RECAP: '30 Rock' Finale, Liz And The Gang Say Goodbye

by UInterviewFebruary 1, 2013, 12:00 amNews >

30 Rock said farewell last night after seven seasons of Liz Lemon, Jack Donahue and the rest of the cast and crew of "TGS" bringing laughs to a modest bunch of ever-loyal viewers.

The final episode brought everyone back to NBC to make one last episode of "TGS." Why? Because if they didn't, they'd have to pay Tracy Jordan $30 million because of a condition in his contract that declares that's what he'd be owed if he appeared in less that 150 episodes.

Back at her apartment, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) is trudging though the uncharted terrain of being a stay at home parent, hopping on mommy-sites to get the clue she so clearly lacks in raising a child. She decides to pay a visit to Rockefeller Center as it becomes apparent that the fellow moms on Gothamoms.com would be of no help – leading her to angrily type, "B—-, you are so on my last nerve!"

Her departure from NBC had only been a few days ago, but already everything is crumbling to pieces without her. Jack (Alec Baldwin) is finding himself unhappy and unfulfilled as the CEO of Kablevision, Jenna (Jane Krakowski) is eager to taker her talents somewhere more deserving of them, Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) is now presiding over NBC and Tracy (Tracy Morgan) is struggling to get used to life without Kenneth as his manservant of a page.

30 Rock goes full-on meta for the last run before their curtain call. The closing line of the 150th episode of "TGS" ends with this farewell from Tracy Jordan: "Thank you, America. That's our show. Not a lot of people watched it, but the joke's on you because we got paid anyway." And when Liz tries to pitch a new sitcom to Kenneth that would resemble her life as a woman writer in New York, the idea is shut down completely for lacking mass-appeal. In fact, Kenneth dishes out his honed list of "TV no-no words," including "woman", "writer," "New York" and "shows about shows." There's probably also sense in assuming that there is truth behind the scene where Liz and Tracy say their goodbyes, with Liz tearfully admitting he was a terror to work with.

Without being rife with finale cliches, 30 Rock wrapped up with ridiculous and satisfyingly appropriate bows. Jack and Liz hash it out over who ruined whom, to only declare their platonic "hot bowl of bear meat" love for one another after Jack fakes a suicide attempt. Lutz (John Lutz) successfully hijacks the lunch order for the sake of Blimpies. Jenna lands a role on Law & Order: SVU only to realize she'll be playing a corpse and Tracy maturely acknowledges that Kenneth no longer has to do whatever he says.

Flash-forward a year, and Jenna is a desperate D-lister flashing her breasts at the Tony Awards, Jack is back at GE, Tracy's dad came back to him after the (decades?) long trip to buy smokes and Liz has put her able genius behind a less than inspired sitcom called Grizz and Hem.

Flash-forward again to the very distant future and Kenneth is still at the helm of NBC. A young woman walks in and pitches him a show "based on stories my great grandmother told me." He loves it. Liz Lemon lives on. The End.

— Chelsea Regan

Watch a clip from the 30 Rock series finale below: