30 Rock Season 6 Episode 6 And 7 Recap: Hey, Baby, What’s Wrong
In this hour long episode celebrating what you love to hate about Valentine’s Day, Liz is blowing off her least favorite holiday while Criss wants to provide her with the most romantic Valentine’s Day ever. Criss strums his guitar, waking Liz up with a song he wrote for her while Liz reacts badly with her typical pessimistic nature. Criss plans a dinner for two in their apartment but Liz squashes Criss’s dreams by mentioning she has no dining room table. Liz makes the difficult decision all couples make that they will venture into IKEA to find the perfect table.
Jack is feeling the effects of no sex and is desperate to have Avery returned from North Korea. Jack meets with Avery’s mother Diana (guest star Mary Steenburgen) to make a plan of attack to get Avery back by visiting the United Nations. Jack has visited the United Nations time after time to get Avery freed while her mother chides Jack about his abilities to convince people to get the job done. Jack thinks Avery’s mother is too wrapped up in society and fluff.
Jenna and Pete are in preparations for Jenna’s first live performance on America’s Kidz Got Singing. Everyone hates Jenna’s bad judge persona and wants her to go down in flames on the show. Jenna never has a problem performing but she’s finding her voice sounds terrible when she sings. Pete thinks Jenna is secretly afraid and Jenna promises if she does badly to take Pete down with her.
Lutz is looking for someone, anyone, to spend Valentine’s Day with after 48 dateless holidays. Tracy and Frank see Lutz fail at his hook up attempts and tell him they will take him to the sure fire places where desperate women hang out after fighting with their boyfriends, ripe for the picking. Tracy and Frank take Lutz to strip clubs, Weight Watchers meetings, and of course IKEA where all couples fight over the furniture. Kenneth is showing the new Page Hazel Wassername the ropes and Hazel is met with derision at every turn by the stars and staff of TGS. Hazel wonders what Kenneth sees as inspiration in the horrors that is TGS.
Liz and Criss visit IKEA. Liz is totally prepared with the exact information for the perfect table only to find Criss is wandering aimlessly picking up cute Valentine’s Day items for his dinner with Liz. As they walk through IKEA they become more irritated with each other as their description of the table they should buy becomes accusations about their relationship instead. Liz grabs the tag to get the table from the warehouse only to find, as often is the case, IKEA is out of stock for her ideal table. Liz and Criss proceed to have a huge fight and storm out of IKEA.
Pete tries to convince Jenna she is afraid of performing badly and reveals he missed a shot for a archery competition because he froze up. Jenna stands behind the curtain ready to go on and Pete realizes every time Jenna has overcome adversity when singing in public she was in physical pain. Pete sees a prop bow and arrow and shoots Jenna, grazing her on the arm and making her bleed. Jenna proceeds to sing better than she’s ever sung before as Pete smiles.
Lutz, Tracy and Frank visit all the places to hit on women but Lutz strikes out every time. The guys arrive at IKEA to see a miserable woman sitting on a bench. Tracy and Frank send Lutz over to hit on the woman only to find it is Liz, who is horrified that Lutz hit on her. Lutz tells Liz he is his own worst enemy when it comes to love and Liz realizes she sabotages every relationship she’s in. Liz runs off to find Criss while Tracy and Frank decide they will hang out with Lutz and eat junk food together instead of hanging with their wife/girlfriend. Lutz is happy to know he’s got buddies who will keep him company on Valentine’s Day so he’s not alone after all.
Jack and Avery’s mother visit the U.N. and talk to Transylvanian assistant attache Cjokula, who is totally useless when it comes to helping Avery returned from North Korea. Diana flys off the handle and berates Cjokula for his ineptness while Jack looks on with admiration. As Jack and Diana walk out of the U.N. they find they are not only meshing but attracted to each other. Jack calls Liz to get advice on having sex with Diana and Liz tells Jack NO in no uncertain terms repeatedly as she heads for her apartment. To stave off the fear of sex with a son-in-law/mother-in-law Jack and Diana stand in Jack’s office hitting golf balls to release their sexual tension.
Liz shows up at the apartment to find Criss has cooked her a fancy meal and created a new table out of wood from the nearby park and an old Herman Cain poster. Hazel the Page arrives at Liz’s apartment to deliver a package from 30 Rock and is inspired by everything Liz has in her life: a dining room table, a boyfriend, and a big deal job at TGS. Hazel has found her inspiration in Liz, unfortunately she stalks Liz and covets her life, declaring Liz’s life will be hers. Liz and Criss sit down to their special Valentine’s Day meal only to have Criss’s homemade table break and fall on Liz, quashing the romantic vibe of the evening.
