I don’t know about you, but I thought this was the strongest episode of 30 Rock that we’ve gotten all season. It was a little light on great Jack moments, but it definitely featured some of the best Liz and Tracy moments all season. Tracy Morgan and Tina Fey were at their best and the material they were given was top notch as well. Also, there was barely any Jenna, and that’s usually a good thing.
Seriously, this episode got more than a couple guffaws out of me, and that’s no easy task. It’s always great seeing the train wrecks that are Liz’s ex-boyfriends. This episode took it to the next level, as Drew had lost both his hands through incredibly stupid means (helicopter and firecracker accidents). As good as that was, it may have been surpassed by Dennis trying to mount his own balloon boy stunt, only with an actual boy in the weather balloon. Then, there was Wesley. It was great watching Liz loathe him while unable to deny that he was her best option, to the point of agreeing to marry him.
Then there was Tracy, who was still looking for the ever illusive EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony). His posse was trying to convince him to star in a gritty drama about the inner city. I thought it was great watching Tracy reconnect with the “hurt” of his childhood, taking the results out on the child actor playing Nermil from Garfield.
Jack continued to try to choose between his women, and I’m still growing weary of that plot line. It’s fun to see the juxtaposition between Jack and his perfect women and Liz and her total losers, but the fun kind of ends there for me. I always like Jack when he is with a girlfriend, but this story isn’t working for me. I really would like to see him pick one of the lovely ladies and stick with her for a little while, or just move on. I mean, this can’t possibly end well, can it?
Here are some of my choice quotes:
“I am coming alone Cerie, but I would still like two meals.” – Liz, regarding Cerie’s wedding
“I can set you up with my trainer, he’s gay, but not when he’s drunk.” – Jenna to Liz
“It’s all coming back to me! Oh my god! I slept on an old dog bed stuffed with wigs. I watched a prostitute stab a clown. Our basketball hoop was a ribcage! A ribcage!” – Tracy, upon revisiting his childhood home which is now a copy center
“You sound like me at the Olympic Village” :-))
I didn’t understand a word of what Frank said to Liz in passing in the writer’s room. Bummer, it was his only scene…
I think she was talking about her options – or lack thereof – in men, Frank agreed and he said to her, “so meet you in the handicapped stall in ten.”