Massage it, Kenneth!

Like the cheesy blasters that open the new season, this episode had a little bit of everything, in that random, coherent 30 Rock way we love. Under the banner of “the recession” and “reaching out to the middle” the cast sets off on various explorations to get in touch with their roots. Jenna dons a cowgirl outfit to open off-season tennis season and Tracy sets out to reconnect with the people, if he can remember which elevator doesn’t scare him. Both explorations land them in Kenneth’s picket line, who has taken to the streets, not to win back overtime, but to defend his honor and honesty.

There were many priceless moments: Pete’s wife welcoming Liz into their love making, Jack drinking cough syrup in Kenneth’s kitchen, the picket line’s leading chant (“What do we want? To get you lunch! When do we want it? When its convenient to you!”).

But it remains to be seen, at least for me, how 30 Rock is going to live into the post-Bush, post-election year era. Maybe the recession will be enough to get them through, but so much of the humor is a baiting of red/blue and in this particular moment it seems like the one thing we need more than anything is to move beyond that self-protective move.

I wonder, then, if we need to stick with Kenneth and his religious garments knotted in a twist… or at least with Jack’s last line to Kenneth: “Massage it, Kenneth.”

Posted by Kathryn