Following the dramatic twist of Succession, the second-to-last episode of 30 Rock's second season insists on keeping things believably silly, with the outcome being the usual twenty minutes of great television.
With Don Geiss in a coma and his mentally challenged daughter running GE (courtesy of the untrustworthy Devon Banks), Jack can't do anything besides working on the 12th floor and hoping the old man wakes up to confirm the job belongs to him. As for Liz, she has to deal with two problems: her sandwich being stolen (it's Sandwich Day) and the staff being forced to make a deal with the teamsters to get another one if they want to keep breathing, and the unexpected return of Floyd (Jason Sudeikis), who was in town on business and still has some time before heading back to Cleveland (classic scenario: his plane was delayed).
Sudeikis, who's been absent from the show since the Season 1 finale, makes a welcome return and provides the opportunity for plenty of witty conversations with Tina Fey, always at her best when dealing with Liz's love problems (and the Emmy she won for this season is a fitting tribute to her talent in those scenes), but the most unusual (and somewhat morbid) laughs come from the sight of Rip Torn's lifeless body while Jack, on the brink of desperation, begs him to wake up. A superb build-up to what promises to be one heck of a finale.
