"Grandpa Jack"

Will & Grace
Episode #9.04
Original Airdate 10/19/17
Written by Alex Herschlag
Directed by James Burrows
Transcript by Rob Durfee

CAST
Eric McCormack (Will Truman)
Debra Messing (Grace Adler)
Sean Hayes (Jack McFarland)
Megan Mullally (Karen Walker)

GUEST CAST
Michael Angarano (Elliot)
Andrew Rannells (Reggie)
Anthony Ramos (Tony)
Jet Jurgensmeyer (Skip)
Natalie Dreyfuss (Emma)
Jane Lynch (Roberta)


WILL: "Will & Grace" is shot before a live studio audience.

SCENE I: Will's Apartment

[WILL is in the kitchen getting a cup of coffee. KAREN and GRACE are standing around the table.]

KAREN: Honey, why are you making me go to work on a Saturday? I should be home, making love to Stan and watching cartoons.

[JACK EXITS FROM GRACE'S BATHROOM. HE IS WEARING A ROBE AND A SHOWER CAP.]

JACK: [LAUGHS] Ah, I love cartoons!

WILL: You heard what we were talking about?

JACK: No.

GRACE: Jack, why do you have to use my shower?

JACK: Four reasons: One, your water pressure's better. Two, you've got that hand attachment that gets to all those fun-to-reach areas. And three through four, I've had two dates this week with a bear who clogged my drain.

GRACE: Since when are bears your thing? I thought you were into twinks, twunks, and everything else that Dr. Seuss didn't write about. [TO KAREN] All right, Karen, let's go.

KAREN: Grace, you work too much, and you're not dating. It's Saturday morning. You should be slinking home with your contacts in a shot glass, scratches on your back, and itches on your front.

GRACE: I went on a date last week.

WILL: Yeah, that was the meeting with the cabinet maker you want to use, and he was blatantly gay. When I came home, he was sitting on the couch in the pajama party position.

GRACE: I don't know that one. Humbled.

WILL: Jack? Pajama party position. Please demonstrate.

JACK: Oh, yeah, sure.

[JACK WALKS TO THE SOFA. WITH A HOP, HE LANDS ON THE COUCH IN A SITTING POSITION, WITH HIS LEGS TUCKED BEHIND HIM.]

JACK: No heterosexual man has ever sat this way.

WILL: If a sitting position could have a lisp, it would be that one.

GRACE: Let's go, Kar.

KAREN: Honey, all I'm saying is that if you don't start dating, it's gonna turn into a fireplace you never use. Open up the flue and put a big log in there.

[GRACE AND KAREN EXIT.]

[JACK UNCROSSES HIS LEGS WITH A FLOURISH AND STANDS.]

JACK: [TO WILL] Now that the men are off to work, what should us girls get up to? [JACK PULLS OFF HIS SHOWER CAP AND TOSSES IT ONTO THE TABLE.]

WILL: Well, I read an article...

JACK: No.

WILL: But you can volunteer...

JACK: Boo.

WILL: To clean historic houses.

JACK: You know how people say, "Why is Will still single?" I'm not one of those people.

[THERE IS KNOCK ON THE DOOR. JACK WALKS TO THE DOOR AND OPENS IT. A YOUNG BOY — SKIP — STANDS THERE WITH A SMILE.]

SKIP: Hi.

JACK: Oh, I'm sorry, dear, but I can't give you any money. I don't support arts and music in schools. I don't need the competition.

[JACK STARTS TO SHUT THE DOOR, BUT SKIP BLOCKS IT.]

SKIP: No, no. I'm looking for Jack McFarland.

JACK: I'm Jack McFarland.

SKIP: You have a son named Elliot, right?

JACK: Technically, although, like my friend Will and his hair, we had a falling-out years ago. Why do you ask?

SKIP: I found some of the letters you wrote him, and since I'm in New York with my parents, I wanted to meet you.

JACK: I'm sorry. Who exactly are you?

SKIP: Oh, I'm Elliot's son, Skip.

JACK: One more time, dear. I'm a trifle "deef" in my upstage ear.

