'30 Rock' Season 6, Episode 5 Recap - 'Today You Are a Man'

"Wow, after six years there's still room for growth in this friendship," says Tina Fey as Liz while looking straight into the camera. Her tone is slightly accusatory, as if we were all sitting here watching the sixth season of one of the best comedies on TV and saying "I'm bored with these characters, they never change."

Whether that's what we were actually saying or not, the theme of "Today You Are a Man" was character growth. It's easy for sitcoms to settle on their characters and keep them static for years on end... in fact, it's something of a staple of the genre. But "30 Rock" seemed intent on pushing that boundary, so here we are.

Kenneth comes to the realization that he isn't appreciated anymore, when he finds that nobody knew he was missing the day that the pages were all fired. In fact, Jenna mistook a recycling bin for Kenneth, and Pete though the broom in the corner was him. After a brief switcheroo with Hazel Wassername (Kristin Schaal!), Kenneth announces to Jack that he's quitting the page program to work for Kabletown. "He's a white man with hair," says Jack. "The sky's the limit."

Tracy and Jenna, who are probably the last characters we would expect to come to any kind of personal epiphany, realize that they've been difficult and should be more honest about their needs. They come to this realization in dealing with the son of their accountant at his bar mitzvah, where he is acting rather familiarly like a diva. Jenna and Tracy decide to be honest from here on in, making everyone's life easier. It'll last exactly one week.

Jack, meanwhile, is having a bit of an existential crisis. He worries that he has lost his edge in moving from GE's microwave division (they're weaponizing microwaves now) to Kabletown, and laments never being called to negotiate. But when Liz has to re-negotiate her contract with him and starts using Jack's old negotiation seminar tapes for guidance, he sees an opportunity: the chance to negotiate with the greatest negotiator... himself.

If you're wondering why Alec Baldwin won the SAG award again this year, it's for scenes like this one, where he is negotiating with himself over Liz's contract. It's not at the level of playing Tracy's entire family, but it's still pretty great. I still think Steve Carell should have won, though.

The epiphany for Jack is that he can use emotion as a negotiation tactic, which he learned from Liz (sorta). All this, and he's becoming a softie because of his daughter. Big strides for Jack in season six I guess.

Notes & Quotes:

-"My trio of popcorrrrn!"

-Jack's negotiation of the dog/cat marriage. Is this what anti-gay marriage activists are worried about?

-Everybody, please try emailing [email protected] and see if "30 Rock" actually claimed it.

-"Jack Donaghy, playing with himself... it's a Jack-off."

Frank's Hats of the Week:

"Flip Phone Owner"

"Jobber"

"Tornadic"