In a general election there’s something called a ‘November
Surprise’, which is when a game changing event happens just days before an
election that has a massive effect on the outcome of said election. Since
Pawnee is having a small local election it’s not being held in November, so we’ll
have to call this episode Pawnee’s ‘May Surprise’. For a few months now we’ve
been teased that there would be a death at the end of this season, which to me
seemed a little redundant because last season we had the tragic loss of Lil’
Sebastian. I normally pride myself on being able to guess storylines ahead of
time, but I totally did not see that Nick Newport senior would be the one to
kick the bucket in this episode. What will Jessica Wicks do? There aren’t that
many ridiculously wealthy old men whose blood don’t work. But more importantly
how will this affect Team Knope with Election Day right around the corner?
This episode breaks off into a few tangents for our
characters, but as is routine this season all the characters are united by the
Knope 2012 campaign. Leslie of course had the bulk of the story which revolved
around a gaffe; when asked about her thoughts on Nick Newport she launched into
her typical campaign statement about how he’s a jerk trying to buy the
election, not knowing that the reporter was looking for a comment about his
death. She tries to avoid an apology as long as possible, but ends up at the
Newport mansion anyways. The line of the night goes to the most subtle Admiral
Ackbar reference ever seen in primetime TV as Ben yells out ‘It’s a trap!’
Leslie goes in and tries to do damage control anyways with Bobby, who
appreciates the gesture and in the end steals Leslie’s heartwarming anecdote.
Despite this he shows at the press conference that he has no animosity towards
Leslie and likes her, which in the end negates the original ‘Jerk’ comment. The
election is still left up in the air for what promises to be an exciting finale
next week.
Donna, Tom, and Ron are all paired together this week for
what ended up being a somewhat pointless side story. Essentially Team Knope had
rented out vans to bus voters, and Newport offered the van owner ten thousand
dollars to instead keep them locked in the lot instead. They try to reason with
the owner, who you may know as Kurt’s dad on Glee, and in the end Donna
sacrifices her car and they blackmail him. Very funny, but nothing really
substantial here.
What was more substantial was some development in Chris’
romantic life. My number one complaint about these past two seasons is how
relationship-centered they’ve become compared to previous seasons. Sure there
have always been hook-ups amongst the cast, but it was never quite the center
of attention. This is not General Hospital! Which is one of the reasons why
Chris’ search for love has been bothering me, and apparently April too. He was
alone before Ann and seemed just fine, yet since he’s broken up with Millicent
his stories have only revolved around how depressed he is that he’s alone.
Hopefully we saw the end of that tonight, partly in thanks to April’s pep talk,
but also because of a nice new twist. Remember last year when Ann went
slut-crazy after being dumped? Well it looks like Chris might be on the same
path thanks to a quick hook up with Jennifer. I’m looking forward to a new
Chris next season; hopefully Jennifer can bang the sadness out of him.
Andy, or should I say Burt Macklin, had a side story all to
himself this episode and surprisingly it did not involve him getting arrested
for impersonating an FBI officer. At an earlier campaign event a pie was thrown
at the group, which of course ended up hitting Jerry on the face. CSI Pawnee to
the rescue! Of course the crime scene has to be reconstructed, footage
analyzed, and Jerry’s face needed to be pied again to determine the correct
angle of attack. All hilarious stuff, but it gets even better when we learn
that the perpetrator is the guy formally-known-as Sewage Joe! He’s one of my favorite
side characters and I was sad to see Ben fire him earlier in the season, so it’s
nice that he came back to try and exact revenge on Ben.
One episode left for the season, and it’s a big one! What
will happen in the election, will Ron get promoted or Chris get fired? Or maybe
everyone quits to help Ben start his dream of opening a calzone franchise? I’ll
see you next Friday for analysis on what promises to be an amazing night of
television! Until then please drop me a comment, it’s how SpoilerTV knows you
care!
Random Thoughts:
- So there is a ‘Producers Cut’ version of this on Hulu, but for some reason it’s not in the usual place and instead listed in the Clips section? I’ll be using this version for my Thoughts/Quotes rewatch.
- I absolutely love Chris’ custom Leslie Knope Bumbleflex shirt!
- It looks like the Gotcha Dancers have been hired out from under Joan Callamezzo and now work for Tema Knope!
- Leslie’s code name is I’d-Be-Lying-If-I-Said-I-Hadn’t-Thought-About-It. On another note, who the hell is on the end of the walkie that Andy keeps talking into?
- Did anyone else catch the previous city manager in the crowd at the campaign event? Glad to see he’s Team Knope, it’s the least he could do after grabbing her tit publicly.
- Who wouldn’t want to shut down all the libraries?
- Wasn’t Donna’s Mercedes gray? She probably gets a new one every year.
- Yogurt Platinum might actually work, not sure about the name though.
- I was really hoping here for a Bush/911 moment while Leslie read to the kids. Like maybe Pawnee was under a terrorist attack, oh wait nope it’s just a cab driver. Opportunity wasted.
- Also, can I buy Groffle the Awfule Waffle? America needs to know now he crossed the syrup river.
- Those kids asked harder hitting question than the majority of the media on TV today. Looking at you Wolf Blitzer.
- I’m thinking this van experience might turn Ron into a socialist. See, the free market doesn’t always work!
- Shame the portrait of Nick Newport that Leslie ran over wasn’t the one from season two of a nude Nick in his wheelchair.
- Bobby’s bedroom is awesome! I want buckets of gummy bears just lying around.
- Kids learn a lesson here; blackmail always works!
- That is one hell of a pickup line Jen, damn!
- Uh did no one see that Joe was holding a giant pie? Not exactly an easy thing to hide. Poor Ben.
Favorite Quotes:
- “Ann, Been-There-Done-That. April is Currently-Doing-That. Donna is It-Happened-Once-In-A-Dream. Chris is If-I-Had-To-Pick-A-Dude. Ben is Eagle 2.”
- “Oh thank God.”
- “If I keep my mind and my body occupied at all times it will keep me from falling into a bottomless pit of despair!”
- “I want to expel the violent gangs of… Geese.”
- “Eating candy that was fed to them by their butlers. Candy that was made by the good people in this town!”
- “At the end of the day all anyone really wants is free clothing, shot at them by a cannon.”
- “Is that your official statement? I sad?”
- “Anything else would be a classless move, on par with spray painting nipples on the Lincoln Memorial.”
- “I wasn’t listening, but I STRONGLY DISAGREE WITH ANN.”
- “No you can’t do that, RON!!!”
- “When you’re done go get Jerry another milkshake. And then give it to me and I will throw it on the bus again.”
- “I’m not calling Nick Newport Hitler.”
- “You’ve got lots of friends. Somewhere. I Assume.”
- “Now I get it! Your mom and my dad are both dicks!”
- “You mean bald man!”