[JACK BENDS DOWN AND PUTS A FINGER BEHIND HIS EAR.]

SKIP: [LOUDLY] I'm your grandson!

[JACK'S JAW DROPS.]

SKIP: Can I call you grandpa?

WILL: Oh, my God, you have to.

SCENE II: Will's Apartment, Balcony

[JACK IS ON THE BALCONY TRIMMING THE VINES WITH A PAIR OF CLIPPERS. WILL ENTERS, TUCKING HIS PHONE INTO HIS POCKET.]

WILL: Hey, got ahold of Skip's parents at the hotel. [LOUDER] They're on their way, grandpa.

JACK: Oh, please!

[WILL HUGS JACK FROM BEHIND]

WILL: I just found out my youth-obsessed best friend has a grandson. I am obligated to torture you. It's in the contract.

JACK: I didn't even know he existed. How could Elliot not tell me this?

WILL: You haven't spoken to him in years.

JACK: Because he moved to Texas, married someone super conservative, and he didn't even invite me to his wedding.

WILL: And you got your feelings hurt, and cut him out of your life.

JACK: I didn't cut anything!

[JACK FRANTICALLY SNIPS AT THE HEDGES.]

WILL: Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Edward Sissy-Hands. [WILL TAKES THE CLIPPERS FROM JACK AND TOSSES THEM ASIDE.]

WILL: This is your chance to patch things up. Elliot and his wife are coming over. Your grandson is in there. Go talk to him.

JACK: How am I supposed to connect with a kid from Texas? I can't fish or hunt or tell a woman what to do with her fetus.

[WILL TURNS JACK AND PUSHES HIM INTO THE APARTMENT. JACK STARES AT SKIP. WILL PUSHES HIM TOWARD THE BOY.]

JACK: So, Skip. [JACK SKIPS A STEP AND LAUGHS NERVOUSLY.]

[AWKWARD SILENCE.]

WILL: [TO SKIP] Are you having fun in New York?

SKIP: [EXCITED] Yeah! I love it!

[SKIP HOPS AND LANDS ON THE COUCH IN THE "PAJAMA PARTY POSITION".]

JACK: [EYES WIDE] Would you excuse us just for a second?

[JACK RUNS OVER TO WILL.]

WILL: [HUSHED] Don't get too excited. We can't know for sure.

JACK: [HUSHED] Really? The pajama party position? Is that not enough evidence to convict "Miss Demeanor" over there?

WILL: [HUSHED] Take it easy. We are not doing an episode of "Law & Order: LGBTQ."

[KAREN ENTERS THE APARTMENT.]

KAREN: Don't mind me, boys. I forgot my Birkin.

[KAREN ROUNDS THE COFFEE TABLE, PICKING UP HER PURSE. SKIP WATCHES WITH A SLACK JAW.]

[KAREN PAUSES AT THE DOOR, WITH HER HAND ON HER HIP, AND SMIRKS.]

KAREN: Close your mouth, kid. You're gonna catch a fly.

[KAREN EXITS.]

SKIP: Jesse Tyler Ferguson, she is fabulous!

[WILL AND JACK LOOK AT EACH OTHER. WILL NODS.]

SCENE III: Grace Adler Designs

[GRACE walks into the office. KAREN and TONY are already at work.]

KAREN: Okay, Google, turn down the lights.

[THE LIGHTS DIM.]

GRACE: Okay, Google, turn on the lights.

[THE LIGHTS COME BACK TO FULL BRIGHTNESS.]

KAREN: Great. Mom's home.

GRACE: Tony, I don't know what's going on here, but Karen's always takes things too far, and she is grinding up against me right now, isn't she?

TONY: She was, but it's more like a dry hump thing with a little bit of spankings.

GRACE: [TURNING TO KAREN] Stop. Isn't there something that you would like to say to Tony?

KAREN: Yes. I'm so sorry that I didn't think of this earlier. Heads up, Puerto Rico! Have a good time.

[KAREN THROWS A ROLL OF PAPER TOWELS AT TONY.]

GRACE: Karen!

TONY: It's okay, Grace. Every time she does it, I make her send a grand to hurricane relief.

