Unwindulax

"Unwindulax" /ʊnˈwaɪndjuːlæks/ is the fourth episode of the seventh season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 129th overall episode of the series. It was directed by James E. Sheridan and written by Matt Hubbard. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) network in the United States on October 25, 2012.

It follows Jenna Maroney attempting to build a new image of herself as a "chilled" out person, and the regrouping of the pranksmen to shatter this image. A parallel storyline follows Jack Donaghy taking Liz Lemon to a Republican Party fundraiser to use her as bait to get the attendees to contribute more to the Romney campaign.

"Unwindulax" was watched by 3.13 million viewers and received a positive critical response. It is the first half of a two-part episode, concluded by "There's No I in America".

Plot

Jack (Alec Baldwin) invites Liz (Tina Fey) to a Republican Party fundraiser as his "chum". Unbeknownst to Liz, Jack is actually using her as a bait to get the attendees to contribute more to the Romney campaign. Liz is furious and decides to promote the Democratic Party through TGS. Jack uses his donation money in an attempt to lure minorities into the Romney camp, including paying Don Cheadle $10 million to appear in a Romney campaign commercial. While Liz uses Lutz's great nephew Kellan Lutz, as a guest star on TGS, to promote her liberal political views. However, both of their attempts fail.

Meanwhile, Jenna's (Jane Krakowski) new "chilled" out personal image has been attracting the public's attention. The writers realize that they could use her fame to annoy her, since she can't afford to shatter her image by getting mad at them in public. Their plans backfire when Jenna threatens to use her fame to destroy them. The writers collect all of Jenna's most horrible moments and plan to release them on the internet. However, Pete thwarts their plans by destroying a compilation CD of Jenna's embarrassing moments because Jenna's fans have given him peace and relaxation.

Tracy (Tracy Morgan) teaches Liz about the US election map, while Jack is doing exactly the same thing with representatives of the Romney campaign. They both realize at the same time that Northern Florida could decide the election, and that a substantial chunk of their population is in New York as Jenna's fans. Hence, they both come to the conclusion that Jenna Maroney could decide the presidential election.

Reception

"Unwindulax" was watched by 3.13 million viewers and earned a 1.2 rating/4 share in the 18–49 demographic.^[1] This means that it was seen by 1.2 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 4 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. This was an increase from the previous episode "Stride of Pride" (3.04 million).^[2]

"Unwindulax" received a positive critical response. Amy Amatangelo of Paste magazine gave the episode an 8.1 out of 10 and praised the political humor centered around the 2012 Presidential election.^[3] Pilot Viruet of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B", stating "For the most part, 'Unwindulax' was a funny episode but one that fell a little flat after three straight episodes that were firing on all cylinders. There is the very likely possibility that I’ll love this episode a lot more in context next week, because man, oh man, I’m looking forward to watching Jenna choose the next President of the United States."^[4]

References

External links

• Unwindulax at the Internet Movie Database