The Big Office and True Love Part Four
To read the previous installment of this discussion, please read Part Three.
Who is Jack Donaghy?
I've heard Tina talk about how the business/advice-giving parts of Jack Donaghy reflect back to her relationship with Lorne Michaels. But, there are parts to Jack that I wonder if are also part-Jeff Richmond, Tina's husband.
Should Jack and Liz get together, she'd be with an older man (Jack is 12 years older than Liz). Jeff Richmond is 10 years older than Tina Fey.
In "Somebody To Love" and "Christmas Special", Jack is shown playing the piano and singing. Jeff Richmond is a musician (including piano-playing skills) and composer.
Jeff and Tina work together and have to find ways to raise a family despite their crazy work schedules and careers. Jack and Liz would have to deal with that, too. They don't have to choose between work and love if they can have both together, like Jeff and Tina do. Liz can still be a mother and continue to do the things she loves, just like Tina can.
It may or may not be intentional in regards to Jack's characterization, but I find it interesting.
Teasing the Kiss
I'm trying not to look at this through shipper glasses, but I find it interesting that they've really been teasing a kiss between Jack and Liz. It was done big time in "Do-Over" with the fake soap opera and in "Reunion", it was done twice. Of course, granted, Jack actually does kiss her (on the forehead), but I thought it was interesting, writing-wise, that we would get the first actual kiss between the two and then, later, in the episode, Jack would spin the bottle and land on Liz.
They don't kiss during their Seven Minutes in Heaven and I expected that. It's way too soon for anything like that. Plus, when it really happens, it will be because they want to, not because they've been forced into situations that warrant it (like the fake soap opera and being stuck in the closet).
Date #2?
"The Problem Solvers":
Jack: Lemon, do you have any plans for dinner tonight?
Liz: I do. I bought an Activia microwavable panini...
Jack: Good God. Have dinner with me.
Liz: Just the two of us?
Jack: Yes.
Liz: Okay.
While at dinner together, Jack moves a candle on the table so that Liz doesn't burn her sleeve because he knows that she will reach across the table for his dessert. They know each other so well that they can finish each others' sentences and speak at the same time.
They're so comfortable with each other that Liz switches their desserts and Jack doesn't seem to care.
Jack asks her to dinner to propose they work on a Dealbreakers show together, featuring her, which leads me to...
That's a dealbreaker, ladies!
Jack and Liz are both looking for a partner in life. In business? In romance? Maybe both?
After deciding to do the Dealbreakers show with Jack, Liz talks to Tracy and Jenna, who convince her that Jack is trying to take advantage of their relationship and Liz decides to look into other opportunities.
When Liz breaks the news to Jack that she's going to shop Dealbreakers around, Jack is, obviously, hurt. He had already spoken to the guy who came up with Arsenio's hand gesture to create a unique one for Dealbreakers and even refers to Dealbreakers as "our talk show".
To play business with her, Jack goes ahead with the Dealbreakers talk show (because NBC has the rights to it) and decides to get somebody else. He takes a meeting with Top Chef host, Padma Lakshmi, as a possible replacement for Liz.
When Jack runs into Tracy and Jenna (The Problem Solvers), he gives them a message they are to pass along to Liz.
Jack: It needs to be communicated to Lemon that if she wants to play business, I'm more than happy to play with her. But, as she saw earlier today, Business!Jack does not play gentle.
Jenna to Tracy: Are you as turned on as I am right now?
Jack: Lemon has a decision to make. She can either be crushed by me or she can suck in her stomach and crawl back through the tiny crack I've left for her in the proverbial door.
If you got subtext out of Jack's message, it's because you were suppose to. Even Tracy thought Jack delivered it with sexual energy.
During a meeting between Jack, Liz and her new agent, it comes out that Jack was hurt that Liz didn't trust him after working together for four years. They argue that they are replacing each other.
During a meeting with another agent (which resembles the dinner she had with Jack earlier in the episode), Liz explains to him that she's looking for a partner and someone she can trust, but he considers Liz a 6/Drunk 7, takes calls and ignores her, and to test his dedication to her, she lets her sleeve catch on fire, proving to her that he doesn't care about her as much as Jack does.
In Jack's meeting with Padma, he tells her that he's looking for a full partner in Dealbreakers and he realizes that he doesn't want to change Padma's life, but rather, Lemon's life.
In an effort to find each other, Jack and Liz end up meeting up outside of the Rockefeller Ice Skating Rink, romantic-comedy style, complete with camera spinning. They make up and shake hands, signifying they are going into business with each other.
The scene is, intentionally, goofy, but the dialogue seems very telling of Jack's feelings and considering that to Liz, "business" and "it" are associated with sexual activity ("Secrets and Lies").
Jack: It's you. It's always been you. I wanna do business with you, Lemon.
Liz: I'd like that.
So far, neither Jack nor Liz can break the deal they have with each other and always seem to reconnect and forgive each other.
Entertainment Industry Already Considers Jack/Liz a Couple
TV Guide named Jack and Liz as TV's Best Couple of 2008.
Emily Deschanel said "I'd love to see Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock get together" in this TV Guide interview (March 9-15, 2009 Issue).
Mary McNamara, Television Critic of The L.A. Times considers Jack and Liz to be TV's hottest couple, in "their own warped" way and calls them the "irresistible drumbeat" of the series.
Jason Sudekis, who plays Floyd on 30 Rock is under the assumption that everyone, including himself, wants Jack and Liz to get together. When asked about Liz's boyfriends, he responded to Playboy, saying "we all just want her and Jack Donaghy to get together, right?".
Co-Dependency
"Retreat to Move Forward":
Jack [to Liz]: I, honestly, don't know what I'd do without you.
"Anna Howard Shaw Day":
Liz [to Avery Jessup]: I don't know what I'd do without him.
