In the first episode of the second season, Robert as a heart attack and is rushed to the hospital. The women and all four children meet Robert and Sol there. This incident stops Sol from telling Robert about his affair with Frankie. When Robert finds out he needs to have life-threatening surgery, he convinces Sol that they should get married now. Grace and Frankie, as well as the children, are forced to help.
Grace and Frankie “The Wish” passes the Bechdel Test by including…
- Two women named Grace and Frankie
- Dialogue that takes place between the two women
- Grace and Frankie have conversations about something besides men. For example, in this episode, as they enter the house from the beach, they talk about getting the sand off of their feet.
Grace Skolka (Hanson)
Masculine Traits:
- Assertive
- Grace asserts herself and tells Frankie that she wants a martini.
- Forceful
- Grace yelled at Frankie saying “No! If you pull one (eyelash), my whole face comes off” when Frankie wanted to give Grace an eyelash to wish upon.
- Leadership ability
- Grace and Frankie take charge in making sure that Robert and Sol’s wedding takes place. Their job is to search the hospital for someone to perform the marriage.
- Dominant
- When Sol doesn’t think him and Robert should get married because of his affair with Frankie, Grace tells him that Robert is sick and you need to marry him.
- Grace dominants the conversation with Robert when he wants to talk about what happens if he dies, Grace will not have the conversation with him.
- Willing to take a stand
- Grace yells at the Rabbi when he won’t marry Robert and Sol because they’re not both Jewish.
- Aggressive
- Grace aggressively asks Frankie what her wish off of her eyelash was.
- When Frankie starts talking, Grace pushes Frankie and tells Frankie that her wish was for her to be quiet.
- Grace aggressively takes charge of the situation with Robert. She comes off very harsh to nurses and other medical professionals trying to help Robert.
- Ambitious
- Grace is very ambitious to get Robert and Sol married.
Feminine Traits:
- Cheerful
- Grace is very cheerful towards Robert when she sees him in the hospital.
- Loyal
- Grace is very loyal to Robert and her daughters, which is evident when she rushes to the hospital for Robert.
- Sensitive to others’ needs
- Grace is very sensitive towards Sol who is having a very hard time with the situation at hand.
- Soft-spoken
- While Grace is convincing Frankie that she should marry Robert and Sol, she is very soft spoken towards Frankie, who eventually decides to marry them.
- Sensitive
- Grace is very sensitive about the Robert situation and admits that she is terrified of him dying.
Frankie Bergestein
Masculine Traits:
- Forceful
- Frankie is very forceful towards Sol, telling him that she can’t go in the room by Robert because Robert will be able to see that she is hiding the affair.
- Frankie yells at Sol when he says he needs to “process” the affair and the consequences of it.
- Leadership ability
- Grace and Frankie take charge in making sure that Robert and Sol’s wedding takes place. Their job is to search the hospital for someone to perform the marriage.
- Willing to take risks
- Frankie is the character that eventually admits to the four kids that Sol and her slept together.
- Dominant
- She ends up dominating the conversation when Sol says he really f*cked up with Frankie, but Frankie is upset because he doesn’t see the last 20 years that he cheated on her as an issue.
- Individualistic
- Frankie tells Grace that her new goal is to find the real Frankie, the one without Sol.
- When they are waiting for the doctor to come back with test results, Frankie is playing a harmonica in Robert’s hospital room.
Feminine Traits:
- Cheerful
- Frankie is cheerful when she starts imagining what her life will be like without Sol.
- Sensitive to others’ needs
- She’s very sensitive towards protecting Robert and Sol and decides in the end that she will not tell Robert about their affair.
- Because she is the only one that is able to do it, she agrees to marry Robert and Sol because of the pain she know she’s caused Robert.
- Compassionate
- Because Frankie got to wish from an eyelash, she wants Grace to have a wish too.
- Childlike
- Frankie orders her coffee with ice cream in it.
In this episode, it seems that both women are more masculine than feminine. Being that they find themselves in an awkward but yet serious situation, there is a lot of tension and aggression in the air. In addition to that, they are trying very hard to put on this wedding which required them to put their leadership to the test.
Shared by: Reegan Haines
Image Credit: Grace and Frankie Season 2, Episode 1 (approximately 29:45)