After a dream wedding to the dashing Criss Chros as Princess Leia, Liz once again tries to secure herself a child with an adoption agency. In the meantime, Jack takes on Kaylie Hooper (Chloe Moretz) with the help of arch-nemesis Devon Banks (Will Arnett) to be promoted to CEO of the Kabletown network. Tracy struggles with She-Tracy-Jordan Octavia Spencer while directing his new film on Harriet Tubman (although Octavia thinks "Tubman" sounds like a dude and changes it to "Tubgirl").
With only four episodes left of 30 Rock ever, we were immediately slapped in the face with the last appearance of Dr. Leo Spaceman, who prescribes Liz her fertility treatment injections despite her attempts to avoid him. He is taken away by police officers who are responsible for bringing him to Washington DC where he has been nominated the Surgeon General. Liz, however, is too preoccupied by her limited baby options, which is to either wait four years to adopt a newborn, inject herself with hormones that make her emotional about updating Flash Player, or adopt an older child.
Inadvertently, however, she helps Jack to sabotage Kaylie's chances of becoming CEO (with Jack as Assistant CEO) by proving to Hank Hooper that she isn't really his biological granddaughter. After hiring the now sexually confused private investigator Lenny Wosniak, played by Steve Buscemi, to do some digging, Jack aligns himself with Devon Banks to take Kabletown for their own. Plotting ensues, with numerous twists and general Jenna Maroney kiss-assery that defines the eternal struggle between Kaylie Hooper and Jack Donaghy. Ultimately, Jack emerges victorious, having known all along that Kaylie faked her own DNA results and tricked Devon into mailing Hank a beloved birthday card instead. While Jack distracted Kaylie for a week, she forgot her pop pop's birthday (he is apparently very serious about birthdays), and her picture on his nightstand is replaced by Jack's birthday card.
Tracy's storyline in this episode was really a catalyst for Liz to realize that she can take care of an older child (for the last seven years, it has been Tracy, who eats Legos and his own boogers). While Octavia Spencer proves to be an obnoxious female counterpart of Tracy Jordan, he decides that he must assume the position of Liz Lemon in order to control her, even down to the cardigan and glasses. He accurately sums up Liz in one sentence: "BLERG I'M LIZ LEMON I'M IN CHARGE I WANNA HAVE A BABY MY BOYFRIEND IS A PILOT OR SOMETHING SANDWICHES."
While his subplot on its own didn't do much, I was glad to see the Tracy-Liz dynamic again this season, because it was really their antagonistic relationship that was the whole starting point of the show. Now, seven years later, it's nice to check in every once and a while and see how far they've come as individuals, and as colleagues (dare I say friends).
"Game Over" was a solid episode coming back from the winter hiatus, but it is one that seems to be primarily setting up for some future storylines, although I always enjoy a self-contained showdown of Hooper vs. Donaghy plus a manipulated Devon Banks. With Jack as CEO of Kabletown, will we get to see more episodes of Hunchbacks or MILF Island on NBC? Will raising an older child be the same as raising Tracy Jordan (spoiler alert: probably)?
Moments that had me Lizzing (that's a combination of laughing and whizzing):
- "That's a series warp on Leo Spaceman!" Cue ugly crying.
- Apparently Celebrity Homonym went on to become the network's most popular show. Except even John McEnroe loses when the word is "racket / racquet."
- Jack once again proves his empathy by handing Liz a business card that simply says "There, there" when she sobs about updating her Flash Player (What happens to version 11.4?!)
- I love the "graveled voice double entendre" between Jack and Devon "an assload."
- In order to get Kaylie’s DNA results, Jack pulled a couple of strings with his friends over at the Maury Povich Show.
- Easter eggs: Octavia's entourage is called Miz and Dot Gov. Tracy is also eating a bag of Sabor de Soledad chips.
- I would personally love to take a spin class with Devon Banks just to have him yell at me "PEDAL FASTER FATTIES! GOD, I LOVE HOW YOU DISGUST ME!"
