The Good Place Gets Off To A Good Start

What does it mean to be a "good person" or a "bad person"? Can bad people learn to be better? Is there life after death? These are fairly heavy, often quite debated questions that come up in the course of a lifetime and while we all probably have our own answers to these questions, they're not the kind of questions that can be definitively answered. That won't stop NBC's new afterlife comedy The Good Place from trying though, and those questions are at the heart of Michael Schur's (Co-Creator of Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine) provocative new show which debuted Monday night with a 2-part premiere, before it moves to it's regular timeslot on Thursdays.

In The Good Place, there is an afterlife but it's not like anything you've been taught about. All major religions got maybe 5% of it right (Except for Doug Forcett, a stoner who lived in Calgary who guessed 92% of it while on mushrooms one night). Essentially every action you do in life from eating a sandwich to poisoning a river is given a positive or negative point value based on how much good or bad it sends through the universe. This is all monitored and once you die your score is added up. Those with the highest of high scores go to The Good Place, everyone else goes to "The Bad Place" (though what this means is left unexplained beyond a terrifying audio recording of roars and screams.). The Good Place is a series of neighbourhoods, perfectly designed for the 322 people that live in each one by an architect who oversees the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood The Good Place is set in is a pleasant suburban setting with a frozen yogurt shop on every corner (something all neighbourhoods have in common) and stores with names like "Everything Fits" or "All The Books". Each resident lives in a house perfectly designed to their tastes and meets their soulmate who is their universe-ordained perfect match. A walking database of knowledge named Janet (D'Arcy Carden) pops up in an instant to help with any question or request. All the words spoken are translated into the listeners preferred language. It's paradise. A very exclusive paradise (Mozart, Picasso, Elvis, basically all artists, every President except Lincoln, and Florence Nightingale all missed the cut) but paradise all the same.

Into paradise comes Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), a woman who may have had an embarrassing death (A shopping cart mishap while trying to pick up "Lonely Girl's Margarita Mix For One" caused her to get swept into the street where she was hit by a mobile billboard truck for an Erectile Dysfunction product and the first paramedic on scene was an ex-boyfriend), but who's exemplary life as a lawyer who got innocent people off death row and who routinely went on humanitarian missions helping orphans has earned her a place in paradise, according to Neighbourhood Architect Michael (Ted Danson), along people like smug do-gooder Tahani Al-Jamil (Jameela Jamil), a monk who won't break his vow of silence even in death and Tahani's soulmate Jianyu (Mandy Jacinto), and Eleanor's soulmate Chidi (William Jackson Harper) who was a professor who taught Ethics and Moral Philosophu. The only problem is that there's been a mistake and she's not the person Michael thinks she is. She was the kind of person who sold fake medicine to seniors (and was salesperson of the year 5 years in a row), the kind of person who would drink before work drink night to get out of her turn being designated driver and the kind of person who deserves the bad place. Of course she would rather stay in The Good Place and so she turns to Chidi, who just might be willing to help teach her how to be a good person so she can fit in and avoid getting caught. It won't be easy (especially because Eleanor's negative actions cause catastrophic storms to affect the neighbourhood) but with paradise on the line, Eleanor has no choice but to try and pull it off.

Everything Is Fine/Flying, the 2-part opener of The Good Place, has a lot to get through in about 42 minutes of television. It has to introduce the characters, lay out the premise, set up an elaborate world and explain how it works, while telling a compelling story and scoring laughs along the way. For the most part it pulls it off. NBC made a smart choice in airing both parts of the episode together because Everything Is Fine would be a lot less satisfying (albeit pretty entertaining as any episode of television that ends with the chaotic sight of giant ladybugs and frogs, flying shrimp, and a herd of giraffes would have to be) without Flying right after to complete the story it's telling. Additionally Everything Is Fine has to take the burden of laying out the majority of the exposition of how The Good Place works so there's not time for much else. Luckily the exposition is laid out in a way that's entertaining and allows for plenty of jokes (I transcribed what I could of the elaborate point system that determines who gets in The Good Place below. This show is looking to be heaven for lovers of blink-and-you-miss-it gags like that) and Kristen Bell and Ted Danson are charming enough to keep the pilot from becoming dull or uninteresting. Flying is more set-up, but it gets to focus on the story of Eleanor trying to convince Chidi that there's a part of her worth saving so he'll help her try to keep her secret. It's a story that feels more complete than the story of Everything Is Fine, while also creating a compelling path for the series to move forward and now that we have that path, subsequent episodes should be a lot smoother. Also on the plus, the mystery of how and why Eleanor wound up here that the show subtly sets up over these first couple episodes is already compelling and offers a lot to hang on to going forward as well.

If there's one thing about The Good Place that seems perfect off the bat though, it's the casting. Eleanor is a deeply flawed person who we really shouldn't be rooting for, but Kristen Bell makes her feel likeable and human, even at her most selfish. Her desire to stay in this place no matter the consequences to the deserving people around her is greedy sure, but can anyone really blame her? Meanwhile, as Michael, who has finally gotten a chance to design his own neighbourhood after a 200-year-long apprenticeship and is devastated that there's a flaw in his perfect system, Ted Danson steals the show. Michael is clearly not used to having an earthly body or dealing with earthly emotions and it comes through in Danson's impeccable line-readings and acting. His desire to have everything be perfect on his first big opportunity is very understandable and can only lead to great things for the show going forward. William Jackson-Harper is no slouch either, playing Chidi with exasperation (who wouldn't be exasperated going to paradise only to find themselves confronted with a selfish mess of a soulmate) and nervousness, but also kindness and empathy. His interactions with Bell were the best parts of the first two episodes and their relationship should prove to be very compelling going forward. As for the supporting players, Tahani, Jianyu and Janet haven't made much of an impression yet (though Jamil nails Tahani's condescending perfectness and D'Arcy scores a few laughs with Janet's matter-of-fact delivery), but given Schur's track record for developing deep ensembles, I'm sure they'll get there in time.

The Good Place has not set an easy bar for itself to clear. It's ambitious and bold and I can imagine it's premise and environment being quite weird and alienating for viewers who prefer their comedies simpler (which is fair, I guess). It doesn't seem like the kind of show that's long for this world. I hope it lasts a couple seasons at least though, because it has the potential to become a show that's truly unique and special on the TV landscape. Everything Is Fine/Flying have introduced us to the world and gotten all the heavy lifting out of the way. Now it's time to watch this show soar.

Memorable Moments

-As mentioned above, I went through the Orientation Video and got all of the positive and negative actions (and most of the point values listed so you don't have to (unless you wanted to). Voila:

Eat a Sandwich +1.04
Buy a Trashy Magazine -.75
Hug Sad Friend +3.67
Plant Baobob Tree in Madagascar +5.25
Stiff a Waitress -3.21
Use "Facebook" as a verb. -5.55
Use the Term "Bro Code" -8.20
Poison A River -4010.55
Disturb Coral Reef with Flipper -55.02
Fix  Broken Tricycle For Child Indifferent to Tricyles +1.12
Fix Broken Tricycle For Child Who Loves Tricycles +6.60
Rev a Motorcycle -
-Root For New York Yankees -
Save A Child From Drowning +890.04
Remain Loyal to the Cleveland Browns +53.83
Blow Nose By Pressing Down Nostril and Exhaling -7.14
Tall a Woman to "Smile" -53.83
Remember Sister's Birthday +15.02
Be Commissioner of National Football League (American) -824.55
Purify Water (Village) Pop: >250 +294.26
Ruin Opera With Boorish Behaviour -90.90
Pet A Lamb +3.89
Scratch Elbow +1.10
Step Carefully Over Flower Bed +2.09
Stealing Copper Wire From Decommissioned Military Base -16.00
Maintain Composure in Water Park Line in Houston +60.98
Fail to Disclose Camel Illness When Selling Camel -22.22
Harassment (Sexual) -731.26
Overstate Person Connection to Tragedy That Has Nothing To Do With You -40.77
End Slavery +814292.09
Commit Genocide About -433401.86 (exact value not given)

-As for all the positive actions from the life of the person in the orientation video, I opted not to list them all but these are the highlights
Ate Vegan
Never Discussed Veganism Unprompted
Gave Out Full-Size Candy Bars At Halloween
Self-Monitored Potentially Nauseating Mouth Sounds While Chewing
Began to Compose Social Media Post About David Bowie Dying And Then Thought The World Doesn't Need To Hear My Thoughts on David Bowie
Researched West Indies Test Cricket Tournament Results to Facilitate Conversation with Father-In Law

-As someone who lives in Calgary, the story of Doug Forcett was my favourite joke of the episode (I'm very biased).

-"The bear has two mouths!"- overheard on the Bad Place audio.

-Example of how good everyone else in The Good Place is. "So then he said 'You can't give me both your kidneys. You'll die.' And I said 'but you will live, and I know we just met on this bus 10 minutes ago but you seem nice'".

-"We don't know what it is, how long it'll last or what caused it. What do we know Janet?" "We know where it happened: here".

-Eleanor's favourite "book" is Kendall Jenner's Instagram feed.

-"I have to say this neighbourhood you've built is tuly a masterpiece, the likes of which I've never seen, and I've been to Johnny Depp's private bird sanctuary".

-Some people think of their wedding day or favourite vacation spot to get the joy needed to fly. Eleanor thinks of people puking on roller coasters.

-"We could've literally been flying and all you wanted to do is talk about morals. You're like the worst parts of Superman!"

-Not a memorable moment but just a note that I'm planning to recap The Good Place throughout the season. Will I follow through on this? Hopefully.

Parks and Recreation: Win, Lose, Or Draw

What Happened, Yo!:

-It's election day, and with polls indicating that Bobby Newport and Leslie are in a dead heat, there is nothing left to do but wait. Leslie tries not to panic, especially when earliest polls has Brandi Maxxxx in the lead. Anne takes her boxing to distract her, while Bobby and herself take the lead at various points. Ultimately the election is called with Bobby as the winner with 21 votes, apparently shattering Leslie's dream, but because the margain is so narrow, Ben points out that there has to be a recount. While this is happening, Leslie confesses to Ron that she doesn't want to let everyone down after they gave up their personal lives for her, but Ron tells her that she can't let them down and they're all in this together, win, lose, or draw. Ann informs Leslie that 21 votes still decided the election, but they were in her favour and Leslie has won. Bobby gives an ecstatic concession speech, while everyone celebrates.

-During all this, Jen tells Ben that she's been impressed with the way he's run the campaign and offers him a job on an upcoming congressional campaign in Washington. Ben isn't sure if he should do it, and after talking to Leslie who was hoping they'd finally have some time to themselves, he decides he won't do it. But talking to Ron makes Leslie realize she's been selfish, and she gives Ben her blessing to go to Washington.

-Also meanwhile, April accidentally deletes all the files on the Parks Department computers and is worried that she'll lose her job. Andy isn't that helpful trying to fix the problem, but he helps her by saying that he'd quit if she was fired and the two come up with a list of dream jobs. Donna shows up and easily fixes the problem because she secretly installed her own back-up ten years ago, due to Jerry often deleting things. Later, April realizes that all of Andy's dream jobs were some form of law enforcement and suggests he join the Pawnee Police Department, which intrigues him.

-Tom has a very vivid dream that he and Ann get back together and he's certain it'll come true. While celebrating, Ann gets very drunk, gets back together with Tom, agrees to move in with him, and agrees that she can't take it all back in the morning.

-Sleeping with Jen has revitalized Chris and brought him out of his depression.

-Ron turns down the assistant city manager job, realizing that he's happy where he is.

-Jerry doesn't vote on time and worries that he could cost Leslie the election. He doesn't but Leslie gets mad at him anyways when his mistake is revealed.

I Liked This: And so we arrive at the end of the road for the 4th season of Parks and Rec. It's been an entertaining ride and Win, Lose, or Draw brings the season to a fitting close. I really liked the way that the episode kept you guessing throughout, putting us in the same boat as Leslie and leading to some real uncertainty right up to the point where Ann reveals that Leslie has won the election.  The episode also provided at least one funny moment for every character, and spent a lot of time looking into the future, which is something that comes up in life a lot. Andy and April were removed from the action for most of the episode, but their mini-crisis was a nice story for them, showing exactly why these two work as a couple. Andy trying to fix the computer by blowing on the monitor and then knocking it over was great, and the idea of Andy becoming a police officer in a potential 5th season fits right in line with the character, makes perfect sense and would be terrific. As for Leslie, her story with Ben was sweet and an interesting obstacle for the couple to face. Her scene with Ron was probably the best scene of the episode, next to the final scenes of her delivering her victory speech, while hanging up her picture on the wall of councilman from the beginning of the series. Having her win should provide the show with lots of interesting stories going forward.

And for all the sweet, emotional stuff, there was a lot of humour too. Jerry's subplot about him forgetting to vote was perfectly Jerry, and never overstayed it's welcome. And the words "Dammit, Jerry!" may be the best close to a season yet. Paul Rudd was still great in his couple scenes, as was Jen Barkley, who just wanted to go home and couldn't even bother to give Chris a real goodbye or properly meet Ann. And the rule that a tie between a man and a woman candidate results in the jailing of the woman candidate just adds to Pawnee's hilariously terrible history.

But...: Tom and Ann's plot was really slight, and I know their relationship isn't meant to be taken that seriously, but breaking them up a couple episodes ago now seems completely forced and unnecessary for the payoff of Ann drunkenly agreeing to moving in with Tom.

The Bottom Line: Win, Lose, Or Draw was a fantastic close to another great season of Parks and Rec. Bring on Councilwoman Knope and season 5 (please)!

Grade: 87% (Great)

Memorable Moments


-Election Commissioner: "In the event of an exact tie, the seat is awarded to the male candidate and the female candidate is put in jail." Leslie: "Once again, I have to object."  Commissioner: "Well, I don't think it would hold up in court, but it is city law."

-The Sweetums voting machines that pressure you into voting for Bobby and then reward you with a candy bar voucher once you do so is a great gag, and the crying baby sound when you vote for Leslie is also great.

-Leslie: "The reason Bobby and I are appearing together is to send a message that everyone should get out and vote, no matter who they're voting for." Bobby: "That's right. Another awesome point by Leslie. That's why I'm voting for you. (All laugh) What's so funny?" Leslie: "They're laughing at your joke." Bobby: "What joke? I am voting for you." Leslie: "You're not voting for yourself." Bobby: "Leslie, you can't vote for yourself, I don't think. I'm pretty sure that's illegal."

-Andy reassures April: "First of all, you did the right thing by hiding underneath this table."

-Ron: "Well, I've never been one for meeting new people, or doing new things, or eating new types of food, or travelling outside of Southern Indiana. I've had the same haircut since 1978, and I've driven the same car since 1991. I've used the same wooden comb  for three decades. I have one bowl. I still get my milk delivered by horse." Ben: "You do?" Ron: "But you and Leslie like to hold hands and jump off cliffs together into the great unknown. Weird. You have a good relationship. I don't personally know what that's like, but I'm given to understand it means you'll land on your feet."

-Perd Hapley: "I have an update that contains new information."

-Ben is confused by Leslie's laughter after apparently losing: "Why are you laughing?" Leslie: "Because my dream is dead."

-Jen really doesn't what a recount: "How bout' this? Why don't I make you guys a deal?" Leslie: "OK, there's no deal in the world that we would ever possibly con-" Jen: "I'll give you Joe Biden's home phone number." Leslie: "Now, hang on, that's interesting." Ben: "OK, you're not thinking clearly."

-Leslie: "Someday, when I'm more emotionally stable, I wanna read the concession speech you wrote for me." Ben: "I never wrote it."

-Leslie's Victory Speech: "The idea behind the campaign was a simple one: that with hard work and positivity, a group of people can make a difference. During my term as your city councillor,  I wanna focus on your hopes and not your fears. I wanna solve problems instead of creating friction and I will work hard every hour of every day to make Pawnee a better place to live. Because I love this city. And I know first-hand, how very special the people of this city are. I owe this victory, all of it, to my friends and supporters. No one achieves anything alone. So let's embark on a new journey together. Let's break out a map. Not the old, out-of-date map of where we've been, but a crisp, new one, that shows where we might go. Let's embark on a new journey together and see where it takes us.

-Ron: "Jerry forgot to vote." Leslie: "Dammit, Jerry!"

Parks and Recreation: The Debate

What Happened, Yo!:

-It is the night of the debate and Leslie and Ben are confident that she'll be able to crush Bobby Newport and overcome the gap between the two candidates. But when the debate begins, Bobby Newport is hurt by her opening declaration that Bobby Newport feels he can buy the vote. This causes people to be more sympathetic to Bobby, even though his responses show that he's a moron who shouldn't win this election, and Leslie backs off from attacking a bit, throwing her off her game. She starts to gain some momentum during the second part of the debate, but becomes shocked when Jen gets Bobby to declare her anti-big business and claim that his dad will move Sweetums if Leslie wins the election. Ben and Leslie aren't sure what to do, until Benn decides that she should go on the attack and kick his ass. Leslie delivers a powerful closing speech about how she comes off strong because she's passionate about Pawnee and how if you love something, you shouldn't threaten it or hold it hostage like Bobby has done. This gets massive applause from everyone, including Bobby Newport, who invites her to a party later to celebrate making it through the debate.

-Meanwhile, Tom, Ann, and Chris are on spin duty, trying to put a positive light on everything that may happen during the debate. Tom is upset because after his most recent stunt (An inappropiate radio shout-out) Ann has dumped him for good. April tells him to be open about his feelings, but as he prepares to do so, he sees what seems to be Chris and Ann getting back together. And although Chris does try to get back together with Ann, she rejects him, saying that he's making their relationship into something more than it was and can't date her anyways, because of his rule. Tom comes honest about his feelings, but she decides she wants to be single for now. Tom still believes he can win her back though.

-Also meanwhile, Andy and April host a party for campaign Donors, while Ron provides the food. The guests are also supposed to watch the debate, but Andy has forgot to pay the cable bill. While Andy re-enacts some of his favorite movies, Ron goes to temporarily steal cable and gets the cable back in time for Leslie's big finish, which thrills Andy so much, he accidentally breaks the TV in his jubiliation.

I Liked This: Wow. Season 4 of Parks and Recreation has had tons of great episodes and this one is no exception. Written and directed by Leslie Knope herself, Ms. Amy Poehler continues a trend of writing classic episodes, delivering a crucial episode in this whole campaign storyline. Once again, Paul Rudd is great as Bobby Newport and the idea behind the character: that he's an idiot who has no business on City Council, but is so powerful and likeable, he might win anyways is used in a good fashion here. The episode could've bombed if there was no chance that Leslie could lose the debate, but setting it up so she's scared off the attack for much of the episode was clever. As was introducing the idea that Sweetums might leave Pawnee if Leslie wins, which sets it up for Leslie to knock the debate out of the park, but also introduces something that'd be interesting to revisit if Leslie won the election: what if Sweetums left? The other candidates were the typical Pawnee crazies, and provided some good moments during the debate (One of my favorite aspects of the episode was Brandi Maxxxx (From last year's Leslie's Painting) dressing like Leslie, and arguing that she's essentially the same person during the debate). As for the other stories, Tom, Chris, and Ann should be an interesting triangle to see play out, but Andy was the other star of the episode. I couldn't stop laughing, watching him re-enact scenes from Roadhouse, and his heartfelt plea in favour of the movie Babe, complete with a tearful Donna was amazing. Ron as Cable Lineman was pretty awesome too.

But...: No problems this week. Great episode.

The Bottom Line: The Debate was a stellar episode of Parks and Rec, with yet another great Amy Poehler-written episode, good use of Paul Rudd, and what was possibly Chris Pratt's finest (half) hour so far.

Grade: 95% (Almost Perfect)

Memorable Moments


-Chris: "If I had to have anybody tell me that I had cancer, I would want it to be me."

-Campaign Donor: "So, do you do a lot of investing?" Andy: "We dabble. I recently invested in some shirts at a garage sale. Left those at a Wendy's on the way home, so... hehehe, the economy."

-Bobby Newport: "By the year 2013, we will have a fully functioning mall on Jupiter."

Quicky Opinion with An Apology!

So, most of the time when I'm late with an update or miss something, it's due to a lack of motivation on my part. Sometimes however, I lose the resources (Read: Internet Access and Time) needed to post a timely post. This is one of those weeks. So here are my quicky opinions for last Thursdays The Office and Parks and Recreation with apologies. Hopefully, I can get everything I need to in order heading into May.

Parks and Recreation: Live Ammo: After a month of absense, Parks and Rec returned last week with a very funny episode, that also moved along the seasons ongoing storylines (The campaign, April taking on more responsibility, Ron being considered for promotion and Chris' downward spiral into depression) in an interesting way. It was good to see Leslie start to learn just what being on city council can be like, and her figuring out a way to avoid cutting the parks budget without Ann getting fired or the animal shelter closing was good to see. Ron meditating was great and the twist that Chris will lose his job if Bobby wins should be interesting to see play out. And April stepping up and getting mentored in a way by Tom was a good story for the character, with the pet adoption providing a lot of amusing moments. Overall, Parks and Rec came back with a strong one. Bring on the rest of the season. Quicky Grade: 85% (Great)

The Office: Angry Andy: Now, I was a little mixed on Angry Andy. First off, I really enjoyed the Ryan/Kelly storyline, which seemed to sum up how messed up that relationship is. Introducing a new man for Kelly is a good idea, and I'm hoping that this will continue on throughout the season. Pam and Ryan's ongoing feud is always fun and Ryan on a white horse was a good gag. I was a bit more mixed on the Andy stuff though, mainly because the idea that Nelly could just come in and take his job because Robert is attracted to her is a pretty ridiculous one. Wasn't Robert supposed to be brilliant and a competent CEO? And while I appreciated the build-up to the return of Angry Andy, the actual unleashing of Angry Andy was painfully brief and punching the wall again did not have the same comedic punch (pun intended) that it had the first time that happened (In one of my favorite episodes of the series, The Return). Don't get me wrong. The plot still had it's moments, and I'm looking forward to see where they're going with Andy quitting/getting fired, but the way we got there was a little too ridiculous for this show. Creed still had funny moments though. Grade: 68% (Pretty Good)

Parks and Recreation: Lucky

Before we start, sorry I missed last weeks post. I really liked the episode, but I got really busy. This happens from time to time. Anyways, let's get started.

What Happened, Yo!:

-Leslie has landed an interview with Buddy Wood, a bigshot Indianopolis journalist who could really help her campaign. She and Ben consider this a lucky break, but a more major story winds up getting her interview cancelled. Sad about this, Leslie, Tom, and Ann go out drinking, despite advice from Ben (Who they've been noticing has been less fun due to campaign stress) advising that they go home and get to sleep. But Buddy's plane gets delayed and the interview is back on, which would be great is Leslie wasn't drunk. Trying to hide this, she, Tom, and Ann all race to Pawnee's poor-quality airport in the hot tub limo, which Tom still has rented out for a few more hours. The interview commences, and Leslie tries to hide her drunkeness, but finds herself frustrated when Buddy keeps bashing the town and insists on painting the picture that Pawnee's best days are behind it. When Buddy insists on talking about her relationship with Ben, Leslie refuses and starts to tell him off when she gives away that she's drunk. Buddy is excited about this, and won't listen to Leslie asking that he not air the tape. To attempt to save the campaign, Leslie, Ben, Ann, and Tom take the hot tub limo to Indianopolis only to find that Buddy doesn't have the tape because the airport 'lost' his bag. Fun Ben returns and he and Leslie agree that they've probably used up the rest of their luck. It's revealed that the airport security staff, who all know Leslie and know how much she's trying to help them out, took the bag on purpose to help out Leslie, although Leslie doesn't know this.

-Meanwhile, Andy is preparing for his final exam in his Women's Study course with help from April and Ron. He gets a P (He was taking the course on a Pass/Fail) and is happy (Though he wanted a P Plus, which doesn't exist) and invites his professor out for drinks with him, April, and Ron. The professor agrees. While they're out, April notices Chris sitting by himself and invites him over, hoping to pair him up with the Women's Study professor because of how lonely he's been. They seem to hit it off, but when he asks if he can see her again, she tells him she's just gotten out of a relationship and can't at the moment. Chris leaves and the professor makes an advance on Ron (who's been pretty much ignoring the professor the whole night) who proceeds to sleep with her. April and Andy get Ron to tell Chris what he did before Chris gets hurt again using advice Ron gave to Andy earlier to convince him to do it. Ron tells Chris and Chris is glad that Ron told him (Though he does hug Ron because of how lonely he is).

-Also meanwhile, Jerry gets really into his job of stuffing envelopes and seems so good at it, Donna breaks off her evening plans just to watch him be competent. This is all for naught though, when Jerry realizes he was stuffing the wrong envelopes the whole night, but he takes it in stride and prepares to do the whole thing over again.

I Liked This: Lucky was another strong episode of Parks and Recreation (and one written by Ron Swanson himself, Nick Offerman). The idea of Leslie having to do a major interview while intoxicated is a funny one and it was handled well. Buddy Wood was a fun character and his constant disgust at Pawnee was pretty funny. And even though I knew that the airport people were probably going to take the tape, it was still an effective scene, showing how much some of the people in Pawnee really respect Leslie, which could be a big boost for her in the campaign. I also liked how Tom and Ann were handled here, and playing this relationship for comedy is definitely the right move to take it. We have enough serious relationships on the show and Tom and Ann having a not-so-serious relationship is a refreshing angle. Plus the Hot Tub Limo returned! As for the other stuff, I'm glad that the fact that Andy was taking a Women's Studies course was not forgotten and the whole storyline was funny. This season of Parks has also been building a stealth arc of sorts, where April is becoming more and more caring about the people around her and it was nice to see her help out Chris. I'm also glad that Ron dressing as Tiger Woods whenever he has sex made a return here. And Jerry's story was mainly an extended build-up to a Jerry joke, but the joke was a great one, as was his optimistic attitude, despite having to redo the whole job.

But...: The whole "Fun Ben has disappeared" thing felt tacked on to provide more of an emotional arc than what was there.

The Bottom Line: Parks and Rec is going away for a few weeks to help accommodate the return of Community, but it left us with a very strong episode to keep the momentum going before it returned.

Grade: 85% (Great)

Memorable Moments

-Ben pretending to be Buddy Wood: "Ms. Knope, what is going to be your first major public works project?" Leslie: "Oh, I don't know, but I bet these pants will work for the public."

-Andy: "Usually, tests scare me, but this is an oral exam. Uh…and if there’s one thing I know is…my fantastic.. it’s talk."

-Tom: "Ann and I have the occasional rough patch in our relationship, but right now, we're really in a groove. We're going thirty hours without breaking up. Our personal best is 47 hours. It happened when she was out of town for two days.. and she forgot we were dating."

-Tom: “Ooh, that is great news. And, you know, we might even be able to make it back in time for boring club. Do you know who the president of boring club is?” Ben: “Me?” Tom: “No. You lost the election because your speech was too boring.”

-Andy: "I would say, what I find very cool about Susan B. Anthony is.. how... she was born in.. Adams, Massachusetts.. in 1820. You know, just one man's opinion."

-Andy: “I passed! I got a ‘P!’” April: “Congrats, babe.” Andy: “I was hoping for a P-Plus but that does not exist. Right?” Professor London: "Right." Andy: "Yes, so, basically best grade in the class. Tied for best grade in the class."

-Leslie on dating a serious Ben: “It’s like dealing with a strict mother, who I am confusingly attracted to. Ben’s like a MILF.”

-Leslie: "Hello, Lady Knope- heh, I mean Leslie Knope."

-April: "Is that Chris?" Andy: "That really looks like him. But there's no way to tell for sure. We should jsut ask him tomorrow."

-Chris: "I'm engrossed in this book. It's the true story of a woman born with no arms and no legs who attempted to swim the English Channel". April: "That's impossible". Chris: "Oh, she drowned immediately. It's kind of a sad story."

-Andy on Chris and Professor London: “If they got together, they would make the most beautiful super baby. It would rule us all. But what if super baby became too powerful?” April: "Guess we're just going to have to take that chance."

-Andy: "And Professor, I'm taking your class again next semester and I'm going to lock in that P Plus." Professor London: "It's impossible." Andy: "You and the women taught me that nothing is impossible."

-Ben: "I guess we'll just set fire to the studio or something". Leslie: "Oh that's so sweet, I've never had a boyfriend willing to commit arson for me before". Donna: "It gets old."

-Andy uses Ron's own advice against him: "Uh, you know Ron, someone once told me that this is not how grown-ups deal with tough situations. We face them head-on." Ron: "Ugggh, fine." Andy: "Oh my God, Ron! It was you who told me that. That's crazy."

Parks and Recreation: Sweet Sixteen

What Happened, Yo!:

-Ron wants Leslie to take time off from the parks department, because although City Council is only a part time job (showing she could still stay with the department if she wins), running a campaign is a full-time job and with Leslie working 100 hours a week (50 at the Parks Department and 50 at her campaign) plus her volunteering at Wheels For Meals On Wheels (They fix Meals on Wheels vans) stuff is starting to fall through the cracks. Leslie insists she's fine though and won't take any time off. When she finds out she forgot Jerry's birthday (Who is born on February 29th and only gets one real birthday every 4 years), Leslie plans a surprise party for him at Donna's family lake house. But she forgets to invite Jerry so she and Ron set out to retrieve him.

-On the way to the party (With Jerry), she finds out that her latest campaign signs have been screwed up, because the sign guy printed the URL to the design she sent him as a sign instead of printing the design. By the time she corrects the problem and gets Jerry to the lake house, everyone has gone to sleep or is out looking for Champion (more on that in a sec). She throws a bit of a party of Jerry and then falls asleep on him, forcing Jerry to stay in the same spot all night. Later Ron tells her about the time he tries to work two jobs and finish middle school, and says it's better to full-ass one thing than half-ass two and Leslie decides to cut back her hours at the Parks Department to 10 hours a week.

-Meanwhile Tom is upset when he finds out Ann doesn't know who Ginuwine (Who is apparently Donna's cousin) is because a lack of knowledge of 90's R&B Stars is on his list of no-no's for women he dates. He confides to a reluctant April (who has found herself the confidante in their relationship since she fixed them up) that he might break up with Ann over this. Ann gets upset when she hears this. April gets really drunk in order to stand helping Ann and Tom and in her drunken state, she breaks the two of them up for fighting over stupid reasons. This causes Ann and Tom to make up and give this thing another try, much to April's disdain.

-Meanwhile Chris has spent the last few days watching Champion while Andy and April were out of town and has grown attached to the dog. He gives Andy things he's bought Champion and gives Andy plenty of advice. At the lake house, Andy begins tiring of Chris' advice and lets Champion off the leash, where he runs into the woods. They go looking for him and Andy admits to Chris that Chris is much better with the dog than he is so maybe Chris should have Champion. Chris refuses, saying that Champion belongs to Andy and that he'll probably come if he hears Andy singing. Andy tries it and Champion comes running, but we see that it's because Chris had a dog whistle which Andy was unaware of. Chris seems fine, but at the party we can see that he's bothered that others have something special in their lives and he's alone.

I Like This: Sweet Sixteen was a good episode that showed us that even Leslie's rampant workaholic tendencies have limits and handled it well, having her realizing that maybe she shouldn't work over 100 hours a week.. I enjoyed how it interfered with Jerry's party (Of course he's born on February 29th. That just makes sense.) and that whole story was fun. I also liked how the story used Leslie and Ron's relationship. His speech to her at the end explaining why he feels she should take time off was very nice and also funny, staying consistent with Ron's history. I also liked Andy and Chris' storyline, which once again humanized Chris greatly and made me feel bad for the guy. Hopefully things pick up for him soon. The scene where he assured Andy that Champion was his and made it look like Andy found the dog was again, funny and sweet. And of course, super drunk April is always funny.

But...: I didn't care that much for Tom and Ann's story this week. There were funny moments (Particularly when April got involved), but it didn't live up to the potential of the two of them dating. Hopefully this'll change though, because I'm still looking forward to a Tom/Ann relationship if it's played right.

The Bottom Line: Sweet Sixteen was a solid episode of Parks and Rec, getting Leslie to work less and giving us plenty of good Jerry moments. I just hope Tom and Ann's couple stories are better handled in the future.

Grade: 82%

Memorable Moments

-Leslie: "Oh Ann, you beautiful rule-breaking moth."

-Leslie starts to plan Jerry's party. April:  "The usual. Cake and pop?" Leslie: "No, April. The unusual." April: "Fish and pop?" Leslie: "No." April: "Cake and fish?" Leslie: "No! No fish."

-I enjoyed that Ann's hat said Tommy's Girl, and Tom's hat just said Tom, because no one owns him.

-April: "I was getting kind of sick of listening to Tom and Ann talk about their relationship, but then I remembered that alcohol existed. Thank you, alcohol."

-Jerry: "We didn't get to the drugstore for my liver medication." Leslie: "Well you should've thought of that before we dragged you out of the bath, Jerry!"

-Ron says something nice about Jerry for his birthday: "Jerry’s work is often adequate".

-Ron: "Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing."

Parks and Recreation: Dave Returns

What Happened, Yo!:

-Leslie and Ben (Despite his massive fear of cops) are hoping to get the endorsement of the retiring police chief, and though he likes her, he's not sure about endorsing her because the Newports give lots of money to the department for things like Kevlar vests. He tells them if they go to his retirement party, they might have a better chance. As they leave, they run into Leslie's old flame Dave, who is back from San Diego for a day to attend the chief's retirement party. Leslie invites him to dinner with her and Ben, because Dave is a good judge of character, and if he likes Ben, the other cops will like Ben.

-At the dinner though, Ben steps away for a minute and Dave tells Leslie he's still in love with her and wants to get back together. Leslie says no, and when Dave steps away later, she tells Ben. Dave wants to talk to Leslie again, but Ben wants to talk to Dave and when they do talk, Ben won't let Dave try to win back Leslie, so Dave handcuffs him to a urinal. Ben lets Leslie know with his cellphone what happened and Dave has to uncuff Ben. At the retirement party, Leslie and Dave have a talk, where Dave admits he went a bit crazy without Leslie and they end on good terms. And Ben is able to persuade the police chief that he should endorse Leslie.

-Meanwhile, Andy is in charge of writing Leslie's campaign song and he gets the rest of the team to be back-up. They go to the same recording studio where Ron records his stuff as Duke Silver, so Ron tasks April with getting rid of any Duke Silver memorabilia she finds. Andy just can't get the song to work and he's frustrated because he sees it as the only thing he can do to help the campaign. Ron tells him not to overthink it and secretly records a Saxophone solo, which makes the song much better in Andy's eyes.

-Also meanwhile, Tom is excited after his date with Ann, but Ann tells him not to make a big deal out of it and not to tell anyone. At the recording, Ann gets upset when she finds out that Tom texted everybody while they were on the date. Tom tries to make it better with grand gestures, but Ann just gets more mad at him. Eventually he gets her to have a "no gimmicks" talk with him, but he just sings that he wants her to be his beau until she agrees because he finally wore her down.

I Like This: In some ways, Dave Returns was an awesome blast from the past to season 2 of Parks, specifically the episode Practice Date, where the show had just found it's legs and was only beginning to show off what it was capable of. There was references to Duke Silver (It's been way too long), the term wiz palace (which may have been my favorite joke in Practice Date), and of course, Louie C.K was in it, as the delightfully (for the most part) awkward Dave. With Dave's still being in love with Leslie, and Ben's ongoing fear of cops (which never gets old), the dinner scene was full of awkward goodness, which I enjoyed. I also enjoyed how the whole encounter with Dave tied into Leslie's campaign, as they attempted to get the police chief's endorsement, and Ben powering through his fear long enough to provide a compotent argument for why Leslie is better for the department than Bobby was also good. Andy's storyline was good too, as he struggled with coming up with the perfect song, when all he needed was a sweet Sax solo from a mysterious source. I also enjoyed April being tasked with getting rid of all Duke Silver memorabillia, and I'm glad that the show is both trying a Tom and Ann relationship and not having Ann be open to it right away. There's a lot of history between these two characters and the show isn't ignoring that history so they can have the perfect romance, and that's just great.

But...: Dave was definitely more awkward than he had been in season 2, and while that was mostly fine, sometimes it felt like the show had amped up Dave's awkwardness a little much. He was much more down-to-earth in season 2, so it was a little jarring to see him be an awkward mess in every scene he was in (Though the show at least provided a plausible justification for his extreme behaviour.).

The Bottom Line: Dave Returns was another great episode that reminded me of how far the show has come.

Grade: 87% (Great)

Memorable Moments

-Ben: "I’m not afraid of cops, I have no reason to be. I never break any laws, ever. Because I’m deathly afraid of cops."

-Andy: "It's like 'We Are The World,' except I think it could actually make a real impact on society."

-April: "I dig your groovy tunes, man. Did you hear me? I said I dig your groovy tunes, man".

-Dave: "You look like I could use some company."

-Tom: "I don’t wanna brag, but I have a ton of experience with women being mad at me".

-Dave: “I still have feelings for Leslie, in a womanly fashion, and I believe she feels the same for me, in a manly way.”

-Ron to Andy: “I never thought I would say this about you, son, but you may be over-thinking this.”

-Tom: "The four sweetest words in the English language: you wore me down"

Parks and Recreation: Operation Ann

What Happened, Yo!:

-Leslie is hosting her annual Galentine's Day celebration, and inadvertently puts Ann on the spot with questions about her love life (which is non-existent). Hoping to cheer her up, Leslie tasks the department with bringing eligible bachelors to the Valentine's Day dance, which Ann will be attending. This doesn't work out as well as she hoped (Jerry accidentally brings a male escort and April brings her creepy friend Orinn), so she starts calling in plenty of guys hoping sparks will fly. Tom helps Ann wade through potential dates, but Ann ultimately tells Leslie that she's just going to go home and watch some TV. But when Leslie notices Ann in her car dolling herself up, she becomes convinced she's going to meet Chris (Who, still depressed over being dumped, had been being a sad DJ playing sad songs until Leslie gave him a bit of a pep talk. Now Chris has also left the dance and the music is much better). Leslie decides to follow Ann and bust them, until April convinces her that it's not a good idea. Admitting defeat, Leslie goes to meet Ben.

-Meanwhile Leslie has sent Ben on a scavenger hunt which involves deciphering many clues and riddles with a connection to their relationship to decipher their special Valentine's day meeting place. Andy decides to help and they also recruit Ron, who pretends to be reluctant, but secretly loves riddles. After realizing that there are 25 clues and they've only found a few, they start hitting up any place that could be significant in hopes of finding the 25th clue. They fall short, but Ron remembers that Leslie loves being right as much as she loves romance, so Ben realizes the meeting place is the Lil' Sebastian memorial, as Leslie believes Ben has come to love Lil' Sebastian (He still doesn't get it).

-When Leslie tells Ben that Ann is probably on a date with Chris even though he's her boss, Ben insists they go bust them and rub their faces in it. But when they go to where Leslie had followed Ann, they find Ann on a date with Tom. April shows up and reveals that after Leslie had chewed her out for not helping Ann, even though Ann would probably help April if their roles were reversed, April had noticed Ann having a good time with Tom and convinced Ann to give Tom a shot. Leslie and Ben are weirded out that this date is actually happening. When we finally hear them on the date, it turns out Ann is still skeptical and Tom almost (?) blows it. More on this to come? I hope so.

I Liked This: Operation Ann provides a nice break from Leslie's campaign to tell a stellar Valentine's Day story. Ann has gone the longest we've ever seen her go without a man of some kind and now she might date Tom. Man, that would be awesome (If it was handled right.)! Anyways, the story of Leslie trying to set Ann up worked well. I liked how it transformed from a story about Leslie trying to help her friend into a story about Leslie trying to figure out if Ann and Chris are going to start dating again and how it was also a story about April showing a softer side to someone she dislikes, showing that the softening of her character is likely to continue going forward. Meanwhile, Ben, Andy, and Ron on the scavenger hunt proved to be a potent comic force. Between the elaborate clues, Ron's secret love of riddles, the familliar locations (Plus we finally saw the Snow Globe Museum!), and Andy's... Andyness, there was nothing to dislike about this storyline. Oh, and we got to see Ben not understand the appeal of Lil' Sebastian again! Man, this was a good episode.

 But...: The Chris mislead was a little too obvious. That was the only thing I could think of when I thought about flaws the episode had.

The Bottom Line: Without Community, Parks and Rec is probably the best comedy on TV right now and Operation Ann is a prime example of how good this show is..

Grade: (For those unaware, I'm now grading on a percent system just to change things up a bit.) 94% (Almost Perfect)

Memorable Moments

-Glad to see Galentine's Day and the elaborate gifts return. The pillow with Marlene Knope's face and a news headline from the day she was born (Joseph Stalin Dies) was great.

-Leslie: "April, you're the old married broad here. How's Andy?" April: "Well, last week, he was supposed to buy gas, but instead he bought novelty cookie cutters. Now everything we eat is shaped like a dinosaur. He's amazing."

-Leslie: "Oh Ann, you beautiful spinster".

-Leslie: "It's a Cryptex, like in The Da Vinci Code, which was the first movie you and I ever watched on Starz HD". Ben: "Wow, that's.. specific".

-Chris: "Happy Valentine's Day, Pawnee. For me, it is not happy. But don't let my sadness diminish your night. Anyway, life is fleeting".

-Jerry: "I put an ad on Craigslist: Man seeking man for a night of casual fun. Enrico here responded right away".

-Andy lists several of the murals in the other hallway: "Cornfield Slaughter, Lament of the Buffalo, Needless Slaughter, Slaughter Gone Wrong, Eating The Reverend, It's Raining Blood, and Death Everywhere".

-Leslie checks her phone for potential suitors. "What's this? P. Hut. Oh, Pizza Hut. Hold on. (She dials the number) Hi, how cute are you?"

-Favorite Joke of the Night: Andy looking for a clue, by emptying an entire bottole of Whipped Cream onto some couple's plate. This continues on through the scene until Andy pops up with Whipped Cream on his face and hands.

-Tom: "Can we change up the music? It kind of sounds like the end of a movie about a monk who kills himself". Chris: "It is".

-Ben: "Hey, how's it going?" Kevin the Snowglobe Museum Guy: "It's Valentines Day and I'm working the late shift at the snowglobe museum so I'm right where I wanna be."

-One of Ann's Suitors: “You didn’t tell me your friend was so beautiful. Not as beautiful as my sister, but you know the law.”

-Other Favorite Joke of the Night: Andy almost breaking the glass on the raccoon display case before realizing he could just reach around to get the clue, only to drop the crowbar and break the glass anyways.

-Ben: "Screw romantic dinners, let's go rub it in their face". Leslie: "God, I love you so much."

-Ann: "This is what's going on. We're gonna have a drink, and we're gonna talk, get to know each other, and then I'm going to drive home- alone". Tom: “Consider this alternate plan. We have drinks here, get to know each other, whatever. Then, we go back to my place and snuggle up like little bunnnnnnies!” Ann: "Yeah, this is a mistake". Tom: "Nooo!"

-The end tag with Ron attempting to get Leslie to make him do a scavenger hunt for his birthday, to the point where he outright states that's what he wants is great. “I do want that. Please do that for me.”

Parks and Recreation: Bowling For Votes

What Happened, Yo!:

-Leslie is watching a focus group about her and becomes obsessed over one man's comment that he won't vote for her because she doesn't seem like the kind of person he'd go bowling with. Ben tries to get her to let it go, but she organizes a bowling event so she can get in touch with her voters. It seems fine until Ben realizes she personally invited the man who made a negative comment against her. Despite his efforts to get her to focus on other people and ignore the people who will dislike her, she spends a lot of time bowling with the man and even lets him win. When he still says he won't vote for her though, she gets angry and demands a rematch for his vote where she beats him easily. When the man says he'll just write bitch on his ballot, Ben punches him out. Later, Ben suggests that Leslie fires him so that she'll be cleared of the new scandal, but she refuses and when she goes to apologize, she winds up refusing to do that too because the guy was a jerk and she's not sorry Ben punched him out.  This actually goes over well with the next focus group, who like her and Ben assures her that most voters just go with their gut.

-Meanwhile, Jerry has Andy, April, Donna, and Chris calling people for donations. He offers tickets to Pawnee's Monoplex for the person who raises the most money. Chris is excited by the prize and sets out to raise the most, and April decides to end Chris' happiness by raising more money than him. She winds up doing rather well, but everyone becomes distracted when Chris announces his intention to ask Jerry's daughter to move in with him, followed by Jerry telling everyone (except Chris) that Millicent intends to break up with Chris. Sure enough, Millicent shows up later and breaks up with him. April feels bad about this and after winning the contest, she later gives the movie tickets to Chris, along with an additional ticket so he can go to the movies with her and Andy. She also gives him a half-hug. Aww.

-At the bowling event, Ron gets frustrated by Tom bowling with two hands, despite being a man. He gets even more frustrated when this turns out to be a successful strategy and Tom starts winning. But when Tom gets a minor finger injury (though he treats it like a major one) and he has to bowl one-handed, he still succeeds.

I Liked This:

Bowling For Votes wasn't as spectacular as the past few episodes of Parks and Rec, but it was still a very good one. Like last week's episode, I bought into Leslie's fixation over the one comment, because we know by this point that she's the kind of person who gets obsessed by things like this. It was good to see them finally head to that bowling alley that they've previously established, but never visited and there was plenty of good moments there. I also liked the turn in Leslie's story with Ben punching out the voter and Leslie refusing to apologize for it. It was a neat twist and it worked nicely. And the other stuff at the bowling alley with Tom and Ron was a lot of fun. Especially the tidbit that the concession stand that only sells Hot Dogs and Hamburgers is Ron's favorite restaurant

As for the other plot, it was full of good moments (plus it appears Champion the Three-Legged Dog will be sticking around, which can only be good news), but it also served as a pretty big story for April. I enjoyed her efforts to thwart Chris, followed by her showing him some rare sympathy at the end. It's unlikely that this will lead to a major character change for April, but for now it gave the episode some extra sweetness.

But...: The episode was just lacking in really major laughs this week. That's the only reason why it wasn't as good as the past few.

The Bottom Line: Parks and Rec scores major laughs this week (Though not as major as previous weeks) with another solid episode on the campaign trail.

Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)

Memorable Moments

-Ron: “When I eat, it is the food that is scared”

-Potential bowling handles for Tom before Ron just types in "Tom" are: T-Rex, T-Boz, Tommy Tsunami, Tiki Tiki Tom Tom, and Flyguy.

-Andy: "I don't think we're able to accept donations over 50 dollars". 

-Jerry: "Millie's going to break up with Chris". Donna: "Shut Up!" Andy: “Oh my God, that’s gonna be super weird when they move in together.”

-April: "I wished for his happiness to go away. I may be a wizard." 


-Andy: "What's that Champion? You need to go outside now? Come on. (He gets the dog and prepares to leave) Sorry. He hates awkward situations".

-Everyone booing Jerry after he announces Chris' break-up was a classic anti-Jerry moment.

-Randy: "The guy said he might press charges". Leslie: "Well, Randy I would like you to know that we will not be pressing charges". Randy: "Yeah, well that really wasn't an option".

-The end tag with Ron bowling a 300 playing like Tom, but refusing to be recognized for it was great. "I was never here and you will never speak of this again".

Parks and Recreation: Campaign Ad

What Happened, Yo!:

-Leslie attends a rally for her opponent in the city council race, Bobby Newport (Played by Paul Rudd!) of the Newport Family (They own Sweetums). When she talks to him, Bobby is confused about who she is, as he was under the impression he was running unopposed.

-With ads and posters endorsing Bobby Newport all over town, Ben gets the idea of making a campaign ad for Leslie and spending money to air it during halftime at the Pawnee/Eagleton Basketball game (which in Pawnee is bigger than the superbowl.). Ben wants to do an attack ad, but Leslie doesn't want to go negative. She proposes that they both make ads, and whoever has the better ad will get it aired. Leslie's ad is positive, but somewhat lame and doesn't even mention that she's running for City Council. Ben's attack ad is a lot better and everyone votes for it. Leslie seems to concede but later tackles Ben at the TV studio and prevents his ad from being shown, while not getting their money back. Leslie is confident in her decision, because she doesn't want to be negative, which Ben gets but he also tells her she needs to toughen up.

-Later, Ben and Leslie make an ad together, which uses footage from fake campaign ads Leslie made as a ten-year-old, and footage from Bobby Newport's current ads to illustrate what a better choice Leslie is, without being overtly negative. Bobby Newport doesn't like it though and requests they drop out of the race because he really wants the city council position. Leslie refuses and tells him to toughen up.

-Meanwhile, Chris gets Ron to shut down Public Works Projects for him, before somehw getting Ron to go to Lunch with him. Ron is confused by how Chris seems to be buddying up to hi. Donna suggests it's because Chris misses Ben and needs a friend, so Rong gets Kyle to do something with Chris. Chris reveals though that he was actually giving Ron a try out as assistant City Manager, as he needs to replace Ben. Chris says he'll be deciding in a couple months who will get the position.

-Also meanwhile, Andy concusses himself hanging up his gold record, and being told they have insurance, he and April visit the hospital. It turns out that Andy has numerous things wrong with him, so they make lots of appointments, but find out that even with insurance, they still owe 500 dollars. They decide to run from the bill, but Andy runs right into an ambulance.

I Liked This: I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Parks and Recreation has been on a real roll as of late. This was a really strong episode, with three really strong, really funny stories and featuring some big steps for Leslie's city council campaign and the introduction of a promising storyline for Ron. Paul Rudd was great in his first appearance as Bobby Newport, who is the perfect political opponent for Leslie. He's not a bad guy, but he thinks he can win the election just because he wants it. In addition, his status as a member of the Newport clan makes him already popular with the people of Pawnee, despite his obvious incompetence, and add in his 70 point lead, and Leslie will have quite the fight ahead for her, which I am thrilled to see.

But Paul Rudd wasn't the only great aspect of this episode. I found Leslie's conflict with Ben to be very natural and interesting. Of course, she would be reluctant to air an attack ad. And I also enjoyed how her positive ad turned out to be the inferior one, showing that she can't always succeed by doing things her way. But the joint campaign ad in the end was very good and made for a nice moment. And of course, the story was also full of great, funny moments. Ron's story with Chris was quite funny too, and serves a greater purpose. It'll be interesting to see if Ron becomes assistant city manager, especially if Leslie wins the election. Because what happens to the Parks department if their two leaders leave. Of all the stories though, the funniest had to be Andy and April's trip to the doctors. There was no higher purpose to this one besides illustrating how hilariously irresponsible Andy and April are. I laughed as Andy rattled off a list of fake symptoms, only to reveal that he also broke his thumb and their attempts to flee the hospital bill at the end, ending with Andy running into an ambulance was tops.

But...: No complaints.

The Bottom Line: Campaign Ad was another fantastic episode of Parks and Recreation. The season 4 master arc of Leslie running for City Council has allowed for all kinds of great stories, and now with Paul Rudd as her opponent, this trend should only continue.

Grade: Zounds! (Almost Perfect)

Memorable Moments

-Leslie: "He is attractive, and charming, and his family employs half the town. But, so what? I am a lifelong government bureaucrat who's well versed in the issues. And those are the kind of sexy qualifications that win elections".

-April: "Hey Ann, are you still a nurse or did they fire you because you slept with all the doctors?" Ann: "Do you wanna try that again?"

-Andy: "Technically I did smash my head area into the wall area."

-Ron: "Have you considered cutting the entire fire department? I have personally put out several local fires at no cost to the taxpayer."

-Andy tries to make an excuse for why he hit his head: "I was reading an encyclopedia and I tripped, or 'fell over', and hit my head or 'brain helmet'.

-Ron: "The important thing is, the dam is never happening, and your dream has been crushed". Chris: "We're very sorry". Ron: "I'm not. Good meeting".

-Tom: "When I bet on horses, I never lose. Why? I bet on all the horses."

-Andy takes an eye exam: E, H, 4, M, potato shape, coffee mug shape, smudge, smudge, middle finger, smudge, the rest are all smudges". April: "Oh my god, you drove us here".

-The scene with Ben, Tom, and Jerry all trying to say Bobby Newport in the most menacing way possible was classic.

-Ron is unsure how he went to lunch with Chris: "I don’t know what happened. I declined his invitation, he started laughing, and the next thing I knew we were at lunch. Did he drug me?"

-There were so many things crammed into Leslie's campaign ad, I'm not even going to bother to try to list them all. I remember Better Better Business Bureau, Less Libraries, and Find Gary the Toucan, but that's about it.

-Andy: "I got my ankles microwaved". April: "X-Rayed". Andy: "They took my blood away to use for science". April: "Cholesterol test". Andy: "April had her sinuses removed?" April: "Looked at". Andy: "Some guy looked at my weiner. Touched it. That was weird." April: "And that guy wasn't even a doctor". Andy: "That- what?"

-Leslie: "Ann, I painted your garage pink". Ann: "I did not ask you to do that".

-Andy: "Call an ambulance! A different ambulance, not the one I ran into!"

-Bobby Newport's lack of understanding about Leslie's commercial was also great. Leslie: "That girl is me as a 10-Year-Old". Bobby: "How did you do that?!"

Parks and Recreation: The Comeback Kid

What Happened, Yo!:

-As the department begins to prepare for Leslie's campaign Leslie makes Ann her campaign manager (She doesn't want to hire Ben because of their scandal. They plan a rally at a sports arena and plan to recruit town hero "Pistol" Pete Disellio, who in high school. once scored a slam sunk and won a basketball game against Eagleton. "Pistol" Pete is willing to endorse Leslie, but he refuses to dunk again, which is what they need. Leslie leaves Ann to try and convince him to dunk, but Ann winds up drudging up his traumatic past.

-Meanwhile, Ron, Tom, Andy, April and Champion (A three-legged dog that Andy and April adopted) are out getting supplies to build a stage for Leslie's rally when the truck they are in is pulled over for many violations (Apparently Ron and the police officer have different philosophies on what constitutes a law.). Leslie is able to get them out of it, but they have to jettison a lot of their supplies, leading to a small stage, an incomplete banner, and a short red carpet. In addition, it turns out that the sports arena is currently a hockey rink, which April forgot to mention. Leslie thinks of cancelling, but Jerry has succeeded at his job and there are plenty of people there. So they set out to do the rally, but slip on the ice plenty of times along the way. Leslie finally gives her speech and Pistol Pete shows up to dunk, but he slips on the ice and breaks his arm.

-Meanwhile, Chris comes to visit Ben who is unknowingly in a deep depression, and is keeping busy by dreaming up a Calzone empire and making stop-motion animation. Chris supports Ben even though he knows he needs help. Ben has a break-through when his stop-motion film turns out to be only a few seconds long after 3 weeks of work. Chris gets him to talk about his issues. When Leslie comes back though, she gets Ben to be her campaign manager since he's much better equipped for the job than Ann and without him, her campaign will be a disaster.

I Liked This: Parks and Recreations has been on a roll as of late and The Comeback Kid continues this trend. I liked how the show is realistic about what would happen is a bunch of inexperienced people ran a big political campaign and I'm glad that this political storyline seems to be taking a much bigger role in the latter half of season 4. Chris can be a little over-the-top at times but he was handled very well here. I liked how he told Ben that his idea for a Low-Cal Calzone Zone was literally the best idea he had ever heard, before confiding to the cameras that he thinks it's a terrible idea. That moment is really funny, but also says a lot about Chris' character. I liked watching Ben go about his life before realizing he was depressed, and how him becoming Leslie's campaign manager felt like a natural development. Also, Champion the dog is a great addition to the cast and I hope to see more of him soon. And of course, this episode was hilarious, with the climax of them struggling across the hockey arena while the song Get On Your Feet keeps starting and stopping being one of the funniest things I've seen in a while.

But...: No real problems tonight.

The Bottom Line: Parks and Recreation has been having a great 4th season and that trend continues with The Comeback Kid. Can't wait for the rest of season 4.

Grade: Zounds! (Almost Perfect)

Memorable Moments

-Leslie:"Don’t listen to your head or your heart, just look in my eyes and say yes."

-Man, Pawnee is a Ridiculous Place: Pawnee's high school basketball team is called the Drunken Savages. The mascot (originally a Native American) was later changed.

-Ron: "Well, we have a philosophical difference on what constitutes a law."

-Andy:  “Windows are the eyes to the house.”

-April: “Can’t you do anything wrong, Jerry?”

-Chris: "And, your hair doesn't have that normal uptight, rigid, inflexible, Ben Wyatt sense of fun".

-Leslie's cards may be out of order: "Together we can defeat... obese children. I'm sure that was something positive originally."

-April: “Don’t make out. It’s making Champion sad.’

Parks and Recreation: Citizen Knope

What Happened, Yo!:
-Leslie is sneaking into the office at night to try to get work done, but Chris stops her and won't let her do any, as she is suspended.
-She also finds out that she can't do any campaigning until her latest poll numbers come in.
-To fill her time, she starts the Parks Committee of Pawnee (The P.C.P. acronym is intentional) in order to do work, while not in the office.
-Her committee causes a bit of a rucus in town forums and to get what they want, she sends them after Chris.
-Leslie confronts Chris who tells her to stop it with the P.C.P. She says she'll continue her crusade, but not before she gives him his thoughtful Christmas gift.
-Leslie meets with her campaign managers who tell her that while they were expecting a drop, they were hoping her numbers would go to around 15% from 26%. Instead, they've dropped to 1%. Not believing they can recover from this, both of them quit.
-Meanwhile the Parks Department wants to get Leslie a Christmas gift as thoughtful as the ones she gave them and decide to make a candy gingerbread version of the office. Ron is not very good at it and eventually gives up at trying to help.
-Leslie apologizes to Chris, who gives her her Christmas gift: early reinstatement.
-She goes down to the office where she gets her present along with something more: pledges from each and every member of the Parks department that they will help out with her campaign and get her elected onto City Council.
-Meanwhile, Ben is looking for work after having resigned in disgrace. He's up for a job as an in-house accountant for an accounting firm, but is encouraged to branch out and follow his heart, as he really doesn't want the job.
-He interviews for a job for Dennis Feinstein and gets it, but backs out when he sees that Dennis is a crazy, horrible person who apparently has hunted people for sport.
-After an encounter with Jean-Ralphio who encourages him to follow his dreams, he turns down the job at the accounting firm.

I Liked This: First off, sorry for the super lateness of this post. Assorted shenanigans and whatnot. Anyways, Citizen Knope was the perfect way for Parks and Recreation to end 2011. It showed the real fall-out of Leslie and Ben having an illicit relationship, showing that the anti-dating rule was more than just a minor roadblock between Leslie and Ben. At the same time, it also led to one of the sweetest scenes in the series where Leslie's workers choose to stand by her and help her, just showing how far we've come since season 1. And of course, it was really, really, really, funny. Jean Ralphio is always a treat and I was delighted by the surprising return of Dennis Feinstein. And I'm pretty sure the head accountant Ben interviewed with is the Rec Centre Teacher from Leslie's House, which is nice continuity. Citizen Knope was a delightful way to end the first part of season 4 and I'm excited to see Leslie's campaign take the forefront of the storyline moving forward.

But...: I'm posting this too late to come up with any But's.

The Bottom Line: Citizen Knope provides a great endpoint for the first part of season 4 and takes the story in an exciting new direction. With Community gone for a while, I'm glad that Parks and Rec can fill the void with great comedy.

Grade: Zounds! (Almost Perfect)

Memorable Moments

-Apparently, a boring pair of socks are the most thoughtful thing Leslie could think of to give Jerry. He liked them though, so it's all good.
-Leslie combines Salt and Sugar to make Sulgar. Perfect for Butterscotch pudding.
-My favorite P.C.P member was the women who kept on suggesting a letter writing campaign.
-Leslie giving Chris his present in the middle of their stand-off was gold. Especially Leslie's response when Chris thanks her. "My pleasure! See you in hell."
-Dennis Feinstein makes his current CFO sit in the room, while he interviews for his replacement. “Don’t talk to Eddie. Treat him like you would treat a person in another country that you paid $25,000 to hunt.”
-Jean-Ralphio: “Let me get this straight, you would be an accountant  for accountants? So at this accounting firm, you would have the boring job?”
-Leslie goes from PCP to LSD. The Leslie's Sorry Division.
-Leslie: “Giving Christmas gifts is like a sport to me, finding or making that perfect something. It’s also like a sport to me because I always win. This year, though, my friends won. In fact, I got my ass handed to me.”
-Jean-Ralphio trying to work in the accounting firm and getting almost immediately fired was also really funny.
-Sorry for the lateness once again. I should be on time for the rest of the year. Probably.

Parks and Recreation: The Trial of Leslie Knope

What Happened, Yo!:

-Leslie and Ben disclose their relationship to Chris, who even though he believes they are exemplary employees, has no choice but to set up ethics trials for the two of them to figure out how to proceed.
-Leslie's trial is first and while Ben can't be there, he tells her he'll be right outside, adjacent to an ugly portrait of a Pawnee Judge whose face was exploded by dynamite.
-As the trial begins, Leslie admits to having an illicit relationship, and insists that's the only rule she's broken. She's shocked however, when Chris announces he believes the relationship started sooner than she claimed, she got special treatment over it, and that she's guilty of bribery, and that he's bringing in 14 witnesses to prove it. This makes her decide to fight back.
-As she goes through all the witnesses, she disproves every one of Chris' claims. He still supposedly has a killer witness though. This seems to be Tammy 2 until Chris points out that she will be fired and prosecuted if she lies, causing her to leave.
-It then turns out that the killer witness is the maintenance worker that Leslie and Ben bribed in the season 3 finale.
-Leslie knows she's sunk now and has half an hour to find something to help her case. She gets everyone to help look and even sends Donna to get Ben. But Ben is no longer where he said he would be for some reason.
-As she worries to Ron that she's a bad person, Ron tells her that a good person can still do bad things. But a good person owns up to what they've done. Leslie stops searching for a loophole and decides to take the punishment.
-Ultimately she is given a two weeks paid suspension, because Ben has accepted full responsibility for everything and has resigned, despite Chris' protests.
-Chris tells Leslie once again that she is a great government worker, but he also adds that she is the only woman he knows who is worthy of dating Ben. He advises she hear the last page of Ben's testimony and we find out he declared his love for her.
-That night, she comes home to him with the court stenographer who reads Leslie's own court-recorded declaration of love to Ben. They kiss.
-In the end, we see Jerry's testimony, and learn that Jerry's name is really Gary, but the first park's director he worked for called him Jerry, and Jerry didn't bother to correct him. Leslie is still going to call him Jerry, but she and Chris can't get over this revelation and end his testimony prematurely.

I Liked This: Boom. This episode finally brings the story of Leslie and Ben's secret romance to a conclusion, and what a conclusion it was. It was full of heart and lots of comedic moments. In fact the seriousness of the situation was pretty underplayed until the big second act reveal. I liked how it alluded to the events of past episodes (and cut to clips from them when necessary), but still made it so a first time viewer could understand what was happening. I was also a fan of Chris this episode, who got to struggle with his duty as City Manager, and was only the bad guy because he was forced to be. For a guy who can be ultra over-the-top at times, it was good to see his more human side come out (though his over-the-topness was still there, through the insane amount of vitamin supplements he was taking and his jumping up and down during Ben's resignation, followed by his uncontrollable sobbing in Ben's arms). And of course, the rest of the ensemble also got their chance to shine. I also liked how the episode limited the use of Ben, making his final scenes that much more powerful. And anytime where we learn tidbits/see murals of the history of Pawnee is a good time, and this episode was loaded with them (My favorite tidbit being that it's still illegal for black people to use the sidewalk apparently.).

But...: One quibble. If Jerry really is Gary, than how come his mother referred to him as Gerald in her diary in the episode Time Capsule. Explain that Gar/Jerry.

The Bottom Line: Smallest Park didn't have a long reign as best episode of the season. The Trial of Leslie Knope truly shines as one of the series best.

Grade: Holy BLANK! (Perfect)

Memorable Moments

-The cold open with Ron learning about Google Earth was pure shiny gold.
-Leslie: "Marcus Everett Langley was Pawnee's greatest lawyer at the turn of century. His nickname was Old Stoneface because of his steely demeanor… and because he got in an accident at the rock quarry and dynamite blew up his face."
-Leslie: “Sarah Nelson Quindle exposed her elbow outdoors which was a class A felony. Although she felt the law unjust, she acknowledged that she had broken it and she nobly accepted her punishment: to be set adrift on Lake Michigan like a human Popsicle.” Honestly, this may be my new favorite mural Parks has done, right up there with the secret wedding one from 94 Meetings and the one of the Magician being burned at the stake in 1974 from the Harvest Festival Producer's cut.
-On the night Leslie and Ben first hooked up, Leslie also discovered iMovie, made a ridiculous trailer, and sent it to Ann.
-Leslie kissing Tom is brought up again, but Tom insists dating Leslie would be like dating his older sister's elderly aunt. "No it wouldn't", says Leslie, distracted for a moment.
-Ron refusing to let the address of his cabin be spoken, despite it being important to Leslie's case was also great.
-At one point, Pawnee outlawed every sex position except Missionary. Two years later, Missionary was also banned.
-Another great old law. Any woman caught laughing is a witch.
-Chris: “Your actions wounded me to my core. Which is not easy since the bulk of my workouts are focused on core strengthening.”
-Ethel in the midst of Leslie and Ben's kiss: "Can I get a ride home? It's freezing out!"

Parks and Recreation: Smallest Park

What Happened, Yo!:

-Leslie and Ben have turned an abandoned spot of concrete into Indiana's smallest park.
-Ben informs Leslie that he is going to ask Chris that he doesn't want to work with the Parks Department as much anymore, because he still can't handle being around Leslie.
-Leslie refuses to accept this, and decides that she's going to drag the project out for as long as she can by turning public opinion against the park.
-But the public is surprisingly in favour of the tourist attraction and the forum about it lasts only 45 minutes. Even when Leslie gets them riled up by planning a lengthy list of activities to happen at the park, they're appeased when Ben just cancels all the activities.
-Ben says that Leslie is a steamroller who doesn't care about what anyone else wants as long as she gets her way and asks Chris to transfer.
-Ann tells Leslie that Ben is right and she is a steamroller.
-Leslie apologizes to Ben, and finally understands why he doesn't want to be around her. They end amicably...
-Until she asks him if he wants to start dating again, no matter how bad that will affect her career or campaign. Ben agrees and they kiss.
-Elsewhere Chris gets Tom and Jerry to "redesign" the parks department logo (as in choose the new font.). Tom decides to do some over-the-top redesigns but Jerry just wants to stick to the assignment.
-Tom keeps insisting that he should dream big and Jerry points out that's how he got into trouble with Entertainment 720 in the first place, which gets Tom depressed.
-Jerry tries to encourage Tom by saying the best thing for the job is to do everything the same. When he shows off his original ID badge that he still uses though, it gives Tom an idea to bring back the retro logo.
-Chris likes the idea and Tom gives much of the credit to Jerry. Awww.
-Meanwhile again, Andy is going to enroll at community college for one class and Andy and Ron are helping him pick.
-April encourages him to do something he'll be good at, like Guitar for Beginners, but he gets bored and can't pretend he's no good.
-Ron wants him to challenge himself so he tries Intro to Lasers, but gets upset when he learns that they don't actually get to use lasers.
-Andy picks a class at random and tries Women Studies. He enjoys it but is disheartened to learn that tuition is almost 1000 dollars, which he doesn't have.
-He decides to shine shoes again to try and get the money, but Ron gives it to him because he likes Andy and has the money. Awww again.

I Liked This:

This may be the best episode Parks and Recreation has done all season. All three of the storylines were strong, and all contained plenty of laughs. Pawnee citizens are always good for a laugh and this episode was no exception. Andy continues to be one of the shows funniest characters, and he gets many of the funniest lines this episode. It was also nice to see Tom be nice to Jerry for once (even if being nice to him meant Jerry becoming Tom's number 4 in place of number 3). And of course, Ron Swanson's soft side is always a treat, and him paying for Andy's class was a heartwarming moment. But the big thing this episode had going for it was the Leslie storyline.

As I've mentioned before, it's good that we get these storylines that remind us that Leslie isn't perfect. But this storyline took that one step farther by having Leslie being bluntly and directly confronting with this fact. It then had Leslie recognize this, accept this, and decides to make a change. And that's why this episode is so good. It has our main character realize that she has to improve herself, and it does it in a way that pays off the episodes that came before us. Leslie has reached a critical point in her character arc and it'll be interesting to see where she goes from there. Not to mention, now that she's coming clean, the possibilities of what could happen next are genuinely thrilling.

But...: I literally cannot think of anything I disliked about Smallest Park.

Bottom Line: Smallest Park didn't have as many laughs as Ron and Tammys. But it was a strong character story with some great emotional beats and some honest character growth. And for that I hereby call it...

Grade: Holy BLANK! (Perfect)

Memorable Moments

 -Funniest Citizen Moment: The women who doesn't want a basketball course because it attracts a certain kind of people, who almost straight out says what kind of people she dislikes. With lots of black people around.
-Everyone but Jerry laughing when Chris said Tom could learn a lot from Jerry was great.
-.000003 square miles is a very small park
-Andy: "I did not graduate college because I did not attend it."
-Andy's reaction to learning Intro to Lasers doesn't involve using lasers was classic: "One of the most significant bummers of my lifetime", he says with a sad face.
-Leslie:  "Your quiet supports means the world to me, as well as your tacit endorsement of all my behaviors."
-Andy: "Then it's settled. Andy Dwyer will be taking Women's Lasers."
-Ron: "April, where have you been? Over two phone calls came in unimpeded!"
-Ron: "My first day of college my father dropped me off at the steel mill. He didn't think I should go to college, but I hitched a ride, enrolled, and learned a lot."

Parks and Recreation: The Treaty

Last week's Parks and Rec had Leslie and Ben agree to be friends. But that's not always easy for exes (even exes who had as graceful a break-up as Leslie and Ben), so this week's episode had Ben deciding he couldn't do it. Of course, Leslie wasn't that happy about it and so the main conflict of The Treaty was revealed, as she tried to use a high schools model UN to go to war.

This whole storyline was a solid one with a good emotional component. After the first part of the season had little focus on Leslie and Ben following their break-up, it's been nice for these past two episodes to show that it's still an issue. And this time, their unsettled issues almost ruined a group of kid's (well, teenagers) Model UN. Of course, once they settle their issues and decide to have one fun conversation at work a day, they manage to right their wrongs, but it was nice to remind us that Leslie isn't perfect. Of course, the storyline still delivered on the laughs as well, many of them coming from Andy (who's traded all of Finland's boring stuff like armies for every country's lions.) and April (who insists on being the moon.). But Leslie's whole war on Peru was entertaining too, especially with her over the top threat.

Meanwhile, The Treaty also finally brought Tom back into the fold. I appreciate that they dragged his decision to leave for as long as they could, because if he had come back in episode 1 or 2 of the season, it would've felt like a cop-out. But they waited until episode 7, and had Tom be too prideful to come back right away, which allowed for us to watch Ron interview an endless string of Pawnee Oddballs for the position. The best of these was him pretending to be amused when one applicant put "Yes, please" beside the section for Sex. And even when Tom had Ron put on a public show to try and get him back, Tom refused, planning to come back in a couple days, but his plan got derailed when Ron grabbed him and forced him to accept. Anyways, Tom is back where he belongs now, but I'm still hoping that we'll see some of the aftereffects of his experience with Entertainment 720.

The Treaty also gave Ann a chance to finally air out her relationship grievances with Chris, after a season of some unresolved issues. Chris is concerned because Millicent won't return his calls, so he gathers Ann, Donna, and a very reluctant Jerry to try and figure out why. Ann's whole thing about how Chris basically turned her into him and left when he got bored, and how he has to give Millicent space to be herself was very true, and a nice character moment for Ann, who's really coming into her own this year, as someone who's more than just Leslie's friend.

All in all, I felt The Treaty was a very strong episode of Parks and Recreation, that advanced the emotional arcs of many of the characters, while still allowing for some good comedy. Parks and Recreation continues to be dynamite and refusing to get off of the stride they've been on since mid-season 2. I can't wait to see what happens to these characters next.

Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)

Memorable Moments

-Tom explains what he's done during his time at the Parks department.: "In my four years here I revolutionized the position of administrator and made this place cool. I was the first person to abbreviate Parks and Recreation department. First it was Parks and Recreation, then Parks and Rec. Then P&R, then I lengthened just a little bit to… Tommy's Place."
-Andy: "I just traded Finland's military to Kenya for 50 lions. That's pretty good, right?"
-Leslie: "I'm back! Or as they say in Denmark: 'I’m back.' Most people speak English."
 -One of the applicants for Tom's job is from Gary, Indiana. His name is Gary. Tom is not impressed.
-Leslie: “The only thing I will be waving is your decapitated head on a stick in front of your weeping mother!”
-Andy: "If you re-arrange the letters of Peru, you get Europe."
-Leslie is glad when April announces the Moon will join her war on Peru: "We got the freakin' moon. What are you gonna do without tides Peru?"
-April: "OK. You guys are being stupid. Why don't you work it out while Andy and I..." Andy (picking up an Erlenmeyer Flask): "...Throw these scientist bottles off the roof."

Parks and Recreation: End of the World

Earlier this week, I purchased the Parks and Recreation book Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America. It was hysterical with lots of laugh-out moments and information about the town I'm not ever sure will make it into an episode (at one point in time, the town confused the news with a radio drama and petitioned for the death of Bessy Truman, leading to a brief time of martial law.), but made for great reading. One section of the book talked about the cult that enslaved Pawnee in the 70's: Reasonablism. So when last night featured the "Zorpies", I was on the lookout to make sure they stayed accurate to the book (only because the book boasts complete accuracy), and sure enough they were true to what they had already stated. This attention to detail helped make for another great episode that was less about the Zorpies and more about the characters thinking about where they want to be/what they'd want to do at the end of the world.

The premise is simple. Every couple years the remaining Zorpies, who are all old men predict the end of the world and have an all-night vigil in one of the parks. While this is going on, Leslie gets panicked when Shauna Malwae-Tweep takes an interest in Ben, April decides to help Andy with his bucket list and Tom decides to throw one last big party before he and Jean-Ralphio lose E720. We also drop in on the vigil from time to time as Ron, Ann, and Chris spend time with the Zorpies.

The three main storylines worked pretty well, as they all kind of reflected on the idea of "the end of the world" without much direct contact with the Reasonablists (although Leslies story starts at the vigil and has it's big emotional revelation at the vigil.). The funniest one in terms of jokes was April and Andy's, as we got to see exactly what Andy wanted to do before he died. This included things as simple as holding a thousand dollars in his hands and as crazy as wanting to be an action star. The action star scene, which involved Andy actually jumping through a sliding glass door to rescue April from evil Russian Jerry, while April's sister filmed it, was probably the funniest of these, especially with the return of Bert Macklin and Janet Snakehole. And the end of their story with them driving out to see the Grand Canyon was a beautiful ending, topped by Andy wondering where all the carvings of heads of presidents were.

Tom's storyline also had laughs, coming through the over-the-topness of this final party Tom is throwing. It also had a good story for Tom in it, as he kept hearing what an amazing party he had thrown, but kept feeling it was missing something. Then old flame Lucy drops in from graduate school in Bloomington and they reconnect, and even kiss. Tom may not know where he's heading, but he sure knows how to throw a party (and he'll probably land back at the Parks department before too long). And this story also had a nice moment when Tom and Jean-Ralphio embrace because Jean-Ralphio invited Lucy, only to immediately have it undercut by Jean-Ralphio admitting to the cameras that he forgot Tom and Lucy had dated and was planning to make a move. Classic.

Leslie's story isn't as funny as the other two, but it's a good story with the first significant Leslie/Ben interaction since they broke up. Leslie's jealousy over Ben possibly getting together with Shauna was good and her trying to claim that an abandoned gas station was owned by Mick Jagger was quite funny. But ultimately the story is about Leslie realizing that the romantic part of her relationship with Ben is over, but they can still be friends and that part of the story is effective, especially Leslie's talk with Ron after Ben tells her he doesn't think the two of them can be alone anymore.

Overall, End of the World wasn't the strongest episode of Parks and Recreation this season in terms of laughs, but it was still a solid episode with a lot of heart. Just the way I like them.

Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)

Memorable Moments

-Leslie: “They have an all-night vigil in the park. It's super-annoying. Turns out when you think the world's ending, you don't aim so carefully in the porta-potties.”
-Leslie: “Ben and I don't hang out that much these days. Big deal. Lots of people don't hang out. Jerry and April. Obama and Madonna, probably? We're in good company.”
-Jean-Ralphio: "You had me at '…every dime we have left.' "
-April: “Yeah, I'm trying to find a way to be annoyed by it but I'm coming up empty.”

Parks and Recreation: Meet 'n' Greet

Ever since Tom left the Parks department to form Entertainment 720 with Jean-Ralphio, the audience knew that it wouldn't last forever. The writers found pretty clever ways to keep Tom in the show, but Entertainment 720 had to end eventually. Especially, once we saw the company and how they didn't seem to have any clients or do anything useful. Meet 'n' Greet begins to pave the way for Tom to return by having Entertainment 720 finally go bankrupt. It also used this to create conflict between Tom and Leslie, in another great episode that spotlighted their friendship for the first time in a while, while also continuing the "Leslie for city council storyline" in a good way.

Basically, Leslie has hired Entertainment 720 to put together a meet 'n' greet for local businesses, so she can show she has similar values and get their support, particularly the support of the president of a business that makes rubber nipples. But when Tom gets a mysterious call from Jean-Ralphio (about the bankruptcy of the company, though that part is kept from the audience), suddenly the party seems to be more about Tom's company than Leslie's candidacy. His face and company logo is everywhere, he steers the attention away from Leslie when talking to the business people, and he interrupts her speech to show a video presentation about Entertainment 720, that includes him impersonating Mark Zuckerberg. Leslie is a very patient person, but eventually she has enough and tries to drown Tom in his mobile hot tub (it's built onto a limo). Of course, when she finds out that his company is over, she has much more sympathy for Tom. The final interactions between the two are sweet, especially when Tom shows off the video he had made to promote Leslie's campaign, which moves her to tears. Finding out that Tom bribed the rubber nipple guy into giving Leslie another chance was nice too. I've always liked the Leslie/Tom relationship and I felt it was put to good use here. The episode also did a good job with showing off the many dimensions of Tom's character. As Leslie puts it, "Tom Haverford is a selfish, unctuous, sleazy self-promoting… good-hearted, secretly kind and wonderful, tiny little person." Ain't that the truth.

Meanwhile Ben arrives home to find out that Andy and April are throwing a Halloween party and have neglected to tell him. "I knew I forgot to tell you something", says Andy. Ben isn't happy about this, but since he comes from a family that never says when they're upset and only subtly hints at what's bugging them, pretends not to mind. Andy knows something is up though, in a surprising moment of insight from the character, and after trying to get the information out of Ben by normal methods, he decides to wrestle Ben until he tells him. Ben is resistant to fight back and when he finally does, he accidentally breaks Andy's nose. Andy isn't bothered by this though, and after finally getting Ben to open up and say that he'd like to be treated with respect, (and after Andy tries to get $5200 to record a Mouse Rat album), Andy declares to the nurse that he and Ben are brothers. This was another nice storyline, and I liked the Andy/Ben dynamic.

And lastly, Ron is appalled by the state of the house, and decides to fix everything that is wrong as a late wedding present to April and Andy. Ann decides to help him out, and the two of them begin to develop a nice bond, as they fix things. In the end, Ron even gives Ann the new toolbox he had to get, because of the terrible state of April and Andy's toolbox (it includes a hammer, a baseball card, half a scissor, and a flashlight filled with jellybeans). We also saw more of Chris' relationship with Jerry's daughter Millicent, as he once again unintentionally made Jerry uncomfortable. The best part of this story was the sight gag of April turning around the mouth on Jerry's Mr. Potato Head costume to make a sad face. All in all, Parks and Recreation continues on the stride it's been on for a while now. And that's fine with me.

Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)

Memorable Moments

 -Leslie: "When in doubt, in Pawnee, slam salad".
-When Ron is in Lowes, he turns down an offer for help with 5 simple words: "I know more than you."
-Best joke of the night. Leslie: “Look, I don't like to throw around the word butthead too often. If you call everybody a butthead, then it kind of loses its impact. But I can say without hesitation that Tom is being a real dick.”
-Chris:  “Jerry, I have decided to take your daughter home, and we may be having intercourse.”