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If you watched the last episode of 30 Rock and thought there would be no repercussions for Liz’s shotgun style wedding ceremony, then you’re insane. Most fans of this show predicted the fact that Jenna would be jealous of Liz’s unexpected wedding, and they were correct…for the most part.

For the past couple seasons or so, Jenna has been one of the standout characters on all of 30 Rock. Honestly I don’t know what happened when this became the case but, somewhere between Season 5 and 6 of the show, Jenna became an incredible character. Her various neuroses are always fun to poke fun at, and she’s generally a dependable laugh magnet with her strange and frequently disturbing lines of dialogue read wonderfully by Jane Krakowski.

But one thing I noticed that was frequently thinning in Jenna’s character as the show went on was her relationship with Liz. At the beginning, the two were best friends, frequent confidants who always had each other’s backs no matter what. But as the show started to focus more on the budding relationship between Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy, the Jenna/Liz relationship started to suffer. Thankfully though, “My Whole Life is Thunder” brought the relationship back to the forefront, as Jenna tries to steal the attention away from Liz after Liz (unintentionally) stole it from Jenna.

I really don’t have too much to say about this plot, even though it was technically the main brunt of the episode. Jenna acts out as Jenna is prone to do, and Liz finally proves that she is proactive enough not to take it lying down anymore. I appreciated the fact that the show wanted to hone in on their relationship one last time, but I just wished they did it in a more impactful manner. The ending is especially guilty of this, as it basically just ends with Jenna apologizing to Liz vis-a-vis drugs. Yeah, it was nice to see Jenna finally mature a bit and apologize for her prima donna behavior…I just wish it came out artificially and not just as a way to end the episode.

That said, this disappointing plot was easily held up from the other two sideplots, the Jack one specifically. Jack’s mother Coleen is always a fun presence on 30 Rock, and one of those characters you know will pop up at least once in a given season. This being the final season though, if you knew anything about television, then it wouldn’t be too much to gander that she would in fact die. But as a send off to her character, it was a great one. Elaine Stritch got to deliver some killer lines here, and the strangely antagonistic Jack/Coleen relationship got the pay off it deserved.

The other plotline was slightly less effective, but mostly because it had the least amount of time between the three. With Kenneth getting the shaft this season, it’s nice to see a little focus given to him in the final half, and pairing him up with Tracy is always a reliable bet. But most importantly, I like what this says for Kenneth’s character, and how he has progressed through the year. His ungodly love of television was once his biggest character trait and, even though it’s died down a bit through the years, it’s still a huge aspect of his character. Kenneth finally realizing how great his life is and dropping the crutch that is his adoration of television was a sweet, seemingly final little arc for the character. If they shift the focus away from him in the final three episodes, it will be fine by me (although I still yearn to see what could of become of him trying to rise up the NBC food chain last season…missed opportunity if I’ve ever seen one).

Wow…three episodes guys. We have little more than an hour left of 30 Rock before the show leaves the airways forever. Let’s hope with all the relationship stuff mostly out of the way, the show can finally focus in on its ultimate endgame…like that whole tanking NBC thing. What happened with that? Hopefully the show will remember how awesome a storyline it has left on the bench before shifting to something else.

Loose Ends:

“But I bailed before I got in to deep, prey Xenu.”

“Honoring Women Under 80 Who Aren’t Betty White.”

“That’s only 14 in demon years, Lemon.”

“Someone’s looking lovely today…huh, what a burn!”

“Next you’ll tell me Mickey Rourke catapulted you into the Hollywood sign.” Jenna’s relationship with Mickey Rourke is so fucking strange.

“Who is black I assume, judging by how he’s always wearing a hoodie.”

BITCH HUNTERS!

“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME JACOB!” This is such an outdated reference…but it still works.

“That wasn’t a commercial! I don’t know WHAT that was!”

“I am too! I AM THE MOON!!”

“It’s alright, the lack of oxygen is making me orgasm!”

“Don’t interrupt, the pill that lets me feel emotions is going to where off.”

“Pill wearing off, you have mom arms.”

“We almost killed Florence Henderson!” “Yes…almost.”

Kermit cameo brought the episode together…like it always does.

-Matthew