Skip to main content

"By The Hammer of Thor": Liz Considers a Move to Cleveland on "30 Rock"

Can you believe there's only one episode left of 30 Rock this season? I'm in such complete and utter shock that we've reached the end of Season One (thank god there's already been a renewal) that my bones feel as hollow as those of Jack's latest paramour, the deceitful Phoebe. Ouch.

In any event, it's been a wonderful, magical, surreal ride this season. In the penultimate episode of the season ("Cleveland"), Floyd and Liz took their relationship to the next level, namely a trip to the destination vacation hot spot, Cleveland. Unlike Manhattan, where Liz is tired of having to explain every item in her purse every time she gets on a subway and where a drunken bum spits... in her mouth (ick), Cleveland is the magical place where she can sit in ZZ Top's car, have lunch with Little Richard, and where everyone thinks she's a model because she's so thin. In other words, it's Lemon's idea of paradise.

Floyd. Poor Floyd (Jason Sudeikis) didn't land that dream apartment (which prompted Liz to utter, for the first time, the immortal words, "by the hammer of Thor!") or that promotion after all. Even Jack is sure the Floydster will score the gig, until he sees the competition... Garkle, an African-American man in a wheelchair ("Well played, Garkle"). Ouch. And sure enough when Floyd doesn't get the job, he decides that he's had enough of New York City and accepts a job at the top law firm in Cleveland... and he wants Liz to come with him.

Phoebe. Jack orders Liz to have a girls day out with Jenna and his fiancee Phoebe and they end up having a rather awkward lunch (where Jenna admits she'd have a threesome with two Jacks) and then head to Victoria's Secret, where Jenna collapses in a drunken heap after attempting to try on underwear on top of her clothes and Phoebe tells Liz that, in Paris, Jack fell asleep on top of her during sex. (Though, is it just me, or wouldn't that have crushed her, with the hollow bones and all?) Later, Liz follows Phoebe to a restaurant where she sees her flirting with another rich, older gentleman but can't quite bear to tell Jack about it; Phoebe claims he was a former lover and that was their good-bye but Liz is suspicious. Oh, and Phoebe isn't even remotely British! The accent--and possibly the avian bird syndrome--is as fake as Jenna's hair color. Liz tries to warn Jack, but Phoebe has already clouded his judgment: he thinks Liz is in love with him. Oh, Emily Mortimer, how could you?

Tracy. After making black people look bad, Tracy is convinced that the Black Crusaders (consisting of Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey, etc.) are out to get him and, when some of his high-profile comeback projects get cancelled, he high-tails it for Cleveland, where he plans to start a new life. (Cleveland certainly seems nice, with its police horse petting, Little Richard lunches, and clean streets.) But before you can say Dr. Spaceman, he's followed to Cleveland by the Crusaders.

So, what's up with Jack's narcolepsy? Will Liz Lemon accept Floyd's answer (doubtful) or will she turn down the best thing that's happened to her lately and choose Manhattan and The Girly Show? Will we ever find out where Frank gets his hats? And will Dr. Spaceman step in and rescue Tracy from the edge of crazy? Find out next week.

Next week on the season finale of 30 Rock ("Hiatus"), Liz and Floyd try to work out the kinks in their long-distance relationship, Jack's impending wedding brings his mother (guest star Elaine Stritch) to New York, and Kenneth searches for the missing Tracy. (Sniffle, sniffle.)

Comments

Anonymous said…
Oh no! Only one more episode to go? Thank god it's been renewed!

Last night's episode was hilarious and all kinds of crazy what with everyone running off to Cleveland and Jack's fiancee going all American on Liz. (Nice American accent by Emily Mortimer, by the way.) Could this cast get any better? Luckily, we'll have another season to find out!
Anonymous said…
One more?!? Oh no!! And I will be in NY, so I won't get to see it for a few days. Boo!

Funny, my dvr doesn't list episode titles once the ep has finished recording (or unless there is more than one ep of a show recorded - it's daffy), but I just knew the ep had to be called "Cleveland."

