Let’s welcome back everyone’s favorite beautiful tropical fish, Heather, who was kind enough to share her thoughts on this week’s episode of Parks and Rec (since I was busy watching Captain America and Black Widow save the world last night).

Title Prom

Two-Sentence Summary Organizing a high school prom brings back memories of the Parks Department family’s own prom experiences and brings up uncomfortable feelings for some. Leslie is determined to mold a promising high school student into a future Parks and Rec employee, while Ron attempts to stop her before uncovering the real reason for her obsession.

Favorite Line “Blueprints for the future are a fool’s errand. They’re like blueprints for a house—nice to have, but any foreman with a brain doesn’t need to look at them. One day—this year or maybe the next—you’re gonna be somewhere else, so enjoy yourself now.” (Ron)

My Thoughts As a whole, this wasn’t my favorite episode of the season. It wasn’t as funny as previous episodes have been and, despite the episode being shaped around and largely taking place at the prom, it felt disjointed to me. However, it did have Ron giving life advice to Leslie and a good look at Andy and April’s relationship, so I still ultimately enjoyed it.

While much of Leslie and Ron’s interactions with Allison felt like a rehashing of their many arguments over their ideological differences, it served a purpose. Ron has always been there to give advice to Leslie (and Ben) when they are uncertain about their futures. He is very good at knowing what they need to hear, and that largely comes out of his respect and understanding of Leslie as a person.

A scared Leslie is one we haven’t seen much of before. She’s always been very good at what she does and has gotten used to that feeling. She knows that the Parks Department runs smoothly because she is there, and she worries about what will happen to it if she’s not. Even if she’s outgrown it, she loves it and wants it to be in good hands if she leaves, but because she is Leslie Knope, she expresses that in ridiculous ways. She doesn’t like uncertainty, but it’s a part of taking chances. I think Ron gave her some good advice, and I love that she recognized it.

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Let’s all welcome back our favorite beautiful tropical fish, Heather, who was kind enough to review this week’s episode of Parks and Recreation while I finished my latest Once Upon a Time essay!

Title The Wall

Two Sentence Summary Leslie encounters some problems with the Pawnee-Eagleton merger and receives an interesting job offer, while Tom finds an investor who believes in his ideas. Meanwhile, Ron volunteers to fix a floor of City Hall while his newborn son watches.

Favorite Line “You like fixing this town, Leslie, you always have. You know it’s an uphill battle, but you love the struggle. I would also add that you’ve already done a hell of a lot to make this town better, and people like this young man here will benefit from your hard work.” (Ron)

My Thoughts What a beautiful and hilarious episode. I cracked up at multiple points during the episode—not necessarily because the lines or reactions were so funny on their own, but because they were so perfect for the character. From Leslie’s response to Ron getting a fish to literally all of Ben’s reaction faces to Craig demanding that someone follow him because he was distraught, this episode used our knowledge and love of the characters to produce some genuinely funny moments, and I think that’s pretty good for a show in its sixth season.

It was also an episode of successes. We have been watching Tom bounce from idea to idea and increasingly become less satisfied with his job as a government employee. He has so much passion and energy, but it’s not always accompanied by sound business ideas. I actually really love the idea of him as a fundraiser, especially for something that he can be passionate about. My office’s goal is to raise money for a university, so I am surrounded by fundraisers and see a lot of similar qualities in him.

That being said, fundraising will never be Tom’s dream. He wants to see his business ventures succeed and to feel proud of what he’s done to make them succeed. I am thrilled to see someone recognize his passion and be willing to really invest in Tom as a person to make those dreams a reality. I wish he would recognize the value that Ben adds to business discussions a little more, but that’s partly my love for Ben speaking.

After a disappointing week trying to get people excited about the merger, Leslie received one of the biggest compliments of her career. She was told that her grant proposal was used as an example and praised for its thoroughness by the “bad boy” of the Department of the Interior, and she was offered a job with the National Parks Service. Though she ultimately decided to stay in Pawnee for now, I am so proud that it was offered to her.

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After a brief hiatus, Parks and Recreation recaps have returned to NGN, and this week, Heather‘s taking the reins! 

Title Fluoride/The Cones of Dunshire

Two Sentence Summary In “Fluoride,” Tom helps Leslie persuade the city council to vote for adding fluoride to the water supply while April, Donna, and Craig choose spirit dogs for their coworkers. In “The Cones of Dunshire,” Chris and Leslie defeat Councilman Jamm in the quest to get the Pawnee Commons project up and running, Ron tries to sell one of his cabins, and everyone loves Ben Wyatt.

Favorite Lines “What’s next, cookie dough toothpaste? Bad example, that would be amazing” (Leslie) – “Fluoride”

“Wait a second, that’s not pizza. Those are calzones. I love calzones!” (Ben) – “The Cones of Dunshire”

My Thoughts I just really love Parks and Recreation. Why is January—and the return of the show—so far away?

“Fluoride” gave me so many things to love. Craig came back to the parks department office with all of his intensity, Tom showed off his marketing skills, Ron decided that Moby Dick was completely free of symbolism, Chris and Ron bonded a little over their unborn babies, and most excitingly, Donna Meagle got more character development and made April give her a hug.

