30 Rock: Episode 210 (Episode 210)

Wait, is that Gladys Knight?: Something tells me they're gonna be late for that midnight train to Georgia.Jack and CC are keeping the love alive, though the demands of their careers are making that more and more difficult. When CC asks Jack to meet her halfway, he delegates an important task to Liz and finds the literal halfway point between Jack's office in New York and DC. That would be a betting parlor in Hockassin, a city deep within Pennsylvania mining country. Charming it is, but soon enough their return to the real world and and their careers dooms the relationship for good. Truly, though Jack and CC are no longer together, they'll always have Hockassin.

Meanwhile, Liz is taking Jack's advice and finally investing in real estate. If Jenna can own her place in New York (as well as a vacation condo in Clearwater, FL) and Frank can buy a chicken ranch in Nevada, why shouldn't Liz be able to move into the luxury co-op of her dreams? Never mind that she fouls up the interview as badly as a first date. The outstanding student loan from her unaccredited theater tech program doesn't help either. And to hammer the final nail in the co-op coffin: drunk dialing the board number after she sees the apartment still advertised in the paper after she submitted what she thought was a successful bid. She comes to accept that the apartment will not be hers, an undeniable fact after she sees the board (yes, the entire board) on the street with the woman who ended up with the place instead of Liz. Holding her head up high, Liz tries to hang onto her dignity as she slinks away.

Kenneth rides "the brown serpent", getting hooked on coffee when Tracy (for reasons unclear to all but him) installs a cappuccino machine at his desk. Kenneth goes wild, which isn't great for Liz, who delegates the task of watching and summarizing German sit-coms (more on that in a minute) to him. He doesn't finish the task, but does manage to challenge Grizz to a fight, see a PG-13 movie, buy sunglasses, and "try a Jewish doughnut. Kenneth is heartbroken to realize that he let the city of New York change him after he promised his mother he wouldn't. He's on the verge of leaving but ends up staying because he, of course, missed almost-midnight train to Georgia.

So yes, Gladys Knight puts in an appearance, but only at the end when all the characters (including CC, who is last seen on the news in Jack's office) perform "Midnight Train To Georgia". Taking the lead from Tracy, who started singing after Kenneth vowed to leave, Jenna leads him, Dot-Com, and Grizz into the studio, where they are joined by Liz for a truly spectacular ending. Gladys, naturally, turns up to yell at them for making too much noise -- can't a lady get a nap in?

Oh, and Liz, having had to fill in for Jack while he was hiding out in Hockassin with CC, employed her best college German to buy a German cable network. Actually, she sells NBC to the German cable network. Oops. Can't wait to see how that will get resolved if and when the show comes back.

Poll: What will you miss most about 30 Rock, now that there are no more new eps due to the WGA strike?