KAREN: Worth every peso!

[TONY GIVES KAREN A THUMBS UP AND EXITS THE OFFICE.]

GRACE: Karen, I don't know where to start. You have got to stop sexually harassing the employees. It's bad enough that you do it to me.

KAREN: Well, honey, if you didn't want me to play with him, why'd you buy him for me?

[GRACE SIGHS.]

KAREN: Wait a minute. You bought him for yourself. Well, good for you, honey. That is exactly what you need.

GRACE: I am his boss. I would never even think that.

KAREN: Oh, right. Because your snooch died.

GRACE: My snooch... is not dead.

[KAREN GETS UP AND HOLDS A COMPACT MIRROR TO GRACE'S CROTCH.]

KAREN: Then why isn't it breathing?

[SHE HOLDS UP THE MIRROR TO SHOW GRACE.]

SCENE IV: Will's Apartment

[JACK and SKIP are sitting together on the sofa. WILL sits on the arm of the sofa.]

SKIP: For Halloween last year, I went as my favorite singer, Lady Gaga. Do you guys know who she is?

[SKIP HOLDS UP A PICTURE OF LADY GAGA ON HIS PHONE.]

JACK: Know who she is? Ha! Excuse me, I sewed my own meat dress, okay? I went as Lady Gaga last Halloween.

WILL: And the one before that, and the one before that, and... and sometimes not Halloween. So, Skip, you didn't mention why you and your parents are here in New York.

SKIP: I'm going to a camp. Upstate somewhere.

JACK: The best theater camps are upstate. French Woods? Stagedoor? Let me go to my apartment and get some props for you to take with you. [JUMPS UP FROM THE SOFA. EXCITEDLY:] Oh, my God, this is so much fun. I can't believe...

[JACK EXITS THE APARTMENT IN A RUSH.]

SKIP: [TO WILL] How old is my grandpa?

WILL: He is in his early one-hundreds. Yeah.

[A KNOCK ON THE DOOR.]

WILL: [WALKING TO THE DOOR] And if you tell him he looks 85, he'll be so flattered.

[WILL OPENS THE DOOR. IT'S ELLIOT AND HIS WIFE, EMMA. ELLIOT IS DECKED OUT IN A COWBOY HAT AND BOOTS, AND A FLEECE-LINED JEAN JACKET.]

WILL: Elliot.

ELLIOT: Hey, Will. [TO SKIP] Dude, not cool.

EMMA: Oh, you cannot just run off like that.

WILL: [TO ELLIOT] Wow, look at you. You're a... you're a real Texan now.

ELLIOT: I am. I drank the Kool-Aid and can no longer separate church and state. That's my wife, Emma.

WILL: Nice to meet you.

[WILL AND EMMA SHAKE HANDS.]

EMMA: Nice to meet you. [LOOKING AROUND] It's a really cute place you have here. Oh. It's very artsy. [AWKWARDLY POINTING TO THE NUDE MALE PORTRAIT BY THE KITCHEN.]

ELLIOT: Emma's never been here before.

WILL: You don't say. Well, you may find it a little strange at first, but we're all ex—

[JACK ENTERS THE APARTMENT. HE HAS A FEATHER BOA AROUND HIS SHOULDERS AND IS WEARING AN OVER-SIZED WIG THAT IS HALF BLACK AND HALF WHITE. IT COVERS MOST OF HIS FACE, LIKE SIA, SO HE CAN'T SEE.]

JACK: Now... A good wig is all about versatility. Okay? This one could be Sia or Cruella de Vil, or an indecisive Anna Wintour. What happened? Did you leave?

[JACK BLOWS A PUFF OF AIR AND THE FRONT OF THE WIG FLIPS UP TO SHOW HIS FACE.]

JACK: [SURPRISED] Elliot.

ELLIOT: Jack.

[JACK AND ELLIOT LOOK EACH OTHER UP AND DOWN.]

JACK AND ELLIOT [BOTH]: Nice costume.

SCENE V: Will's Apartment

[CONTINUING.]

SKIP: Mom, guess what. Jack was Lady Gaga for Halloween too.

