Ah, 30 Rock! There you are! Liz tried hitting on her father to drive him back home, Jack had to find some new DIHC, and Tracy and Jenna tried to rewrite their obituaries. This made for a welcome return to the land of the blergh.
Elizabeth Banks seems to elicit either love or hate from people, nowhere in between. Fortunately, I love her, and I loved Avery "Why does everything smell like onions?!" Jessup this week. She tried to break up Jack and Liz's shark/remora symbiotic relationship, and they both went downhill. Only Liz Lemon has the right DIHC to fill Jack's mentor program.
Liz's storyline this week was much improved over her awkward sex from the last episode. Every time her family shows up, she gets a little bit of her childhood innocence chipped away, and this time it was her father Dick's fidelity in the spotlight. That hispanic blur that sold him the Edward Hardy shirt should have made him wear glasses to see how silly he looked, but then we wouldn't have seen Tootsie Liz try to scare her dad away from Swingles to that bar with the cool rainbow flags. While she pathetically tried to scare her dad back into her mother's arms, who thought Dick was at the doctor's office, Liz fell apart very quickly without Jack's insulting guidance. New low: wearing bags as underwear.
Jack, meanwhile, put various employees through the DIHC Mentoring test, and everyone failed, from pinky-loving Jonathan, to Tracy, who can sleep soundly knowing that nothing happens unless he's awake. Even the junior executives who will only work hard if they're constantly praised and can grow their hair out are not eligible for the Donaghy Mentoring Program. For poor Jack, it was as if Avery was banning him from an important part of his life and needed a fix, even on Avery herself. When he tried to school her on a tiny-handed interviewee, Avery knew Jack needed Lemon to survive.
Even though Jacob left Tracy on this side for broken hearted Kenneth, NBC News still prepared his monstrous obituary to include his submarine DUI, and Tracy did not like what he saw. He decided to I don't know any of my lines--I mean, pull a Prince Hal and make sure that he went down a good man, not as Fat Bitch and Who Dat Ninja. Fortunately, right before he was about to stop Kenneth from killing 911 cat, he heard a report announcing that he actually may be up for an Oscar, and then he went to retrieve Tracy Jr. from Atlantic City.
Jenna was none too happy about her obituary situation either; NBC didn't think she was as important as that one girl Kim Jong-Il and she didn't get one. The 3-time Tony Shalhoub sex partner decided to make her own obituary, and then went as far as to pick up Tracy slack and become a double hero by saving 911 cat, who then saved Kenneth after Jenna slammed him with a fire extinguisher.
Fun Stuff:
-Liz shooting down the baby names was great. "I'm Daphne Donaghy! I just saw a turtle!" "No, not Christina, because then she'll shorten her name to Tina, and all Tinas are judgmental bitches!"
-How did NBC news get a hold of Tracy's Jefferson footage? I though Don Geiss shot it down? Besides, "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah" is much better.
-Kenneth's Jacob line was a Lost reference, right? I haven't seen season 6 yet, so yeah...
-"I can't cut off your pinky! Then you wouldn't be perfect!"
-Apparently, Tracy's movie Hard to Watch is a Precious joke from last season that I totally forgot about. And so, it appears, did Tracy.
-Of course Avery's closet was on the cover of Organized Living.
-"Liz Lemon is just the right amount of DIHC for me. I heard it, and I don't care!"
-"Can I show you a wierd thing on my leg?" Of course you can, Lemon. Anytime. Just get it removed.
-"I was gonna take this class called Cooking for One, but the instructor killed himself."
-Of course Pete is the creepy guy at the bar! It all makes sense!
-Cerie's back! Where the hell did she go?
-Is it just me, or did anyone else think Toonces The Driving Cat when 911 cat called for help?
-I love how each time she sees her family, Liz gets more and more disenfranchised! First, they didn't see her football game. Then her mom could've married an astronaut! Now her dad is on the prowl for some tail!
-Of course Avery knows German, Liz! She is having a baby with Jack after all!
-"In lieu of flowers, I want jewels poured into my casket!" Me too!
-I like how not only did Jack not even consider Kenneth's DIHC, but Kenneth already has a mentor! "Stop calling me!"
GRADE: A
Back to its wonderfully absurd roots, by reminding us exactly what the roots of this show are (the Jack/Liz dynamic), we find a wonderful installment of one of TV's finest shows. Now excuse me, I've got to get to my ironic kickball league.
MVP Tina Fey, who did a good job all around, but killed with the baby names.
Runner-Up Tracy Morgan, who gave one of the better Tracy stories in a while. Sure, he pretty much fluctuates from outright insane to barely listening, but it worked for me this week.
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