And also, while watching last night I thought, "Jace is going to title his entry 'By the hammer of thor' - he has to!"

Sometimes I am so smart I scare myself.

"Well played, garkle" - hilarious! Total belly laugh. And I had the same thought about Jack crushing Phoebe, but after what we learn about Phoebe, like you said, she probably doesn't even have brittle bones.
Gotta Kielbasa said…
Long live 30 Rock, long live Cleveland. It has never occurred to me to go there, but now I really want to.
Anonymous said…
I only have one thing to say. BLURG!
Moby Dick said…
Can anyone believe that there are folks who actually know the names of the characters on 30 Rock, and have seen more than five minutes? Contact the Guinness Book of World Records, you may be a winner.
Anonymous said…
Can anyone believe that there are folks who actually go on the interweb to rip the enjoyment of others? go figure. Does it makes them feel more important and cool? Is it our cross to bear that you were picked last for kickball in the 5th grade? Contact your therapist, spider63, you truly are a winner.

Because you apparently don't have the attention span of more than five minutes doesn't mean others don't.

And because 30rock doens't have a big audience doesn't mean it isn't smart and funny.

You'd be a good TV exec back in the day: cancelling Seinfeld, Cheers and Freaks and Geeks. Wait, maybe that WAS you! By the Hammer of Thor!!!

Just put on your Married with Children DVD and be happy.
Cue the toilet jokes.
Unknown said…
Hey, just stumbled upon your blog by Googling "by the hammer of thor". The reason I looked it up, I've watched all the 30 Rocks and I knew it sounded familiar when I was just watching Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and one of the out-takes when Ron's watching himself say "Go Fuck Yourself San Diego", that's what he said. Incidentally, the character Garth is played by none other than our lovely Doctor Spaceman.
Anonymous said…
By the beard of zeus! what are the chances of two people Googling "by the hammer of thor"?

Awesome.
Anonymous said…
I got here by googling "by the hammer of Thor" as well! Awesome show, just watched the first season on DVD.

Definitely the best thing since Seinfeld and possibly even on par.
Anonymous said…
Me too. Great show, watched the first series over Christmas. Destined to be a future classic.

"All the things you like, I liked five years ago"
Anonymous said…
Hilarious, I also got here from googling "By the hammer of Thor."

Popular posts from this blog

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

Pilot Inspektor: CBS' "Smith"

I may just have to change my original "What I'll Be Watching This Fall" post, as I sat down and finally watched CBS' new crime drama Smith this weekend. (What? It's taken me a long time to make my way through the stack of pilot DVDs.) While it's on following Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on Tuesday nights (10 pm ET/PT, to be exact), I'm going to be sure to leave enough room on my TiVo to make sure that I catch this compelling, amoral drama. While one can't help but be impressed by what might just be the most marquee-friendly cast in primetime--Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Jonny Lee Miller, Amy Smart, Simon Baker, and Franky G all star and Shohreh Aghdashloo has a recurring role--the pilot's premise alone earned major points in my book: it's a crime drama from the point of view of the criminals, who engage in high-stakes heists. But don't be alarmed; it's nothing like NBC's short-lived Heist . Instead, think of it as The Italian

The Daily Beast: "How The Killing Went Wrong"

While the uproar over the U.S. version of The Killing has quieted, the show is still a pale imitation of the Danish series on which it is based. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "How The Killing Went Wrong," in which I look at how The Killing has handled itself during its second season, and compare it to the stunning and electrifying original Danish series, Forbrydelsen , on which it is based. (I recently watched all 20 episodes of Forbrydelsen over a few evenings.) The original is a mind-blowing and gut-wrenching work of genius. It’s not necessary to rehash the anger that followed in the wake of the conclusion last June of the first season of AMC’s mystery drama The Killing, based on Søren Sveistrup’s landmark Danish show Forbrydelsen, which follows the murder of a schoolgirl and its impact on the people whose lives the investigation touches upon. What followed were irate reviews, burnished with the “burning intensity of 10,000 white-hot suns