EMMA: [INSINCERE] Oh! Fun.

ELLIOT: All right, well, we need to go. We don't want to be late for the first day of camp.

EMMA: Yeah, it was really nice meeting all y'all.

SKIP: Could I say good-bye to Jack and Will?

ELLIOT: Quick, all right? We'll be down in the lobby. [HE TAPS THE BRIM OF HIS HAT] Jack.

JACK: [CURTSIES] Elliot.

[EMMA AND ELLIOT EXIT THE APARTMENT.]

SKIP: I wish I could stay.

JACK: I know. Me too.

WILL: Maybe we should, uh, get Skip to the elevator.

JACK: Okay, yeah. Hey, what's the name of that camp, so I can write you?

SKIP: Camp Straighten Arrow.

[SKIP EXITS THE APARTMENT. WILL AND JACK EXCHANGE A LOOK BEFORE FOLLOWING HIM TO THE ELEVATOR.]

WILL: "Straighten Arrow"?

JACK: Is that a new theater camp? I never heard of it.

SKIP: No, it's a... camp my parents found to fix me.

[SKIP GETS ON THE ELEVATOR.]

JACK: Fix you?

SKIP: So I can be normal. Bye.

[THE ELEVATOR DOORS CLOSE. WILL AND JACK EXCHANGE LOOKS.]

SCENE VI: Grace Adler Designs

[TONY enters the office. GRACE is standing at the design table.]

TONY: Hey, I'm sorry about what happened this morning.

GRACE: No. No, no, no. Do not apologize. I feel terrible and embarrassed and hungry... but that's not about you. [SIGHS] I talked to Karen.

TONY: Look, it's not all on her, you know? We were just fooling around, and I was singing her favorite song. You know, "Mercy"?

GRACE: No, I don't.

TONY: [SINGING "MERCY" BY SHAWN MENDES] ♫ Baby, please have mercy on me / Take it easy on my heart ♫

GRACE: You can sing.

TONY: Thanks.

GRACE: You're welcome. I like to sing, too. I'm a bit of a singer myself.

TONY: Really?

GRACE: Yeah.

TONY: What do you sing?

GRACE: It's not like I have a song, per se... [SINGING HIGH-PITCHED AND OFF-KEY] ♫ Green finch and linnet bird, Nightingale, blackbird, How is it you singgggggg.... ♫

TONY: Not bad. Wow. But maybe try singing it from your diaphragm, though. Do you mind if I show you?

GRACE: Oh. Yeah.

TONY: All right.

[TONY MOVES BEHIND GRACE AND PUTS HIS HAND AROUND HER WAIST, HOLDING IT PALM DOWN AGAINST HER STOMACH.]

GRACE: [NERVOUSLY] Okay.

TONY: Now push your voice against it. Give me an... ♫ Oh... ♫

GRACE: [SINGING IN A DEEP PITCH, HOLDING THE NOTE] ♫ Oh... ♫

[GRACE CLOSES HER EYES AND LEANS WAY BACK AGAINST TONY.]

GRACE: [SINGING IN THE SAME NOTE] ♫ Oh, my God, it feels so good to have a man's hands on my body... ♫

[GRACE REALIZES WHAT SHE'S DOING AND STOPS.]

GRACE: You don't know that song? It's a song. You know it. It's by... The Dead Snooches. I'm gonna go and... I'm gonna go and download it for you.

[GRACE RUNS OFF INTO HER OFFICE.]

SCENE VII: Camp Straighten Arrow

[Camp owners ROBERTA and REGGIE are sitting on stools in front of the campers. SKIP is sitting among the the campers. The boys are wearing blue shirts and girls wear pink. The shirts say Camp Straighten Arrow on the front and "It's Not Always Best To Be Yourself" on the back.]

[ROBERTA plays the guitar while REGGIE shakes a tambourine. Roberta and Reggie sing to the tune of "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands".]