Over time, Jack and Liz have grown close to one another. So close, they almost NEED each other. Liz relies on Jack for advice and Jack relies on her for friendship and encouragement.
In "Retreat to Move Forward", Jack asks for Liz's advice on which picture to choose for his big Six Sigma event and later, we are shown that he uses the picture she chooses (the "wacky one") for his poster.
In "Anna Howard Shaw Day", Jack asks Liz which tie she finds more attractive and when she says "the red, definitely", he goes with the blue. Even if that time, he goes with the opposite of what she says (he ends up going with the blue tie), he still asks for her opinion.
In "Cooter", they are shown talking on the phone with each other and Liz is shown going up to Jack's office, even when he's not there because it's developed into something of a natural reflex for her.
When Liz gets her pregnancy scare, she doesn't tell anyone, but Jack, who she calls over and over again, anytime something new develops. Jenna finds out, but not because Liz chooses to tell her.
"Cooter" was written by Tina Fey, herself, so it's hard for me to believe that she wouldn't have written Liz's need for comfort by Jack during her scare as romantic. Jack listens to her voicemail messages by candlelight, eating the "peasant food" Liz loves.
Jack gets so concerned about her situation that he shows up at her apartment to see if she's okay. He even apologizes to her for not being there for her.
The way the episode builds, the audience hopes that it's Jack who knocks on the door. I know I did. Well-written, Tina Fey. Well-written.
In "Anna Howard Shaw Day", Liz is determined to avoid being alone on Valentine's Day, so she schedules a root canal. Turns out, she can't drive herself home after her appointment because of insurance purposes, so she tries to find someone that will take her home from her surgery. Liz doesn't have any luck. Not even the TGS janitor will help her out.
Liz, trying to avoid the stigma of not having a Valentine's Day doesn't work because not having someone who can take her home is the same thing as Frank explains: "All we want on Valentine's Day is to know that someone cares even a little about us." Interestingly enough, in the same episode, Jack, randomly, compliments Liz on her hair, telling her that she should "wear it like that more often", which catches her off-guard and causes her to blush. Could that be what Frank was referring to? Did Jack show Liz that he cared "even a little" about her?
Jack tells Liz that he wishes he could help her with her problem of getting home after surgery, but that he can't because he has to concentrate on Avery Jessup. Under anesthesia, Liz mistakes the three nurses at the dental office as Drew, Dennis, and Floyd, who she believes are there to pick her up. In her drugged state, Liz images that her exes have come to get her and she outlines her desire to be loved.
Liz: I know that I don't need anyone, but I do want to be loved. We all do. And, if it didn't work out between us, it's just because I'm not finished becoming me yet. But, I will find love someday because I am a sailor on the Sea of the Human Heart.
What does it say that Jack was actually the one in reality to come and rescue her? He was the one who cared "even a little" about her and came for her on Valentine's Day.
Trying to "Have It All"
Jack and Liz both want to "have it all" in life. They want their dream jobs and true love and that theme has been played out in several episodes, which causes me to sit up and take notice. I had a professor in college who told us that if teachers repeat something in class, you should probably expect it to be on the test. Since then, I've always remembered that in life and have seen that concept in storytelling. It's interesting that "having it all" is a theme that has shown up in all three seasons so far: "The Baby Show" (Season 1), "Episode 210" (Season 2), "Sandwich Day" (Season 2), and "Do-Over" (Season 3). Starting in Season 2, it stops being "I can have it all" and becomes "we can have it all" as if they are one entity, when they are speaking about it with each other.
"The Baby Show":
Liz: Maybe it's impossible to have it all. The career. The family...but if anybody can figure out how to do it, it's me.
"Episode 210":
Jack: All this time, I've been telling you that we can have it all. Success and happiness. The big office and true love.
Liz: Wait? We can't?
Jack: No, because they both require everything of you. You have to choose.
Liz: So, which are you gonna choose?
"Sandwich Day":
Liz: I can have it all!
"Do-Over":
Jack: With a little hard work, I think I'll be back to V.P. status before I'm 60.
Liz: And, if my home evaluation goes well, I will be a mother by 50. We really can have it all.
"Dealbreakers Talk Show #0001":
Performer!Liz to Regular!Liz: I could have had it all, but you had to ruin it with your thinking!
"Mrs. Donaghy":
Jeffrey Weinerslav: Are all workday conversations business-related or do personal issues often dominate discussion? Including, but not limited to: mothers, diarrhea, having babies, problems in the bedroom, neckties, food issues, foot disorders, "having it all"?
For Jack and Liz to continue talking about and wanting it all in their lives is the goal. That's the endpoint for their characters. I expect the end of the series to show us how they have finally figured out how to achieve that goal.
In "Somebody to Love", Jack says that he doesn't believe in soulmates. In "Senor Macho Solo", he starts changing his tune and opening himself up to the idea by asking if "we need some mythical soulmate to hold our hand through life?"
Only by being together, can Jack and Liz "have it all" and be that "mythical soulmate" for each other to hold each others' hands through life.
In "Senor Macho Solo", Jack encourages Liz about life and in a way, seems to lay the groundwork for what will happen at the end of the story.
Liz: I just don't know what to do.
Jack: Here's what you don't do: Be Alone. We were never meant to be alone, Lemon. Surround yourself with people and love and babies with pierced ears.
If Jack and Liz were never meant to be alone, then they are obviously meant to be with SOMEONE. Jack might have been foreshadowing his life with Liz. He says "we" were never meant to be alone. He wants them both to be surrounded with love and babies, which is exactly what Liz wants out of life, too.
My personal opinion is that Colleen's instincts were right. Liz is "the one". And, it's just a matter of time until both Jack and Liz realize it.