Episode 2 - Into the Crevasse
28 October 2009
Review
Synopsis: Jack is forced to go to Washington to attend Government bailout hearings. Devin Banks is the taskforce chairman and is thrilled to see GE struggling. Rather than lose his job Jack convinces Devin to offer him government bailout money. Meanwhile all the men at NBC are angry with Liz when her “Dealbreaker” book comes out. Tracy moves in with her when his wife kicks him out. Jenna tries to punish Liz for hiring a new cast member by heading to Iceland to shoot a werewolf movie.
The Good: As usual Jack steers everyone through a tricky situation. The bail out story is topical and his irate wriggling at the situation is fun to watch. Devin is at least consistent as a character and so his way into the Obama administration, through becoming gal pals with his daughters, was a fun idea.
Tracy and Jenna both annoy Liz just fine. Jenna too is consistent and I did like her answer to Liz’ question “So you’re going to shoot this movie one minute at a time just to punish me?” - “Liz I don’t even know what you’re talking about? What new cast member?”
The Bad: Otherwise there isn’t too much hear to enjoy. Devin once more fails to generate much laughter. Jack plays a stern businessman pretty well and people treat him with respect. So when he does and says silly things it can be fun because of the contrast with that stern image. But Devin is silly all the time, including bringing a fake gavel to a government proceeding. All his posturing and homoerotic banter with Jack is fine but it doesn’t really make you laugh. The microwave turning into a car joke wasn’t really given enough attention to make the punch line really funny.
As for Liz’ story, it seemed pointless and repetitive. We saw all the men get angry at her “Dealbreaker” advice last season (322). So I assumed the story was going to a new place but instead we get the same old Jenna and Tracy misbehaving plot. Why on earth Liz lets Tracy stay at her apartment I don’t know. Just kick him out! As for Jenna, I guess her whole plot was in place to set up the joke about there being literally one minute of darkness in a day in Iceland. It’s a joke with so little reality and so little chance of getting a laugh that I don’t understand the rationale behind filming it.
As for the porn ending, that had potential which was botched. The idea of Tracy freaking out at seeing people portraying Jack and Liz having sex is a funny idea. But then why not build up to it with a fresh scene and then have Tracy freak out. By just repeating the scene we had just seen, it became a very dull wait for a punch line which wasn’t worth it.
Comic Highlight: Jenna explains to Liz that werewolves only come out at night.
L: “Yeah Jenna, I learnt that from the Thriller video.”
T: “Too soon!”
That’s the kind of self referential comedy that I think works because it’s plausible that Tracy might have affection for Michael Jackson.
The Bottom Line: A passable bad episode of 30 Rock.
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