Sorry for the delay, fellow Parks and Recreation fans. I hope all of you had an excellent weekend that didn’t involve chard shots! 

Title Farmers Market

Two-Sentence Summary Leslie oversteps her bounds as she tries to use Ben’s position as city manager to remove a chard vendor with questionable advertising techniques from the Pawnee farmers market. Meanwhile, Ann needs an outlet for her frustrations about what pregnancy is doing to her body, and Andy finds a potential new career as a children’s party performer.

Favorite Line “Tom put all my records into this rectangle…The songs just play one right after the other! This is an excellent rectangle!” (Ron)

My Thoughts I spent a lot of time this weekend watching old episodes of Parks and Recreation as I rested a bum shoulder on my couch. I laughed and cried as I made my way through my favorites—“Flu Season,” “The Debate,” “Win, Lose, or Draw,” and “Leslie and Ben”—and I spent a lot of time thinking, too. Something has been missing in recent Parks and Recreation episodes, including this week’s “Farmers Market,” and I finally figured out what it is: a likeable protagonist. Don’t get me wrong; Leslie’s overzealous personality and steamroller tendencies aren’t out-of-character traits. But after too many episodes this season of Leslie being the antagonist in a storyline, I’ve missed those lovely days of Parks and Rec past when I could root for Leslie Knope on a weekly basis.

I know that too many episodes spent celebrating Leslie would make the show feel too sappy, but I feel like this season has spent a lot of time highlighting Leslie’s worst traits without enough time spent on her best traits to create a strong balance. And while people may argue that another episode of Leslie and her friends rallying around each other would feel repetitive, I would say that these storylines, with Leslie overreacting towards one of her friends (or in this case her husband) because she can’t get her way, are even more repetitive.

For example, we’ve already seen Leslie and Ben at odds like they are in “Farmers Market” in this season’s “The Pawnee-Eagleton Tip Off Classic.” So while this storyline had some funny moments (Ben running away from Leslie to avoid conflict, Ben’s fear of dying in the fountain, and especially anything involving the actual farmers market—from the Chard Bodies to the cabbage saleswoman unbuttoning her blouse), it ultimately felt like a rehash of something we’ve already seen: Leslie overreacts, Ben gets her to see reason (because he’s literally the perfect husband for her), and they come to a conclusion that works for all involved. Yes, the laughs in this part of the episode felt original, but the emotional component—the thing that separates Parks and Rec from all other comedies—felt stale.

I’m tired of watching the warmest character on television be outlandishly petulant. Yes, Leslie can be overly forceful and ambitious in every aspect of her life, but she used to somehow manage to be those things without ever coming across as selfish. In fact, Leslie used to be defined by her selflessness, her desire to do everything she could to make the people around her happy. In “Farmers Market,” though, Leslie came across as selfish—plain and simple. And this wasn’t a kind of selfishness that could be attributed to a broken heart like in “Smallest Park” or even a sense of feeling left out like her story with Tom in “New Beginnings.” Instead, it was just another episode of Leslie being forceful without any of the warmth and kindness that used to be able to balance out her character. I may be guilty of an overreaction of Knope proportions here, but I think Leslie’s character has regressed this season; she’s lost some of the subtlety that the writers used to let Amy Poehler so brilliantly weave into her characterization.

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Title New Beginnings

Two-Sentence Summary Leslie returns to the Parks Department and Ben begins his new job as city manager, and they both experience some difficulties adjusting to their roles. Meanwhile, Ann and Chris contemplate how well marriage would fit into their very nontraditional relationship.

Favorite Line “I cannot sit idly by and watch this terrible thing happen. I mean, I can barely sit idly by and watch good things happen!” (Leslie)

My Thoughts Well that was…okay, I guess? Don’t get me wrong; I laughed out loud more than a few times during “New Beginnings” (mainly thanks to Ron and Ben), and I even had my heart sufficiently warmed in the surprising way only Parks and Recreation can (once again, thanks to Ron). However, there was just something off about this episode. “New Beginnings” really felt like the beginning of the end for Parks and Rec, and I was not emotionally prepared to deal with these feelings after a mid-January episode.

When I say “the beginning of the end for Parks and Rec,” I don’t mean in terms of the quality of the show. Did I adore this episode with my usual fervor? Not really. But it was still more entertaining than most of what I see on television, especially comedic television. What I mean is that these last two episodes—this one in particular—seem to be setting the stage for the kinds of huge changes in Leslie’s life that would only work at the end of this show’s run. I know nothing has been announced in terms of the show’s future, but from the time it was stated that Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe were leaving, I couldn’t stop wondering if this would be Parks and Rec’s last season. This new emphasis on Leslie needing to move on to bigger and better things has only intensified that wondering.

