Parks and Recreation - Episode 6.19 - Flu Season 2 - Review

Well folks, last “Flu Season” in Pawnee (one of my top two favorite episodes), Ben started to fall in love with Miss Leslie Knope, and now three years later in “Flu Season 2,” the two lovebirds have another big moment -- Leslie finds out she’s pregnant. Now for a show with two (albeit mostly unseen) babies in the past year, this could definitely seem like overkill, but it’s clear that Leslie’s situation is different than the others. Although Leslie has mentioned potential having a family in passing, it’s never been something she listed among her goals, which tend to be focused around her career and making the world (or at least Pawnee) a better place. With a big decision already in front of her regarding the job in Chicago, this just complicates Leslie’s life even further. Will the desire to raise her kids in the town in which she grew up win out over the desire to move up in government? Or will her quest to serve the people and one day reach the White House propel her forward out of her comfort zone and into Chicago with a new job and a growing family?

Whichever way it ends up, placing the pregnancy development at the first act break of the 19th episode of the year is certainly unorthodox. There are so many Sweeps babies that I assumed in TV World pregnancies and births only happened in May. Developing this story earlier allows for it to be more than just a last minute, cut to black, twist, and more of an integral part of Leslie’s decision-making process. Also, pairing up Andy and Leslie for this episode was clearly a calculated move, and one that panned out quite well. With Andy around boys turn to men (and girls to women) because he’s so young at heart (and of mind) that everyone must become a more responsible adult to look after him. Pulling away from the craziness of late, Leslie assumes a more guiding, motherly role with Andy, allowing him to get two candies from the drugstore. He also delivers a sweet pep talk to her about her growing family -- thinking, for some reason, that she and Ben are adopting a dog. Throughout the episode Leslie isn’t the out of control steamroller of the past, instead this Leslie is the calm, collected Deputy Director of the Parks Department who throws up all day, finds out she’s pregnant at a potentially inopportune time, and still works her hardest to secure a headliner for the Unity Concert. It’s nice to see Leslie’s competence and confidence come back after a rough couple of weeks. And it’s a nice touch that Andy’s children’s party personality “Johnny Karate” helps to seal the deal with Land Ho lead singer Scott Tanner (Jeff Tweedy).

Although Ben’s profession about his immediate desire to start a family wraps up the episode with a little bow, I’ve forgiven the perfect coincidence due to Amy Poehler’s amazing face part acting at the tail end. You just can’t stay mad about convenient storytelling when Leslie smiles that wide smile at Ben. You just can’t. (You actually might be able to -- I, on the other hand, could not).

Speaking of Ben, someone got a bit sloshed on blueberry wine this episode, and not naming any names, but he has a Jewish dog and a bunch of parental issues. Drunk is one of the things Parks does best (see one of my other favorite episodes, “The Fight” for brilliant examples), and Drunk Ben does not disappoint. After finding out that his parents sold their old family lake house, Ben starts to complain, causing Ron to suggest alcohol to stop the words from coming out. Of course, that works as well as alcohol always does to shut people up, and Ben became more loquacious than ever, basically carrying on a conversation with himself as Ron supervised. A little alcohol safety lesson from Ron Swanson here kids: don’t leave your drunk friends to walk home from a vineyard alone. Ron and Ben met up with Ron Dunn -- aka Eagleton’s Ron or a ghost -- and he helped Ben to discover his spirit animal (baby snow owl, obviously), though not much else. Real Ron’s mention of getting back home to his kids (remember that Ron has kids now? Crazy), helps Ben to realize he wasn’t really upset about his parents, he just wants kids. I mentioned before that this is a little tidy, but Drunk Ben was thoroughly amusing and I didn’t really care about whatever he was blabbering about, so it all worked out okay. And for Ben I’d like to borrow this quote from Westley ( The Princess Bride), “I do not envy the headache you will have when you awake.” But for now, enjoy the news of your impending fatherhood!

In other wine-related news, Tom looks for a sommelier for his restaurant, bringing along April, Donna and Craig to a certification at the winery. While Craig takes the whole proceedings very seriously, Donna backrolls April in order to watch April do what April does -- flip everything on its head and confuse as many people as possible. If I was actually judging the competency of future sommelier’s I might be upset at April’s blasé toward the event, but as a non wine-drinker I was just amused by her proclamations about the silliness of buying wine over $5 in her definitely-not-an-acceptance speech. In the end Tom picks Craig to work in his restaurant because he couldn’t even come close to competing with Terrence Montreaux’s offer to the only certified wine expert there, Xander (my mander). It was nice to see a few moments of Crazy Craig taking it down a few notches. I’ve never been a huge fan of the loud character. But mostly all of the Pawnee characters are real life-type people heightened to the point of silliness, ensuring they’d all be annoying to hang out with, and yet are really fun to watch. So if they can figure out a way to get Craig down a teeny bit in craziness to that same level, he would be a lot more tolerable.

Public Service Announcement: new flu protocol seems to be to place the patient in a tent and prevent them from going home. Sorry Larry -- at least your mail was forwarded.

Remember this, kids: Blueberries are alcohol. Do not drink the blue wine.

What did you think of the episode? Are you excited for Ben and Leslie, or would you rather the show stayed away from another baby? Did you wish for more flu in “Flu Season 2”? What’s your spirit animal and can you summon it at will? Let us know below!

About the Author - Kimberly

Kimberly is a college student studying Writing for Film & TV, and a big TV nerd - willing to talk any show, any time. Her tastes are various and sundry, but she’s got a soft spot for comedy. She currently writes the SpoilerTV reviews for Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.