Season Finale – 30 Rock – “Cooter”

“Cooter”

May 8th, 2008

Last year, the season finale of 30 Rock was a disappointment: it was a slow half hour that dealt more with two outlandish storylines (Jack’s fiance Pheobe and Kenneth’s crazy cousin kidnapping Tracy) which never clicked outside of moments between Jack and Liz, and the fabulous appearance by Elaine Stritch as Jack’s mother. Storyline-wise, the first season just didn’t end on a creative high note.

And, to an extent, the same could be said for the second season if you ignore the circumstances. However, considering that there was so little time post-strike to get things moving, this episode did a great job at tying up some loose ends, providing something for almost every single members of the cast to do, using its characters right, and still centering the episode around the relationship between boss and employee.

It might have paled in comparison to the episode of The Office that preceded it, but I definitely think that “Cooter” trumps “Hiatus” as the superior finale for one of television’s best comedies.

Moving Jack to Washington was obviously never going to last, but Fey made the most of the move – writing the finale, she smartly uses his departure as an opportunity to both make fun of the current Bush administration (Almost too easy) and to remove Liz’s lifeline in New York. Jack is the thing that keeps her sane, that gives her someone to talk to who isn’t always back door bragging, so she has a relationship with his answering machine instead. It created added drama for Liz’s storyline, and helped to connect Jack (By abstentia) to New York while he and Matthew Broderick did their thing.

Broderick was a smart addition, playing a small character with just the right everyman quality that causes him to idolize Jack’s confidence in standing up to the bigwigs. It wasn’t a showy role, but the entire storyline was very understated until it dropped the gay bomb: there was a lot of jokes flying around, but nothing really connected in a memorable fashion. Still, it was consistently funny enough to top the awful Phoebe departure of last season, and it was great to see Edie Falco return as CiCi for one last kick at the can. That’s a nice end to tie up, especially on such short notice.

The real center of the episode was that Liz is pregnant, according to every logical signifier (Pregnancy tests and Jenna’s intitution that people never notice because of her beauty). The storyline provided a lot of great material, especially when it brought back Dean Winters. Considering how we left him, trying to throw Liz under a subway train, it was great that the writers do have ways of bringing him back without it seeming forced. Here, his knowing look to the audience was all we needed to fall into hatelove with him all over again.

It brought out a side of Liz that it’s great to see, one that wants a baby even if she has to handle Dennis being the father and desiring to either name him Morpheus or after this girl he boffed (To “Honor” her). It actually felt realistic that she would react this way, as her motherly instincts kick in, and her series of voice messages that Jack listens to at episode’s end are fabulous in their descent into total acceptance and ever excitement at the nice. It was a great character turn, and her desire to adopt (And Jack’s call to help her) is a touching way to leave these characters.

It was also funny, though, a common thread for the episode. That she wasn’t pregnant wasn’t so surprising, but the reveal that it was her Mexican-brand cheetos that caused the false positive is a wonderful culmination of what was once a total throwaway reference to Liz’s ability to eat crappy food. The episode was strong on the comic side, whether it was in its larger storylines or in throwaway moments.

The storyline managed to pack in two other storylines, as well – Kenneth working against the evil Donny (Head of the Pages) to gain a spot at the Beijing Olympics as a page, and Tracy finishing work on his porn video game (I’ll have to rewatch to catch the full title, but it had a colon as do all of Tracy’s titles). Both provided great comedy – Donny is a great character to see return, and the recording session for the video game was a highlight between the Judi Dench name drop and the fact that he wasn’t recording (Plus, Grizz!)

But my favourite random moment of comedy had to come from Pete, who was a potential Olympic Archer in 1980 before the Olympics were boycotted. The look on his moustached face made me laugh more than anything tonight, which is saying a lot, and for it to be called back as part of Kenneth’s storyline was icing on the cake. Unlike “Hiatus,” “Cooter” managed to create storylines that allows the show’s secondary storylines to both be themselves and to step into entertaining storylines.

The episode ended with a series of flashforwards to August or so, which means that we’ll be able to pick up things right where we want them when the show returns next season. Considering that the show’s status was in question when the season began, the strike and an Emmy likely guaranteed that even with mediocre ratings the show will be continuing. And, for that, I think we should be eternally grateful, as the staff could have only received a box of pen caps otherwise.

Cultural Observations

• I’m pleased that they finally figured out how to use Jenna: have her be self-absorbed, funny, and just caring enough to copliment but not overcome her self-absorption. Jane Krakowski has done great work in the part all season, and after hating her the first time around she is integral to the series.
• Nice to see Tracy’s porn video game provide something for he and Frank to do for the half hour, although I recently rewatched “The Succession” and nothing can top that Uncanny Valley description for pure humour. Still, never expected it to be wrapped up, so great to see continuity coming into play.
• If Liz actually adopts a child (I’ve heard  that it will be older versus younger), it will change the show’s dynamic – let’s hope it keeps the funny intact. I have faith, Tina Fey!