ROBERTA AND REGGIE: ♫ He's got boys being boys / In his hand ♫

ROBERTA AND REGGIE: ♫ He's got girls being girls / In his hand ♫

ROBERTA AND REGGIE: ♫ He's got boys-only-marryin'-girls / In his hand ♫

ROBERTA AND REGGIE: ♫ He's got the whole-natural-order-of-things / Where-people-act-like-the-Lord-intended / In his hands. ♫

ROBERTA AND REGGIE: ♫ He's got suits and dresses / On the right person ♫

ROBERTA AND REGGIE: ♫ He's got boys chasing girls / Appropriately. ♫

ROBERTA AND REGGIE: ♫ He's got boys... ♫

[WILL and JACK are in the camp lodge's lobby area looking through the door. JACK is bopping his head along to the music until WILL pulls him away.]

WILL: So what exactly are we supposed to do? As a sperm donor, the law doesn't recognize you as a relative, just as someone who made a little money doing what he would normally do for free.

JACK: Are you suggesting that we make a life-size dummy using pillows and overalls and leave it in Skip's place while we take him away?

WILL: Oh, my God, it's as if you can read the minds of other idiots. No, we can't kidnap him. We need a plan.

JACK: Okay, okay, okay. Um, how about, um... Well, go ahead. Say what you were gonna say.

WILL: I wasn't gonna say anything.

JACK: No, no, go ahead. I'll say mine afterwards.

WILL: I'll get Skip.

JACK: [OVERLAPPING] Skip...

WILL: I'll send him out here.

JACK: [OVERLAPPING] Him out here...

WILL: You tell him this is a bad place.

JACK: [OVERLAPPING] A bad place...

WILL: And if he wants to leave, then we'll do everything we can to help—

JACK: [OVERLAPPING] Help him. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. That's what I was gonna say.

WILL: Ah.

JACK: Keep going.

WILL: I'll find a way to divert the staff.

JACK: [OVERLAPPING] Divert the staff.

WILL: And you talk to him.

JACK: [OVERLAPPING] Talk to him. [NODDING] Yeah. Yeah, I was gonna say [MAKING AIR QUOTES] "distract the staff," but I don't know, I guess yours could work.

[WILL OPENS THE DOOR AND SNEAKS INSIDE.]

ROBERTA: Great, and we'll talk about having a good time and not acting on our impure impulses. It's not your fault...

[JACK LOOKS AT THE POSTER OR ROBERTA AND REGGIE WITH THE SLOGAN "IT'S NOT ALWAYS BEST TO BE YOURSELF". HE PICKS UP A BLACK MARKER AND DRAWS A BEARD ON ROBERTA.]

ELLIOT: Jack?

[JACK THROWS THE MARKER AND SPINS AROUND TO SEE ELLIOT ENTERING THE LODGE.]

ELLIOT: What are you doing here?

JACK: What are you doing here, bringing Skip to a place like this? What happened to you, Elliot? What happened to us?

ELLIOT: You know what happened. You never approved of me being with someone like Emma. I'm sorry if we have certain beliefs that you don't.

JACK: Because they're terrible beliefs.

ELLIOT: Oh, well, that's really open-minded. It's who we are, Jack. You can't judge someone for who they are.

JACK: Are you honestly saying that here? I have never been 100% clear what irony is, but I'm pretty sure that's it.

ELLIOT: [SIGHS] We just... don't want him to...

JACK: Turn out like me?

ELLIOT: We're his mom and dad. Go home, Jack.

 

[CUT TO INSIDE THE LODGE.]

ROBERTA: Okay, campers!

REGGIE: I'm Reggie, and this here is my beautiful wife of ten weeks, Roberta. [REGGIE STROKES ROBERTA'S HAIR] No. No flirting, fellas, okay? She's taken.

[REGGIE AND ROBERTA LAUGH. ROBERTA SMACKS REGGIE HARD ON THE BACK.]

ROBERTA: Ah, you. Okay. Well, it is time now for what we at Camp Straighten Arrow call re-orientation orientation.

REGGIE: Wordplay!

[REGGIE THROWS HIS ARMS, POINTING LIKE A CHEERLEADER.]

ROBERTA: Reg.

