Episode 14 - The C Word
25 March 2012
Synopsis: Liz yells at Lutz and he calls her the C word behind her back. She is really angry until she realises that maybe she hasn’t been the most likeable boss. She sucks up to the writers and they take advantage of her guilt. Meanwhile GE boss Don Geiss is hosting a Diabetes charity golf weekend. Jack wants to win Geiss’ favour and so invites Tracy along. Tracy brings up uncomfortable racial questions for Geiss and sees Jack’s invitation as racial stereotyping. Kenneth is at the weekend too and admits his feelings for a fellow page.
The Good: The stories make sense but aren’t very funny.
Jack and Tracy’s story is simple. Tracy brings up some very real racial issues but Jack points out that he is hurting his own career by making a fool out of himself. So Tracy lies to win Geiss’ favour and Jack accepts the lie as part of doing business. The story made sense and it felt natural for Jack and Tracy to get on well and see their careers rising together.
Along the way Tracy is fun to watch “I’m delightful” he announces to fellow guests and plays up old fashioned black stereotypes with enthusiasm. Jack has some amusing “foursome” talk, missing the euphemism which golf provides. Oh and they are at the 9th annual “Cure Diabetes NOW” golf tournament.
Elsewhere Liz has the classic comedy plot of wanting to be a popular boss before realising that being a doormat gets her nowhere. The way Jack and Pete took care of her in the end was rather sweet. Kenneth and Grace’s slow motion romance was fine for the gentle humour that it was.
The Bad: The Liz story is an old comedy cliché and the writers rush through it. They cram all the talk of the writers taking advantage of her into one scene. By doing that the plot doesn’t feel as convincing as it should. Worse than that though is the sudden change in Liz’ character. So far we have seen her be nothing but professional with her staff, generally kind to them and getting affection back in return. Here we are told Liz has been a bitch to them on many an occasion. That’s fine in general to mix into the story but it feels very manufactured for the sake of this story. The montage of her bad behaviour is so exaggerated as to not fit her established traits at all.
The VHS tape gets chewed up was a very Arrested Development joke. The play on what-usually-happens-on-TV versus what-happens-in-real-life jokes are an ok idea in certain contexts. In this one it probably just lasted too long and the humour got dragged out. Pete’s character is once more mixed up. He plays Liz’ big brother well for most of the episode but then also “betrays” her by wanting to leave her with all the work and go party with her absentee writers.
Comic Highlight: It’s a simple cheap joke but it was well delivered. Jack is raising his voice making the point about the opportunity which Tracy has cost him: “We could’ve been playing golf with him now instead of Ted (Ted’s wife walks over), who is best known for getting caught using a corporate credit card at a gay strip club. I’m sorry Amanda you were bound to find out eventually.” Cut to Ted enthusiastically instructing Kenneth how to hit a golf ball in a hands-on manner.
The Bottom Line: Two very predictable stories which could have used more humour to make them interesting.
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