30 Rock: Cooter
By fred | May 9, 2008
(S02E15) This is only episode 15, but in this very unusual season this will be the last episode for 30 Rock, this was its second season finale already. Now does that mean anything when it comes down to this show, which has never really been like any other show around. Well, let’s not spoil everything right away and first look at where we were, because many many things have be set in motion until now.
Jack has always been the emblematic boss of NBC and Liz’s confident, but things that weren’t supposed to happen did happen and now he’s out. In fact, he’s already taken a job to work for the government. Meanwhile one thing all fans still have on their mind is the famous porn video game Tracy has been working on for a little while. This is the finale, so are we getting resolution on those stories ?
Well, no. But the good news is that none of them were forgotten either, everything was present in this very packed episode - where about 4 or 5 plots went along together. It was a pretty good episode, but I have to say that it will not remain as one of my favorite. It’s not that I didn’t like it, I loved most of it, but not everything.
Starting with what I didn’t like : Kenneth. I’ve always liked him, he’s always been very, well, Kenneth. He’s a special kid, for sure, but here he was involved in some plot about him willing to work at the Olympics, and being tricked in thinking he’s got two weeks to work in his application when in fact it’s due by the end of the day, well, that didn’t work for me.
Not just because this felt mostly like a way to promote the NBC coverage of said Olympics very soon, even though don’t be fooled, that was nothing but “product placement”. And, for once, not really well done. Product placement has always been fun in this show, but here it turned into a whole plot, which sounds like a bad Smallville thing, and to remain there I have to say that it wasn’t really funny. Maybe it’s me, but seeing Kenneth running and jumping around for nothing at the end, just so that he could deliver his application, did not make me laugh.
And to be completely honest, neither did the little video Jenna made for him. It was pure Jenna and it was good to remind us that she’s part of the main cast of the show, and that Tracy isn’t the only one crazy around here, but was it any good, or funny ? I don’t think so.
So let’s move on to the good parts, shall we? We’re now left we three main plots. The first of all was Tracy and his infamous porn video game. Now I was really hoping this would come back, and it did. And by the look of it, Tracy is sitting in a Gold mine, so obviously he’s gonna do something completely crazy that’s going to ruin everything, I would assume. And I can’t wait to find out what it is.
I’d also like to quote Tracy, to Liz Lemon : “Do you know what it’s like to be the only one who cares about your job, when everybody else around is goofing off, like a bunch of goof-offs ?” Just how great is it to have him ask such a thing, to Liz ? I love it.
Now just because it is a sitcom, doesn’t mean 30 Rock can’t be scary. Want proof ? Okay, Liz might be pregnant, and the father might be no other than Dennis ! I’ll let you scream for a bit…
Now this wasn’t what you wanted to hear, this wasn’t what Liz wanted to hear, but this isn’t some stupid sitcom where life is beautiful and people are good and nice, only Kenneth lives in such a world. For the rest of everyone, well, you sleep with a looser like Dennis who’d love nothing more but to throw you under the subway just to play hero one more time, and you end up having his kid.
