30 Rock (TV Series) What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year? (2012) User Reviews

Good and conclusive finale

[anselmdaniel · 8/10 · 2 January 2021]

This review contains spoilers.

"What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year" is the twenty-second episode of the sixth season. This is a finale that focuses primarily on Liz and Jack. This episode is an ending to the relationship that Jack and Avery embarked on earlier in the series. Criss and Liz Lemon become more of a couple.

This finale is great at capping off the season. There are lots of developments with the newer characters. One of these is the development of the new page Hazel played by Kristen Schaal. I enjoyed all of the storylines here and this is a solid finale.

I would recommend "What Will happen to the Gang Next Year".

Grade: B

30 Rock Season Six

30 Rock's sixth season takes place sometime after the fifth season. Jack Donaghy's wife, Avery Jessup, is taken hostage by North Korea. Jack attempts to get her back through various means. Liz Lemon seeks a new relationship. Kenneth slides on the corporate ladder. Jenna's relationship with Paul gets more serious.

This sixth season is definitely one of the weaker seasons of 30 Rock. The season's stories are not as strong as the story arcs of the previous seasons. Ifelt that 30 Rock was much stronger with its more focused season long story-lines. The season has much more smaller stories here and it focuses more on the newer case members.

The smaller stories are still enjoyable and the character dynamics are as fun to watch as they were in the past. The bigger story arcs are missing and the season can feel like it is meandering. For fans of the series, this is fine as the season can be enjoyed in its full episode length of 23 episodes before it heads into its last season.

I would recommend the sixth season of 30 Rock. The season prepares the viewers for the seventh and last season of 30 Rock.

Grade: B

What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year? (#6.22)

[ComedyFan2010 · 9/10 · 20 December 2013]

Jack and Avery plan to renew their vows. Jack finds out that she had an emotional affair with the other kidnapped guy when he notices their code for conversations. Still the want to go through with it and have Liz to perform ceremony. Liz and Criss are getting closer to the whole baby thing. Kenneth lives with Hazel when he finds out that he wasn't accepted into the page program.

A pretty good season ending. The whole Avery and Jack story got to an end, which is good because I think they got everything out of it that they could.

And it is kind of weird to see Kenneth make up with a woman, he just seems so innocent, almost like a child!

Season 6: A bit hit and miss, with some weak ideas and episodes throughout, still funny but not what it was

[bob the moo · 28 June 2012]

I remember the first few seasons of 30 Rock and how hard we used to laugh when watching it; it is a very high bar that the later seasons have not really gotten near to, never mind actually maintained. Season 6 is the latest example and there were only a few episodes where the laughs were consistent and strong – for me the live show was the only one that really kept delivering on that level. The rest of the season struggles from the constant attempt to be fresh and funny and, although it still makes for an enjoyable season, it is not hard to see how hard it is working to do so and how many ideas make it into the show that would have been rejected several seasons ago.

The thing that sort of carries the show through this is that its core strengths are still present. So when Liz does a Liz thing (like an awkward forward roll to escape a situation) it is still funny; when Tracey says a random Tracey thing it is still funny; when Jack says a Jack thing, it again is still funny. Indeed although I laughed frequently during many episodes, I mostly found it to be these random moments from characters that were getting the laughs rather than the structure or plot of the episode; at its best the show would have been doing both. Unfortunately too many plots feel silly rather than wonderfully absurd and there is also a sense of ideas and plots being recycled – the self-references to these things add a little charm, but not enough to totally overcome them. It is fitting that the show is set around a sketch show, because this season does feel that way – rather than being a smooth sitcom with flowing plots and ideas, it does have the stuttering effect of individual sketches/moments being good while others are not.

As with the character moments mostly continuing to be very funny, the cast continue to be very good. Baldwin is awesome throughout the season and it is only some of the plot threads that limit him; however he has great timing and delivery of the material. Likewise Fey continues to be great and her best moments are those that just come from her character. Morgan is great value as simple as his delivery is although I felt less enthusiastic about Krakowski and McBayer, even if this is maybe more to do with their material rather than anything else. The supporting cast continue to be solid but some of the more familiar faces or cameo appearances don't really work and smack of neediness for attention that the show really doesn't need to have.

The sixth season is still very funny and it has enough good laughs per episode to justify watching, the problem is that it is hard not to view it against previous seasons. The individual character moments are mostly as funny as ever but the plots are weaker and the show feels very much like a sketch show of fragmented bits – some hitting, some missing. The next season will supposedly be its last and I hope this can provide a real focus and drive to end on a high, because it mostly has been a great series and it deserves to end as such and not be dragged out when it is so obviously weakening in key areas.

The beginning of the end

[safenoe · 10/10 · 10 December 2021]

Margaret Cho pretty much owns this episode, with the Stephen J. Cannell flourish at the end being a nice touch. What will happen in season 7? Here Jack and Avery amicably and even joyously part ways in a rooftop wedding. I was very impressed by the street scenes where nimble editing was required to cut out the public in the background watching the filming.

It's easy to forget that 30 Rock and Aaron Sorkin's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip debuted on NBC at the same time. Conventional wisdom was that Sorkin's powerhouse series be the one that would survive the first season, with 30 Rock being a one season wonder. But history has proved otherwise.