REGGIE: [STANDING STRAIGHT AND DEEPENING HIS VOICE] Okay. So... Did you see, guys, what I did just there? That... [ARMS OUT CHEER] and this... [KICKS OUT HIS LEG AND CLAPS HIS HANDS UNDERNEATH] That's what we don't want. Because that didn't feel good.

ROBERTA: Mm-mm.

REGGIE: It didn't feel natural.

ROBERTA: Natural. Nope.

[WILL SNEAKS UP BEHIND SKIP.]

WILL: [WHISPERING] Skip, don't turn around and don't say anything.

SKIP: Are you here to be fixed, too?

WILL: Your grandpa wants to see you outside.

[SKIP CROUCHES DOWN AND EXITS.]

ROBERTA: Now, the important thing is that we're all gonna have fun.

REGGIE: Yeah. Because...

ROBERTA AND REGGIE: [SINGING AND SNAPPING THEIR FINGERS] ♫ We pray, we pray / We pray the gay away! ♫

ROBERTA AND REGGIE: [SINGING AND SNAPPING THEIR FINGERS] ♫ 'Cause boys like girls and girls like boys / And that's what God done say ♫

REGGIE: ♫ Hey! ♫ [REGGIE KICKS HIS LEG UP AND CLAPS UNDERNEATH. HE CLEARS HIS THROAT AND DEEPENS HIS VOICE.] Okay.

[ROBERTA GLARES AT REGGIE.]

SCENE VIII: Grace Adler Designs

[GRACE and KAREN are sitting around the design table with martinis.]

KAREN: Honey, don't be so hard on yourself. It was bound to happen.

GRACE: Was it?

KAREN: Yes, Grace. Crazy things happen when you ignore you hoo-ha.

GRACE: It did feel good. You know, I think I have been denying a vital part of me. I mean, I am a very sexual woman.

[KAREN JUST LOOKS AT GRACE.]

GRACE: Sure, I don't like to move around when I'm doing it, and... once I got caught eating a sleeve of Ritz crackers during... But I am a woman in her sexual prime.

KAREN: Attagirl.

GRACE: I am going to put myself back out there. My marriage died, but the rest of me didn't. [LOOKING DOWN AT HER CROTCH] Did you hear that, Sophia?

KAREN: I talk to mine too!

[KAREN KICKS HER LEG UP ONTO THE TABLE.]

[THE ELEVATOR DOORS OPEN. TONY STARTS TO GET OUT, BUT STOPS.]

KAREN: [TO HER CROTCH] What's that, Jan? I know. Sophia's a dumb name. Shh.

[TONY SHAKES HIS HEAD AND LETS THE DOORS CLOSE WITHOUT GETTING OFF THE ELEVATOR.]

SCENE IX: Camp Straighten Arrow

ROBERTA: Back in the old days, they used a shock collar to curb any unnatural tendencies. [ROBERTA PULLS A LARGE COLLAR FROM BEHIND HER BACK] Remember those days, Reg?

REGGIE: Ugh, I sure do. They were effective, but really unpleasant. [REGGIE FASTENS THE COLLAR AROUND HIS NECK] And besides, look at this thing. It's like, "Hello!" Aren't chokers over already?"

WILL: [STANDING] Excuse me. I have a question.

REGGIE: Uh, I'm sorry, sir, but, um, but... but parents aren't allowed in the lodge for another 20 minutes.

WILL: Oh, I... I'm not a parent. I'm the director of the new conversion camp across the lake, Camp Kick-a-Mo.

ROBERTA: We don't have a lake.

REGGIE: Roberta, let the beautiful man speak.

WILL: We at Kick-a-Mo thought it might be fun to have a friendly competition with the other conversion therapy camp in the area.

ROBERTA: Well, I think I would have heard if there were...

REGGIE: It's a competition, Roberta! [WALKS UP TO WILL AND CHUCKLES] There's no way you're a better conversion camp.

WILL: Oh, really?

REGGIE: Yeah.

WILL: Our success rate is tops in the country. Plus, all of our counselors are now certified straight people.

ROBERTA: You don't seem that certified, what, with your dewy skin and your puffed-up basket.

