Episode 11 - MILF Island
6 January 2009
Review
Synopsis: The season finale of MILF Island is a huge success and as the staff all watch it, Jack anxiously awaits congratulations from Don Geiss. Unfortunately one of the staff said something unflattering about him in the newspaper and it is driving him crazy. It was Liz but she scrambles to hide it from him all night. The Good: This is one of the more tightly structured 30 Rock episodes you are likely to see. MILF Island provides a nice framework to build the story of Liz’ guilt around. You may well suspect Jack knows the truth as he tells her his “tragic” childhood story in order to crank up her guilt. As we know she will eventually come clean, seeing her, Jack and Kenneth all playing the game with each other is fun. And you do want to stick around to see how it will turn out in the end. The jokes are thin on the ground (though see Comic Highlight) though except for Jack getting a call from Dick Cheney and talking about one of the contestants breasts. The Bad: MILF Island is a decent parody of Survivor type reality shows and of course the sheer inappropriateness of women stripping off in front of boys will make many people laugh. However the more the parody goes on the less funny it is. If women really were nude in front of children there would be an outcry, so seeing it just robs the idea of its humour and sends it into an implausibly stupid idea zone. Of course the writers aren’t concerned with just running an idea, they have to destroy it. So they throw in a line about a MILF actually dying on the show. The fact that Lutz reacts as if that isn’t a big deal is one of the dumbest things you are likely to see on TV. 30 Rock is expecting us to buy into some reality here, seeing Liz squirm is meant to be real, that’s why it is funny. And yet how can any of it be real when characters are excusing someone dying on a reality show? Otherwise the humour is not great. Seeing the writers arguing is getting to be like watching paint dry. We don’t know anything about them. Frank telling Lutz that he is seen as a scum bag is a line that has no meaning to us. Do we know anything about Lutz? Or what the group think about anyone else? Jack’s story of childhood mistreatment isn’t particularly amusing either nor is the slightly gross thought of Liz’ deformity. Both those stories are of a child suffering, neither has any part of it which would explain why that is something to laugh at. Comic Highlight: For some reason Pete gets trapped in and under a vending machine for the whole episode. Out of nowhere comes one of the best set piece jokes 30 Rock has ever produced. Pete throws his shoe at a telephone fixed to the wall. He manages to knock the receiver off and realises that he only needs to hit four numbers in order to reach someone in the building and get rescue. He throws his watch and other shoe before taking careful aim with his wedding ring. You know he won’t get rescued but as the tension mounts, you really do wonder what is going to happen. He makes the shot and celebrates as the phone dials. We cut to Pete’s office where his voice mail kicks in and his own voice asks him to leave a message. His scream of despair is the ideal punch line. The Bottom Line: With a bit of structure and one excellent joke, this is an enjoyable episode to sit through. Unfortunately the rest of the story isn’t up to much so 30 Rock remains mired in mediocrity.
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