I really hope this show continues to explore Tom’s aptitude for marketing. First of all, I’ve always liked Tom best when he’s doing something he gets to be excited about. All of his passion comes out, and that’s my favorite quality in a character. Second of all, I love the commentary about how ridiculous marketing can be and how easily swayed people are. I’m not immune to the desire to earn a new achievement on a Facebook game or app so making H2Flow interactive and reward-driven was actually a pretty good idea on Tom’s part.

I really loved the subplot with Craig, Donna, and April. I will always be excited to see Craig in all of his over-the-top ridiculousness. Everything he said cracked me up. Most importantly, we got to see Donna and April bonding. I love that Donna completely understands April and managed to pick the perfect spirit dog for her. Her insight into those around her is something we’ve seen before when she understood that Ben’s “Treat Yo Self” day wasn’t the same as hers and Tom’s, and I loved seeing it again. Donna has become so much more complex this season. She’s no longer just the person who cares about her Benz and fine leather goods, and I love this show for that. I want the references to Retta’s flawless tweeting to continue, but I also want to see Donna get more of the spotlight.

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Thanks to some strange scheduling from my local NBC affiliate, I still haven’t been able to watch this week’s episode of Parks and Recreation. Luckily, my own personal beautiful tropical fish, Heather, came to the rescue with this great review! 

Title Gin It Up!

Two Sentence Summary Donna accidentally sends a salacious tweet from the Parks and Rec Twitter account and Councilman Jamm turns it into a scandal to use against Leslie. Tom gets a crush on a doctor who comes in to reserve a park (guest star Tatiana Maslany), and Ben helps Ron create a will.

Favorite Line “Ben, your heart’s in the right place. Your heart and your butt.” (Leslie)

My Thoughts While I enjoyed the episode, there were parts that fell flat for me and kept me from enjoying it as much as I think I could have. I loved Ben helping Ron with his will and was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of Tatiana Maslany, but once again, Leslie’s plot just didn’t quite work for me.

As a whole, I haven’t loved the story about Leslie’s recall election. Her election and the arc leading up to it in season 4 is one of the best things the show has done and to see that victory and her excitement taken away is hard for me as a viewer who loves her. That said, I don’t actually think this episode did anything to further the recall plot, other than to remind the viewers than Councilmen Jamm and Dexhart are the worst. It worked better as a skewering of the politicians who are more concerned about politics and getting their way than actually doing good for their community. While timely, I wanted more.

They tried to give us more by reading Donna’s tweets to the court (but primarily Leslie). It provided a little more insight into Donna and it also forced Leslie to confront the idea that she can be annoying to others. It just didn’t feel genuine. First, it didn’t quite fit into the characterization of Donna I have in my head. Second, of all the things Leslie has asked her employees to do, putting stickers on signs hardly seemed like an extraordinary effort.

Realistically, unless they were still acting as her campaign team, she shouldn’t have asked her Parks employees to do that as part of their Parks jobs, but I can hand-wave that away. Leslie knows she can be too much for the people around her sometimes. This week just didn’t feel like one of those times for me. She wasn’t over-the-top like she was last week, and she wasn’t being passionate about a cause in a “heroic and inspiring” way. It just didn’t all work together for me the way this show usually does.

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As I was busy making my way out from underneath an avalanche of work this weekend, my own personal Ann Perkins (aka Heather) was kind enough to step in and share her thoughts on the latest episode of Parks and Recreation.  

Title Pawnee Commons

Two-Sentence Summary Leslie is moving forward with her plans for a park on Lot 48 with an unlikely helper – an architect from Eagleton. Meanwhile, Tom enlists the help of his friends to set up Rent-A-Swag, and Andy saves the day as a security guard with help from April.

Favorite Line “Well, I’m in love with a woman from here. A strange, passionate, goofball of a woman.” (Ben)

My Thoughts I didn’t enjoy this episode quite as much as the last few, but for a show that consistently puts out great episodes, even the ones that aren’t as strong are still a thoroughly enjoyable half-hour of television. I liked it a little better in retrospect, but I wished the episode had included more ensemble moments. It was an important episode for Leslie, Tom, and Andy in similar ways, and I would have liked to see a scene with the three of them.

Leslie’s story this week had her struggling between her hatred of all things Eagleton and her desire to give Pawnee the best possible park that she can. One of Leslie’s defining characteristics is her love for her town, and I loved seeing the way that was manifested in this episode. Accepting Leslie Knope as a person means accepting Pawnee as a town. Her hatred of Eagleton and automatic distrust of the people in it are completely warranted given her previous interactions with them, although in typical Leslie fashion, they are expressed in a completely over-the-top way. I kept waiting for the architect to prove Leslie right and be just like everyone else from Eagleton. I have never been so happy to be wrong. The park he created was not only a perfect representation of Pawnee, but now that I have seen this design, I can’t imagine any other park going on Lot 48. This park means so much to Leslie, and to see it turn out to be a visual representation of all the aspects of Pawnee she loves so much could not have been any more perfect.

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