"The Finale" is the twenty-third and twenty-fourth episodes of American television series Will & Grace's eighth season, which originally served as the series finale prior to the announcement of a 16-episode ninth season revival slated for the 2017–18 TV season. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on May 18, 2006, when it was watched by an average of eighteen million viewers, making it the most watched episode of the final two seasons of Will & Grace. In the finale, Will and Grace have a falling-out that lasts for years. They each have a child with their respective partners, and eventually reconcile when their children (Laila and Ben) meet at college. Meanwhile, Karen's arch-enemy Beverley Leslie makes an offer to Jack which ultimately leads to Jack inheriting Beverley's fortune.
The episode was written by series creators and executive producers David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, and directed by James Burrows. Filming took place at CBS Studio Center in Studio City, California in April 2006. The cast members took the news about the show ending well, but they became emotional as the final scene was being filmed. NBC heavily promoted the finale, and the main cast members appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Today Show to bid farewell. An hour-long series retrospective, "Say Goodnight Gracie", featuring interviews with the cast, crew, and guest stars, preceded the hour-long series finale.
Since airing, "The Finale" has received mixed reviews from television critics. Within the series continuity, when Will & Grace began its ninth season 11 years after this episode aired, the events of "The Finale" were retconned out of existence. Neither Will nor Grace ever had children, Karen did not divorce Stan, and Jack never married Beverley Leslie; the entire episode was said to have been a dream of Karen's.
Plot
Grace Adler (Debra Messing), heavily pregnant, is having bizarre dreams of the future in which she and her gay friend and roommate Will Truman (Eric McCormack) are an old couple raising their child. In her dream, Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) is married to actor Kevin Bacon, and Karen Walker (Megan Mullally)—who has not aged (her explanation: "Money")—is now in a relationship with her maid Rosario Salazar (Shelley Morrison). In Grace's real life, however, her relationship with Will is complicated. Grace is not sure if she wants to spend the rest of her life living with Will. When her ex-husband Marvin "Leo" Markus (Harry Connick, Jr.) shows up and proposes to her—unaware she is pregnant with his child—she immediately accepts. Will feels betrayed, and stops speaking to her.
Two years later, Grace moves with Leo to Rome and lives there for a year. They then move back to New York City, where they raise their daughter, Laila. Will and Vince D'Angelo (Bobby Cannavale) have since reconciled, and are raising a son, Ben. Karen and Jack grow tired of the fact that Will and Grace are not speaking with each other, so they lure them to the same place and force them to make up. The four meet at Will and Vince's apartment, and even though Will and Grace have a pleasant evening together, they find that too much has changed between them, and drift apart.
Meanwhile, Karen finalizes her divorce from Stan, but soon finds out that all his money was borrowed and that she will be left with nothing. When learning that Beverley Leslie (Leslie Jordan) and his "business associate" Benji (Brian A. Setzer) have broken up, Karen plots to have Jack take Benji's place, after Jack confesses that Beverley offered to share his entire fortune with him. Though he is not attracted to Beverley, Jack goes ahead with the scheme because Karen had financially supported him for the whole of their relationship. Karen realizes that she is doing to Jack what her mother did to her, and tells him that she cares more about his happiness than the money. When Beverley dies after being blown off a balcony from high winds, Jack inherits all of his money.
Around twenty years later, Laila meets Ben as they both move into college. Will and Grace are reunited while helping their children move into their dorm rooms, and rekindle their friendship. Laila and Ben eventually marry. Jack and Karen, meanwhile, are now living comfortably with each other and Rosario. While everyone else is older, Karen—just like in Grace's dream—has not aged due to extensive plastic surgery, and she and Jack perform a duet of the song "Unforgettable". The show ends with Will and Grace watching ER together, reminiscing and discussing the marriage of their respective children. Feeling uplifted, the four friends gather at a bar to toast to their friendship, which then flashes back to the four as their younger selves.