Critics have been arguing, for a few seasons now, about what some have called the decline of Liz Lemon. While NPR’s Linda Holmes lamented the TGS head writer’s devolution from woman to “needy little girl who is eternally terrified of displeasing [Jack Donaghy],” Sam Adams at Slate went so far as to claim that the character is veering ever closer to “dumbass Homer Simpson” territory. Both The New Yorker critic Emily Nussbaum and Flavorwire’s own Caroline Stanley mounted defenses of Liz Lemon, the latter pointing out that critics’ personal prejudices about Liz were getting in the way of their appreciation for 30 Rock while Nussbaum argued that the character has always been “a strange, specific, workaholic, NPR-worshipping, white-guilt-infected, sardonic, curmudgeonly, hyper-nerdy New Yorker.”

Last night’s episode, which found Liz finally surrendering to the bonds of matrimony, confirmed the opinion I’ve held for a while: All of the writers above are partially correct, because there are two Liz Lemons. There’s the pathetic, cheese-binging, terrified-of-sex woman-child stumbling around in the playpen of TV sketch comedy writing, desperate for the suspiciously flawless guidance of her über-capitalist boss. This side of Liz has always existed in some form or another; it’s just that last season, the all-around weakest in 30 Rock’s run, relied on this clownish figure far more than its predecessors. But lazy writing never managed to kill the Liz Lemon critics (not to mention all manner of overworked cosmopolitan women) love. Even last year, she shone through every now and then with a brilliant one-liner. And what has made the show’s final season appreciably better than the few that came before it is the return of a protagonist canny enough for us to care deeply about. That’s the Liz Lemon who got married last night, in an episode that managed to contain both a sharp jab at marriage plots and true happiness for our heroine and her groom, Criss Chros. … Read More