What I’m Watching: 30 Rock

30 Rock: Season 4, Episode 14 “Future Husband” (B+)

If Liz’s drug-induced Valentine’s Day hallucinations seem like forever ago, that’s because they were – an entire month ago. Picking right up where this show left off with Liz, Jack, and Avery is startling when it’s been so long and this show rarely opts to reference and continue past plotlines. Still, sticking with those threads is fun, and Liz finding someone stored as “Future Husband” in her phone is a perfect premise from which to launch an episode of this show. Casting Michael Sheen as the unlikable, unfriendly, and very incompatible for Liz supposed Future Husband was a nice move, and their conversations were fantastically awkward. Liz talking about how British people have bad teeth and him responding, “that’s not something I’ve heard” was a great starter, and Liz just giving up when he suggested Tex-Mex and she agreed despite not liking it was fun. I very much enjoyed the fact that the dentist had to print up specific pamphlets for Liz regarding the rules of what she’s allowed to eat following her root canal because he’s so tired of explaining the rules to her over and over again. Kenneth’s spastic donkey disease was pretty crazy and a smidge over-the-top, even for the show, but fortunately Jack McBrayer does a splendid job of playing the role. Jack’s logical reasoning that Geiss could have used decoys to be in two places or that he could have driven to the second location by now was amusing, and hopefully he’ll be able to stay on top despite this latest breaking news. The surprisingly intimate scene between Liz and Jack was entertaining, filled with many quotable lines. Jack: “Wait did you hear that? That’s the sound of me being erased from contact lists all around the world.” Liz: “That’s the sound of the hug plane coming in for a landing.”