As 30 Rock creeps closer and closer to its finale, it just keeps getting stronger and stronger.
I think 30 Rock is shaping up to have one of the strongest final seasons for a sitcom ever and I think they might have delivered my favorite episode yet of the year. Line for line the episode was almost entirely quotable. I couldn't stop laughing and had to pause the show on multiple occasions to keep up with all the great laughs. I mean, its hard to believe the series is still this hilarious, Fey and her writers are aiming high and nailing it.
The show was rather meta this week on a number of occasions, none more so then addressing why Liz and Jack never hooked up. In true 30 Rock fashion they don't directly address the actual question, but instead mine the situation of the two having to share a bed for comedy and moving Jack towards an epiphany about his future as C.E.O.; that of which he might not end up taking? The two ended up in Florida to close out Jack's Mom's estate and possibly uncovering a secret lifestyle his mom never shared with him. The back and forth between Jack and Liz is as solid as ever and the revelation that Colleen has a sexual relationship with her supposed female “housemaid” only heightens the hilarity. The shelf of vagina woodcarvings was one of the best visual gags of the season and I have to say that the show handled Liz and Jack in the same bed together about as well as one could imagine. Liz tags along with Jack as she tries to live her life a bit more spontaneously, but the main reason she is down there, in the context of the series, was so that Tracy and Jenna could burn TGS to the ground.
Tracy and Jenna realize they are “in charge” of TGS with Jack, Liz and Pete out of town and a surprise appearance by an NBC lawyer, with a lawsuit from Hazel for harassment, causes about as much trouble as you could imagine. We get to see pieces of Hazel's deposition - Kristen Schaal in top insanity form - but whether the allegations are true or not doesn't really matter. All the lawyer needs is signed affidavits from everyone on the staff that nothing like this happens, but the one hold out brings everything down; Kenneth.
Ken has been kind of lost to the sidelines over the last couple seasons, but his sweetness and sincerity has never left him. Unsurprisingly he can't sign the form in good conscience, but when Tracy and Jenna force him, he evolves into a weird greaser persona. I don't know what that was about, but it affects Tracy and Jenna enough to let him tell the truth to the lawyer. The first person retelling of all the terrible things Kenneth has endured at TGS was actually the least entertaining bit of the episode, but it is a key plot point as it leads to TGS' impending cancellation. While the plot might have been mostly about moving the pieces towards the finale, it was still plenty funny and the reaction from Liz in the coming weeks will be worth any shortcomings. Most of all I am happy they are likely folding Kenneth into a potential prominent role in the finale as his craziness has been missed by this viewer.
30 Rock was able to move some major pieces into their final places for the last couple of episodes while also delivering the funniest episode of the season. Every line was working and the show was able to even have some meta fun along the way. “Classic Tracy, you'll miss this,” was the first great line of the episode and I couldn't agree more, I'm going to miss this show. Only two weeks left.
Random Ramblings:
-"has a sleep disorder."
-Fart noises, never get old.
-"Do you know anyone at Doritos?"
-"Obviously, because of Stockholm Syndrome."
-She took that present!
-"I saw him pack a wig."
-Tim Meadows!
-"God, she loved looting."
-"If you want to know why Jag wasn't on this week..."
-"What kind of dinosaur was your grandfather?"
-"Her hair is so thick and black."
-"So was Lucifer."
-"I have a gluten thing that turns my business white."
-"Shmezbians!"
-"I'll brew up some blue."
-"Looks like he takes his sandwich with a pickle."
-"There isn't a hole in my pocket I touch my penis through."
-Blurkeld vagina woodwork, nice touch.
-"Even Fat Ralph and he ate his boogers."
-"They're my mother's vagina."
-"I forgot to make an opening at the end of the slide."
-Broken Kenneth is weird.
-"The first three died falling off the car in "Summer Loving."
-Kenneth is going to destroy TGS?
-"Let him read those Hustlers with out telling him I'm a fan."
-"Or when playing hockey the goal."
-"My mother died while naming me."
-Two kids?
-"Kenneth doesn't have different hair anymore."
-"A smooth beige tube with a head."
-Kristen Schall killed it in her deposition material.
