This week Ben and Leslie this week harkened back to their early contentious relationship at city hall, when the two of them would butt heads over and over. The
difference here is that when they have a problem now, they can just stand in a cold bank fountain together until they sort it out. Leslie wants to make her
new (and much needed) farmer’s market a family friendly place, free of exotic chard dancers. While her goal might be reasonable, she tries to force Ben to
pull the chard stand’s license, and when that fails she does it herself. The two have a conversation about their confusing work situation (and the amount
of times they’ve switched in job power), and come up with a
Parks and Rec-worthy
compromise: have an after-dark farmer’s market for those
who are more into adult content and veggies. The story wasn’t anything we haven’t seen on
Parks before, but it was a fun story, and a good example
of how far Leslie and Ben have come since they first met about four years ago.
For one of Rashida Jones’ last episodes on
Parks, Ann struggles with her advanced pregnancy, and just wants to get all her complaints off of her
chest. She crashes the Whine & Cheese Club in the Parks Department, where Ron’s forced to be present while employees air their grievances. She goes on
rant after rant, which Rashida Jones nails, about the uncomfortable symptoms of pregnancy, until the W&C Club kicks her out. They help her out though,
by telling Chris to just let her complain instead of trying to fix everything. This was a fun story, featuring some great comedic work by Jones in her
penultimate episode as Ann, and a great bit involving a bemused Ron and an iPod, or “magic rectangle.” Once again it’s a little disappointing that Ann and
Leslie haven’t been in a storyline together since the fall, but at least it’s a guarantee that there will be some (presumably tearful) interaction during
Ann and Chris’ goodbye episode.
It’s great to have Andy back, as that lovable, oversized teddy bear is always amusing, and always makes April more paletable as well. In this episode Andy
finally finds his true calling, and it’s not as Bert Macklin in the FBI, although that does play somewhat of a role. Andy finds himself with a gig for
Crazy Craig’s niece’s birthday party, and has to play solo when the rest of Mouse Rat isn’t into the idea of playing rock for 6 year olds. Although Andy
freaks about what to play, April encourages him to make up songs, and his weird improvisational ditties win over the kids. This episode brings up a
recurring story, where April is always Andy’s biggest supporter, and tries to get him opportunities where he can shine. One of the best parts of their
relationship is that April, who’s clearly much smarter than Andy in many ways, is incredibly impressed with his various odd talents, and always encourages
him. After the kids’ party, April tells Andy that she really liked watching him play with those kids, which he finds a little odd; could this possibly be
the start of an April/Andy baby storyline? Everyone in Pawnee seems to be having babies right now, but it is a storyline Aubrey Plaza’s tried to push for
years, so who knows?
Overall it was a fun, standard episode of
Parks, though there’s no hint of the emotional storm that’s going to hit this week as Ann and Chris
leave Pawnee for stupid Michigan.
Line of the week: “I AM SUPER CHILL LIKE ALL THE TIME!” - Leslie Knope
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I agree, I was actually waiting for Ann and Leslie to have their long-deserved best-friendship interaction about Ann's or Leslie's issues. But it still didn't happen this episode. Maybe they'll make it up next episode. I still haven't watched it.
ReplyDeleteBut this episode is funny as hell! Why?
1) Because Craig is in the episode. His tantrum is just funny to see. I laughed out loud when he said, "You sing before I lose it!!" which April responded, "Haven't you lost it?"
2) Do you notice for someone as indifferent and non-caring as Ron, it's ridiculous to see how he followed Tom and Donna even to Ann's house to talk with Chris, wearing his headphones. I was like, "Why are you even there following them when you can go back home???" and then I laughed.
3) It's ironic that Leslie was so opposed to the sexy chard stall, when she used the same technique to sell her H20 idea to Pawnee (you remember Kyle transforming to a hotass man after drinking the water?). Leslie works in mysterious ways. I love her.
And just so many more that made me feel like Parks just can't go any better and yet it did.
BTW, thanks for the review Kimberly!
P/S: You said Andy is a "lovable, oversized teddy bear:, I'd say he is a lovable oversized RIPPED teddy bear.