Editor’s note: This story contains spoilers from the final season of “Grace and Frankie.”

All good things come to an end, and as the final season begins for the Netflix series “Grace and Frankie,” its spunky octogenarian protagonists begin contemplating a subject that can no longer be avoided.

“The reality is one of us is going to lose the other eventually,” observes Jane Fonda’s practical but harried Grace.

“Unless we do a ‘Thelma & Louise’ thing, which I’m open to,” offers Lily Tomlin’s eccentric, pot-smoking Frankie.

“Pass.”

The final 12 episodes of Netflix’s longest-running series became available Friday, April 29. It’s called season 7B, as the first four episodes of the season (7A) came out in August — a result of the series’ long pandemic delay. Created by showrunners Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris, the series2015年5月8日首播,when Grace and Frankie’s lawyer husbands, Robert(Martin Sheen)and Sol(Sam Waterston),take their wives to dinner and make a startling announcement: They are both leaving their marriages — for each other.

In its 94 half-hour episodes, we have gotten to know the four intimately, as well as their often narcissistic families: Grace and Robert’s daughters Brianna (June Diane Raphael) and Mallory (Brooklyn Decker) and their various beaus; and Frankie and Sol’s adopted children Bud (Baron Vaughn) and Coyote (Ethan Embry).

Along the way, cast members dropping in and out includedRita Moreno,RuPaul, Lisa Kudrow, Christine Lahti, Craig T. Nelson, Ernie Hudson, Martin Mull, Michael McKean,Ed Asner,Marsha Mason,Sam Elliott,Engelbert Humperdinck, Debbie Allen, George Hamilton and Ed Begley Jr.

After gingerly trying to find its footing through season one, “Grace and Frankie” has gotten better with age. The final season does not disappoint, climaxing with a glorious appearance by Dolly Parton in the final episode, reuniting the stars from the 1980 comedy classic “9 to 5” at last.

Season seven opened with, among other developments, Grace’s husband Nick (Peter Gallagher) being arrested for financial shenanigans and being held in jail without bail, thanks to Grace’s appearance at his arraignment, which veered toward disaster.

The season picks up with episode five, when Nick is granted house arrest and stays with Grace and Frankie. Meanwhile, Brianna and Mallory clash during a power struggle at Grace’s former company, Say Grace, while Brianna and long-term boyfriend Barry (Peter Cambor), a Say Grace employee, reach a crisis point; Bud, who had inherited Sol’s law firm, thinks he might have a future as a stand-up comic but doesn’t want wife Allison (Lindsey Kraft) to know; and Coyote finally commits to Jessica (Christine Woods), but their plans for marriage hit a snag because of something in his past.

But the driving narrative thrust centers on two major health issues that bring the series home. Robert, who covets the role of Nathan Detroit in a local theater production of “Guys and Dolls,” suddenly can’t remember his lines. His memory issues in daily life become apparent, signifying a hard road for Robert and Sol.

The other is Frankie’s obsession with death, foretold by a psychic. She knows — or thinks she knows — her exact date of death and becomes convinced she will be murdered (she even creates a “murder board” to identify possible suspects, with Grace on the list). Everyone in their orbit thinks Frankie is being ridiculous, but her earnest belief in her impending doom tangentially influences other characters, young and old, to take stock of their lives and decisions, especially Grace, who develops panic attacks and comes to a realization about her childhood.

Like all series, “Grace and Frankie” has had its ups and downs writing-wise, but the seventh season (with scripts credited to 15 different writers in the 16 episodes) is strong with some inspired bits, including Grace and Frankie’s adventure trying to smuggle prescription drugs across the border from Mexico, and Frankie’s obsession with throwing her own funeral while she’s still alive. (“It’s rude to speak ill of the dead,” Jessica says, “when they’re standing right there.”)

Amazingly,Fondaand Tomlin were nominated but never won either an Emmy or Screen Actors Guild Award for their roles, but their odd-couple banter is irresistible, and whileTomlin has made a careerof her comedic skills, Fonda again proves that she too can be a skilledcomedian, evident from the days of “Cat Ballou” and “Barefoot in the Park” in the 1960s, but only sporadically used in that capacity since.

Above all, “Grace and Frankie” is a glorious celebration of aging sisterhood not seen since the days of “The Golden Girls,” which also ran seven seasons.

Unlike the fumbles at the end by series such as“Game of Thrones”and“Killing Eve,”the final stretch of “Grace and Frankie” maintains a delicate balance of accepting a ticking clock — this is a series that has never shied away from the health problems of the aging, from Frankie’s strokes to Grace’s knee operations to Sol’s prostate cancer — and the drive to live life to its fullest.

最后提出一系列可以保持going, but it’s probably best to have left it right here.

“Grace and Frankie”(TV-MA) season 7B is currently streaming on Netflix.