After seven seasons, two Emmys and an hour-long series finale, the critically acclaimed NBC sitcom “30 Rock” came to a surprisingly tearful end last Thursday. Tina Fey’s semi-autobiographical show ended with plenty of throwbacks, heartfelt goodbyes and a brief look into the future for the characters on the show.

Picking up where last week left off, “The Girlie Show” has been cancelled and Kenneth has been promoted to president of NBC programming. Jack is CEO of Kabletown. Liz is having trouble adjusting to life as a stay-at-home mom (or SAHM as her blogging conversations point out) and desperately tries to find a way to get back to work. Just in time, Kenneth finds an obscure clause in Tracy Jordan’s contract and one final episode of “TGS” must be filmed to prevent a $30 million payout to the Jordan and, thus, Liz returns to 30 Rock.

While Liz rounds up the cast for their true finale, Jack begins to have second thoughts about being CEO of Kabletown. Despite receiving a personal, and wonderfully scathing, shoutout from Nancy Pelosi (a fantastic final guest star), Donaghy can’t seem to find himself. In an attempt to force happiness back into his life, Jack tries and fails to properly use the Six Sigma Wheel of Happiness Domination to find meaning in his life.

Though last week’s “A Goon’s Deed in a Weary World” could easily have been a finale, the hour-long combination of “Hogcock” (a combination of hogwash and poppycock) and “Last Lunch” gave a sense of closure to the characters that America has been watching for slightly under a decade.

The first of these, containing one of the most memorable lines in the series, was between Liz and Tracy at—of all places—a strip club, a callback to the pilot episode. Here, Liz states one of the more touching lines in the episode: “But because the human heart is not properly connected to the human brain, I love you. And I’m gonna miss you.” This sets the tone for the rest of the show—one of end times and finality.

Perhaps the most touching goodbye was that between Liz and Jack, who finally, in their own way, express their non-romantic love for each other, finally ending all of the “will they, won’t they” surrounding the series for years. Seven years in the making, this moment shared between two now lifelong friends defines the series as one of the most touching, hilarious and important sitcoms of our generation.

These admissions bring up an important notion regarding “30 Rock.” Throughout the series, we saw the characters love very different things. Jack had his fervor for capitalism, Liz loved her show so much that she was willing to degrade herself and fight for it every day, Tracy and Jenna had themselves, and Kenneth had NBC and television. Yet, all of these things—diverse as they were—took a backseat to the people in their lives in these final episodes.Heartfelt expressions flowed freely between people who, for seven years, were at their wit’s end with each other.

So maybe, behind all of the gags and the humor, that’s what “30 Rock” has always been about—love. Loyal fans have loved the show for years, tuning in every Thursday for 20 minutes with Liz Lemon and the rest of NBC. Tina Fey and her fellow writers and cast have gifted to us, the viewers, hours of laughter and an earnest attempt to make an outstanding television show and, in a way, that’s love too.

In the final moments, we see that not much has changed for the characters. Jenna is still being ridiculous on “cam-er-a,” Pete unsuccessfully fakes his own death, Tracy reunites with his missing father—returning after all these years from “getting smokes,” Jack is making clear dishwashers at GE and Liz has finally found her work-and-home life balance as she writes for Grizz’s new show. However, the best reveal was the final one, in which we find out that the whole of “30 Rock,” in a subtle nod to the former NBC show “St. Elsewhere,” is a pitch to Kenneth—still immortal and president of NBC, apparently—by Liz’s great-granddaughter. Though a bit cheesy, Kenneth’s final line—and the final line of the series—“I love it,” echoes the message of the rest of the episode and gives a sense of finality and closure to an amazing and prolific series.