It's all about the relationships this week. Lemon and Jack both vie with the elevated demands of their relationship. Jack devises "The Fabian Strategy," inspired by Roman general Fabius Maximus, wherein he simply redirects conversation whenever Avery wants to discuss things like wallpaper swatches. So successful is this strategy that he has time to horn in on Lemon's budding relationship with sensitive pilot Carol (Matt Damon). Lemon hates the idea of a label, preferring to live independently and fit together perfectly for the short stretches in between Carol's commercial flight schedule. She thinks he's the Jeffrey to her Ina Garten. She thinks Carol's on the same page until he starts weeping into her lap, begging for clarity in their relationship. In the end, she agrees to move forward inch by inch, and they kick things off by some good times revealing their childhood experiences with pedophilia (Carol) and future adoptive children (Lemon). More on that to come, I'm sure. Meanwhile, Jack comes to a compromise with Avery and realizes that the solution he reached was the very thing she'd been angling for all along. For this masterful strategery, he loves her all the more.
Pete is aces in his relationship with ol' Mrs. Hornberger now that Jenna has joined on as a producer (per a stipulation in her contract) and freed up all his time by being a surprisingly good budgetmaster. Eventually, though, she realizes her role as producer is the key to making the budget work and falls on the ballpoint pen, so to speak. Much to the chagrin of Pete, who's taken to making every day casual drinkin' Friday since Jenna took over all his responsibilities and stopped being a needy, high-maintenance nutbag for a second and a half.
No worries, though, because Tracy can always be counted on to fill in any gaps Jenna leaves on the crazy front. This week, he misses Kenneth so deeply that he is seeing the Muppet-faced former Page all over the studio. Fearing he might be turning schizophrenic, Tracy walks away to clear his head. Along the way he literally bumps into Kenneth, who has picked up a new job and a nifty red blazer from The Late Show with David Letterman. It takes some convincing (in the form of Kenneth throwing himself in front of a taxi) to prove that this Kenneth is not just a figment of Tracy's imagination. Despite Tracy's pleas for Kenneth to return to TGS, Class Act Parcell insists he's happy at his new job. Tracy sadly bids adieu to Kenneth, snatching up some CBS swag along the way. Later, we learn that Kenneth was putting on a brave face and misses the old gang terribly. In no small part thanks to the lecherous custodian roving the halls and propositioning Kenneth during the night shift. Siiiiigh.
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A fully-bearded, long-haired Jack wakes Lemon with an early morning call to gloat about his exotic vacation on Paul Allen's yacht with Avery. He tells her they basked the entire time in "The Three S-es." One is surf, one is sun, and would you care to hazard a guess at what Lemon thinks the third will be? Two points if you guessed sandwiches. That's my girl! Jack rhapsodizes a bit about how Avery is the perfect women -- "a combination of Bo Derek and Barry Goldwater" -- before acknowledging that his summer of love is about to give way to work mode. He asks about Lemon's summer. She tells him her gynecologist committed suicide. Click.
A second later, Lemon's "doorman to the sky" boyfriend Carol (Matt Damon) calls to tell her he's piloting a flight home from St. Louis, then has only a few more Jersey stops (apparently Newark to Atlantic City is popular on the black bachelorette party circuit) before he'll be back in New York. They hang up, and the phone rings yet again. It's Tracy, who promises to give 110% this year. She says that's great, and Tracy realizes he misdialed and called her instead of his nutritionist. Says Lemon, "Okay, season five, here we go." Credits.
Jack's office. He goes over the budget with Lemon and Pete, reminding them they have to cut expenses and maximize profits to ease the transition to life under Kabletown. Some line items, including an ever-expanding wig budget for Tracy and some mandatory five-year upgrades on Jenna's contract (because nobody ever thought TGS would ever make it that long), are driving up the budget unnecessarily. Pete notes that Jenna will now receive a producer credit. Jack assures Lemon it's a meaningless designation, but Jenna obviously doesn't think so as she strides in for "the producer's meeting" and demands eye contact. She has been counting down for this day like so many pervs waiting for Miley Cyrus to turn legal. Big 6-0!
It's Kenneth! And he's back at 30 Rock! Tracy approaches to give him his daily list of chores, including learning the ins and outs of martinizing at the dry cleaners and making the bathroom sweet-smelling before Tracy wrecks it again. Ah, but it was all a cruel tease! As soon as Tracy stops jabbering, Kenneth says, in a difference voice, "I'm not Kenneth, sir." Cut to confused Tracy, cut back to an entirely different Page named Brian, who has to remind Tracy that Kenneth was fired after his drunken display of love last season. Tracy pretends he understands what this not-Kenneth is saying to him.
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