Episode Recap – 30 Rock – “Governor Dunston”
By Carrie Kuhlman at October 12, 2012 | 1:27 am | Print
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Episode: “Governor Dunston” (Season 7, Episode 2)
Synopsis:
Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) continues his quest to tank NBC and Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) joins in on the fun. After announcing that Paul Ryan was dropping out of the campaign, the Republican party reveals his replacement — a bumbling fool named Bob Dunston who happens to look exactly like Tracy Jordan. Liz and her boyfriend Chris (James Marsden) are trying to have a baby, but Liz is uninterested in making their sex life more interesting. Kenneth’s Mom (Catherine O’Hara) comes tovisit Kenneth and brings her friend Ron (Bryan Cranston). Jenna is upset that she is receiving lackluster royalties from her summer hit “Balls”, but is thrilled to learn that Kenneth’s backwater family still purchases CDs. Jenna invites Kennth’s guests to lunch in attempts to learn more about her target audience.
Liz went against Jack’s wishes and aired sketches featuring Tracy Jordan impersonating new Republican Vice Presidential candidate Bob Dunston. As the ratings rose, Jack feared that NBC would be making a comeback. The Republican party told Jack to allow Tracy to continue impersonating Dunston because it made the public like the Republican candidate. Liz finally figured out how to heat up her sex life — by organizing every last detail. Kenneth’s Mom’s friend Ron accidentally reveals that he has been married to Kenneth’s mom for 7 years. Kenneth is initially upset by this, but eventually learns to accept it.
Review:
The casting for Kenneth’s parents is amazing. Sure, Ron isn’t Kenneth’s biological father (and, you know, Kenneth might be an alien), but Bryan Cranston is just so awesome. Can he please be on every TV show? I hope we’ll get to see more of those two this season. The Jack and Liz storyline wasn’t as strong this week. It feels as if they just reused last week’s Jack and Liz storyline and then added a dash of politics. It’s fun to watch Jack tank the network, but I’d to see him do more than just lookout for the Republican party. Liz and boyfriend Chris did have a small subplot, but that just led to an awkward sexual office supplies montage.
This episode was jam packed with cameos, but sometimes too many cameos can create story issues. While I usually love a good 30 Rock cameo, I just felt that there were far too many and that the episode was crafted around the cameos rather than the story. Matthew Broderick made another appearance as character Cooter Burger, but his moment felt flat amongst the other cameos. Would’ve like to have seen more with Kenneth and his family, since Bryan Cranston had some of the best moments of this episode (remember that awesome song he wrote?). The tanking NBC storyline was fun last week, but now I’m bored with it. Jack needs to either move on and find another project, or do something incredibly drastic to achieve his goals.
Grade: B
Not as great as last week’s episode, but still solid television. Even in its 7th season, the creators are still able to come up with fresh jokes (except for that Ronald McDonald joke, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia already jumped all up on that joke). I’m eager to see what happens with Liz and Chris’s baby business and can’t wait for Jack to amp up his Republican antics as the election approaches. In my dream TV world, there will be a 30 Rock spin-off about Kenneth’s family. Who wouldn’t watch a show starring Jack McBrayer, Catherine O’Hara and Bryan Cranston?
What did you think of this episode of 30 Rock? Let us know in the comments section.
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