Parks and Recreation - Episode 3.10 - Soulmates - Review

I’ve commented on prior reviews that poor Tom’s storylines seem to always involve him loosing in some way or another. First his wife, then his girlfriend, the sad attempt at creating a perfume, and along the way the multiple failed attempts to hit on various women. Well in this episode we finally see Tom in a storyline that is hilarious and not at all depressing! After a failed attempt to ask out Ben, Leslie turns to the perils of Internet dating to mend her broken heart. And her soul mate match is none other than Tom N. Haverford! Pair the ensuing hijinks with a Ron Fucking Swanson meat-match-off and you have the perfect recipe for another amazing episode of Parks and Recreation.

As part of a healthy eating initiative, acting city manager Chris has removed hamburgers from the City Hall cafeteria and Ron is not happy, as he had eaten one of those burgers every day for lunch for twelve years. Chris suggests a turkey burger alternative, and Ron challenges him to a cook-off. This leads to a fun scene where they go to a health food store to buy ingredients, and Ron watches the other customers for his own amusement. As much as I love health food, you have to admit that some of the other customers are, let’s just say colorful. The scene is a nice visual representation of the clash between Ron and Chris, who are in essence complete opposites, in almost every single way. Instead of the usual one-sided angry clash between these two that we’ve seen in other episodes, we are treated to a nice admission by Chris that yes, the real meat burger with no trappings or garnishes is much tastier than the turkey burger. As a mostly vegetarian myself, I will only cheat for a burger and a rare steak. There’s just something about the taste of beef. Although that ground beef that Ron bought from the Food and Stuff looked positively disgusting.

As I mentioned in the intro, Leslie gets shot down by Ben, and the collective Parks audience went ‘Huhhhh?’ They had so much in common, and even both liked the snow globe museum! Of course we find out later that Chris has banned inter-office romances, but in the meantime poor Leslie is stunned and depressed. Ann, who has now become a pro in the Donna method of whoring, sends her to an internet dating site where Tom comes up as her perfect match. Leslie beings to question whether or not Tom may in fact be her soul mate, a very scary thought indeed. And naturally when Tom finds out he uses it to endlessly tease Leslie, which ends up being some of the most hilarious moments of the series. The look on poor Leslie’s face as she tries to give Tom a chance, and then the looks of complete repulsion that followed were priceless. After ruining a meeting, Leslie drags Tom out in the hall and gives him the classic ‘angry kiss’, and is promptly caught by Chris. Chris later tells Leslie that Ben had asked about socializing with a coworker and that he had told him no. And we return to the beginning of the episode, and now there is a reason why Ben rejected Leslie.

In the sweetest moment of the episode, Ben unknowingly chooses Leslie’s favorite spot in the building, the bench in front of the wildflower mural, as a spot to eat and talk. Leslie’s resulting smile needs no explanation; she has found her soul mate. Although the relationship hasn’t quite bloomed yet in this episode, we’re slowly getting there. At the end of the episode we get an explanation as to how Leslie matched with Tom, she matched with a Tom, not the Tom. In typical Tom fashion, he created multiple profiles of himself with multiple characteristics. Tom N-for-Nerd Haverford, Tom A-for-Athlete, etc. Brilliant.

Favorite Quotes:

• “Now if anyone would like to join me, I’ll be running backwards, up the big hill, behind the Wal-Mart.”
• “Is that a fired turkey leg inside of a grilled hamburger? If so, yes, delicious.”
• “Fuck you Ann!”
• “Did you know that the food you eat becomes energy? Boom, that’s spaghetti. Nachos. A cookie.”
• “Yellow haired female likes waffles and news.”
• “I think you just described the Phantom of the Opera.”
• “I came here for the same reason people go to the Zoo. Shhh. Look at that thing. Nature is amazing.”
• “You can do anything to me for any number of seconds. Which you like to talk outside in my van?”
• “She can’t be in a wheelchair. No canes, gray hair.”
• “You have a killer dumpster.”
• “Air conditioners are called Cool Blasterz, with a Z. Not sure where that came from.”
• “I love Food and Stuff. I buy all of my Food there. And most of my Stuff.”
• “Nooooo! I really liked them and they happened to have nice breasts.”
• “Leslie Knope and Tom Haverford. Dating in the day, dating in the night. Dating all day cause he’s keeping it tight. Dating in the car, dating on the floor. Dating everywhere cause she wants some more.”
• “Ben, if it’s alright with you, Leslie and I are going to lead the meeting today. Because of our deep spiritual connection.”
• “This tastes as delicious as Beyonce smells. I’m guessing.”
• “Hard work never pays off.”
• “I swear, on this dead crow, that I will never cook for you.”
• “His favorite movie is books!”