[REGGIE LOOKS DOWN AT WILL'S PACKAGE. HIS BREATHING QUICKENS AND HE CAN'T TAKE HIS EYES AWAY.]

WILL: Oh, I'm certified, all right. In fact, I could kiss any male counselor in this camp and not feel a thing.

ROBERTA: Well, that is the most ridic—

REGGIE: Challenge accepted!

[REGGIE LUNGES AT WILL AND KISSES HIM ON THE LIPS.]

REGGIE: Well, uh, round one was a tie, kids, but round two is where I'm really gonna...

[REGGIE GOES IN FOR ANOTHER KISS, BUT ROBERTA HOLDS UP THE REMOTE CONTROL AND ACTIVATES THE SHOCK COLLAR.]

REGGIE: [FALLING TO THE GROUND] Oh, God!

SCENE X: Camp Straighten Arrow

[JACK and SKIP are sitting on a bench in the lobby.]

JACK: The point is, this place can't fix you because you're not broken.

SKIP: I'm confused.

JACK: Of course you're confused. So, let me tell you a story about another young man who was once confused. A young man who grew up to be a model citizen and today is proud of who and what he is. People adore this man, not only because of his good looks and dynamic personality, but because of his open, loving heart.

SKIP: Will?

JACK: No, not Will! Will's a fat lawyer! Why does that guy make an impression on everyone? [SIGHS] I'm talking about me. It was hard for me once, too, but believe me, it gets better.

SKIP: I don't see how.

JACK: Ugh. Skip... You are gonna be invited to so many good dinner parties. And there's something else. When you get older, you'll understand that there's the family you were born into and the family that you choose, and the family I chose... well, it doesn't get any better than that.

SKIP: But what do I do now?

JACK: I don't know. Your hero, Will, didn't really think this through. You're just gonna have to be really strong.

SKIP: It's hard, being me sometimes.

JACK: I know, but I'm gonna be there for you as much as I can, and when I'm not, I want you to picture me in your head, looking at you like I am right now, and saying, [JACK HOLDS SKIP'S FACE IN HIS HANDS] "You are exactly who you're supposed to be."

[SKIP GRINS.]

SCENE XI: Will's APARTMENT

[JACK is sitting on the sofa. WILL brings him a mug.]

WILL: Made you some hot chocolate.

JACK: With those little marshmallows floating on top?

WILL: We were out of marshmallows.

JACK: Ugh. This day couldn't get any worse.

[WILL SITS WITH JACK AND PUTS HIS ARM AROUND HIM. JACK LEANS HIS HEAD ON WILL'S SHOULDER.]

[A KNOCK ON THE DOOR INTERRUPTS.]

[WILL GETS UP AND OPENS THE DOOR FOR ELLIOT.]

ELLIOT: Hey. Could I speak to Jack?

WILL: I don't think that's a great idea.

JACK: It's okay, Will.

[WILL LETS ELLIOT INTO THE APARTMENT.]

ELLIOT: I spoke to Skip and he told me what you said. Then I looked around and I saw the camp for the first time through his eyes. Made me sick. I had to get him out of there.

JACK: Thank God.

[ELLIOT SITS DOWN NEXT TO JACK.]

ELLIOT: And then... In the car, on the way back to the city, Emma and I got into a pretty big fight, and she said, "Do you really want Skip to end up like Jack?" And I said, "You mean someone who'd drop everything to help someone he cares for live their truth? Yeah, I do." Anyway, um... Emma let Skip leave the camp. So... I guess that's a first step.

ELLIOT: Jack, I know we haven't been close over the last few years, but you really do mean a lot to me. You're my dad.

JACK: That means so much. But in public, you're my brother.

[JACK AND ELLIOT HUG.]

ELLIOT: So, uh, Skip and I are gonna hang around the city for the next few days. I was wondering if you wanna take your grandson to his first Broadway show.

[JACK PRESSES HIS LIPS TOGETHER AND PULLS OUT A HANDKERCHIEF. HE TURNS AWAY AND COVERS HIS EYES.`]

JACK: Please look away. I don't think a boy should ever see his father cry. I mean brother.

[JACK LOOKS AT WILL AND THEY SMILE.]