gets more involved with his theatre club, which includes making friends with a group of its younger members and trying to fit in. Sol sulks most of the season and adopts a pure-bred show dog instead of a shelter pup. When he’s not enveloped in extreme guilt over that decision, he’s growing more and more concerned about Robert’s health and lifestyle choices—like when he goes on a walk to get donuts and resists wearing his sleep apnea mask. “I can’t keep worrying that every time you go to sleep, you’re not going to wake up!” Sol says.

Grace pursues Nick.

Grace hasn’t pursued a man in a long time, but when she admits to missing her former boyfriend Nick (Peter Gallagher) and ruining their relationship, Frankie convinces her to go after him. So, she awkwardly crashes a lunch with his mom, admits to still being in love with him, and wakes up in bed with him the next day. Despite all of the ways she lied to and misled him the first time around, he’s surprisingly quick to forgive her, and even says he’s OK with Grace and Frankie being “a package deal.”

While high, Frankie promises 50,000 customers vibrators and donuts.

It was on National Vibrator Day, and it only took one tweet. Grace, of course, tries to put out the fire by recording and posting a video apology, but Frankie has other plans. For once, Grace lets Frankie take the lead and decides to go on vacation with Nick. She returns to discover that her unconventional business partner has actually solved the crisis. Because older women are their priority customers, they get the free gifts first—the rest will get them eventually.

Grace steps away from Say Grace.

She realizes that she has taken Brianna’s spotlight, and decides to officially and fully entrust her and Mallory with the company. She apologizes for taking over and humiliating them both.

Barry gets to be a dad—kind of.

Barry (Peter Cambor)—Brianna’s boyfriend and an accountant at Say Grace—is pleasantly surprised when is his good friend Erin (Ginger Gonzaga) asks him to be a sperm donor for her and her wife. At first, Brianna doesn’t like the idea, and she’s glad when they ultimately decide not to follow through. But she can tell that it upsets Barry—he loved the idea of not fully giving up fatherhood to be with her, someone who doesn’t want kids. So, Brianna convinces Erin to use his sperm after all.

There are two weddings.

One is planned, one isn’t. After Bud (Baron Vaughn) and Allison’s (Lindsey Kraft) eccentric beach wedding, Grace and Frankie find themselves in an existential argument over built-up resentment where they both admit to being their “own beaches.”

“If we’re both our own beaches,” Frankie says. “Then what the hell are we doing living together?” Feeling defeated, Grace escapes to have a moment to herself. Nick finds her, confesses his love for her, and proposes. The two walk hand-in-hand down the beach and prepare to elope.

The finale is… weird.

After their big fight, the final episode, called “The Alternative,” presents a scenario in which the dynamic duo—Grace and Frankie—never make up. Sol and Robert, who are still married, are full-time caregivers to a purple-dreadlocked Frankie. Their kids’ lives are completely uprooted—Brianna is single, Mallory is still with her disloyal husband, Bud is working to become a rabbi (no Allison or daughter pictured), and Frankie’s adopted son Coyote (Ethan Embry) has recently broken his sobriety, again. The alternate Grace is unrecognizably botched by plastic surgery, obviously unhappy, and dating an undeniably terrible outdoor furniture salesman.

Thankfully, that’s only a nightmarish fantasy, and the season’s final moments take place in real time where Grace and Frankie face the facts: They’re better together, even if Grace is remarried. Now, season six (and eventually, a final season seven) will explore how they make the necessary, presumably hilarious adjustments.

CATCH UP ON GRACE AND FRANKIE HERE

Like what you just read? You’ll love our magazine! Go here to subscribe. Don’t miss a thing by downloading Apple News here and following Prevention. Oh, and we’re on Instagram too.