I woke up still thinking about this. I find it really interesting because the grand premise of the show is Will & Grace’s codependent emotional compatibility, but I’m going to be fucking wild and say that Karen and Jack’s relationship was both healthier and more compatible. https://twitter.com/kaylaancrum/status/1309345775500111872

I don’t think it was bi-coding, I genuinely think they looked at Jack’s character & were like “let’s add This Feature for a little more comedy & spice” but the feature they added was: the only character jack feels safe enough to explore these extra physical desires w/ is Karen

And on top of that, because the split attraction model wasn’t popular yet, they let that extracurricular feature of his get out of hand for comedic purposes. But what they actually created was repeated and gratuitous examples of what a relationship like this looks like.

Also, because I don’t think it was intentional, I’d wager that the reboot probs decreases this feature SIGNIFICANTLY because now that we have the words to describe what Jack’s doing, they probably would want to eliminate it instead of owning/exploring it. For many reasons.

But back to J/K. Their relationship was gratuitous & they’re both extremely chaotic, ethically. But their relationship was based on: incredibly high understanding of each other’s needs, mutual satisfaction, quick forgiveness, HONESTY, & trying to have as much fun as possible.

Which is stronger than Will and grace’s constant misunderstanding of each other’s needs, continuous drive to keep secrets, and “burn it all” reaction to most things, even if their love for each other does fuel their closeness and forgiveness model.

Their closeness is also built on fear of isolation, the weight of mutual personal history and compounded social anxiety all of which are things to run from. While Jack and Karen are running towards each other, even if their motivations are the mutual hobbies of money & mockery.

Also, not to be explicit but in the episodes where Jack actually touches Grace he 100% handles her like he’s not at all interested. But with Karen, he touches her Differently, and often. Here’s an episode summary in case people haven’t watched the show in a while and forgotten: