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.
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