“New Beginnings” was an episode all about feeling uncomfortable and the things we do to try to ease that feeling. For Ben, that feeling of discomfort in his new role as city manager made him want to try to fit in with April, Andy, and Donna. For Leslie, feeling uncomfortable and unnecessary back in her old job made her resort to her steamroller, control-freak tendencies. For Chris and Ann, feeling uncomfortable with the idea of marriage (but also with the idea of being unmarried parents) led them to numerous purchases and returns of the same ring. And Jerry tried to ease discomfort caused by choking on a cracker by simply eating another cracker.

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Title Second Chunce

Two-Sentence Summary Leslie’s desire to run for city council again is met with opposition from Ben and her friends, and Ben’s gift for her last day as a city councilwoman helps her see that maybe there are bigger, more fulfilling dreams waiting for her. Tom is also chasing new business dreams with the help of April, Ron, and a very jet-lagged Andy; and Ann and Chris learn the sex of their baby.

Favorite Line “In times of stress or moments of transition, sometimes it can feel like the whole world is closing in on you. When that happens, you should close your eyes, take a deep breath, listen to the people who love you when they give you advice, and remember what really matters.” (Leslie)

My Thoughts Parks and Recreation has aged very gracefully. In 100 episodes, it’s grown from a show about a woman and her job to a show about a woman and the things that are so much more important than her job. It’s grown from a show that felt like the weird kid sister of The Office into a show with its own clear mission statement: Dream big; love bigger. And the way its 100th episode reflected that mission statement as it honored the show’s past and opened up new futures for the characters we love was nothing short of beautiful.

I’ll admit: I haven’t loved this season of Parks and Rec the way I’ve loved other seasons. After the brilliant season premiere, I found most of the other episodes so far to be lacking the warmth and optimism that have come to define this show for me. And I was worried that “Second Chunce” was going to follow that same path until Ben’s gift for Leslie showed up.

My problem with this season so far has been that we’ve had to watch Leslie suffer. We’ve had to watch this character deal with incompetence, ungratefulness, and a whole host of Pawnee citizens who don’t love her the way we all know she deserves to be loved. My favorite season of Parks and Rec—Season Four—was so successful because we were right alongside Leslie in the campaign trenches, rooting for her to win her city council seat not just because we liked her but because we believed she deserved it. But then this season and its recall plot came along, taking away Leslie’s dream job, the dream job we all invested in, too.

However, “Second Chunce” put this whole season into perspective for me in a way I had never considered before: I was supposed to see this recall not as a failure of Leslie’s but as a failure of a group of people who don’t know a good thing when they have it. I was supposed to be mad at the people of Pawnee. I was supposed to believe that Leslie is too good for them. I was supposed to see this eating away at Leslie’s optimism and understand that she deserves more than what she was getting as a city council member. I was supposed to be on Ben’s side when he advised Leslie not to run again because I, as a member of the audience, love Leslie as much as Ben does.

“Second Chunce” was an episode about love, which should surprise no one. It was fitting that the 100th episode of a show that features three unique, solid marriages and one couple blissfully heading into parenthood together would be centered around love—love for your dreams, love for your friends, love for your spouse/partner, and even love for yourself. It took a while to get there, but once this episode hit its stride, it filled my heart with the kind of a joy only Parks and Rec can create.

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Sorry for my delay in getting this review posted—maybe I need an Eagleton counterpart to help with all of my writing!

Title Doppelgangers

Two-Sentence Summary The merger of Pawnee and Eagleton brings new faces into the parks department as Ron, April, Tom, Donna, and even Ann meet their Eagleton counterparts. In the middle of these big changes comes another major shift in Leslie’s life, as Ann tells her she’s planning to leave Pawnee to raise her baby with Chris.

Favorite Line “Pawnee has the very first documented case of mega-diabetes. And the only known occurrence of Lou Gehrig’s other disease. We’ve been written about in textbooks.” (Leslie)

My Thoughts This episode was an important one, but I can’t help feeling it wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be. Yes, it was funny, and I loved almost all of the Eagleton characters. Yes, it had some great Ben Wyatt moments (a surefire way for a Parks and Recreation episode to win my heart), and it did some really great things with Ben and Chris’s relationship. However, the central plot of this episode—Leslie’s reaction to Ann’s decision to leave Pawnee—was written to go for the funny bone instead of the heartstrings, and I think it was missing something intangible because of that reason.

I understand that Leslie is overdramatic, overbearing, and idealistic to a fault—especially when it comes to her personal life. Leslie is the most devoted and passionate character I know of on television, and she expects that same devotion (or at least a small percentage of it) from the people she loves. That’s not news, and that’s actually something I love about her. However, I get uncomfortable when the show takes Leslie’s reactions and makes them so over-the-top that it’s hard for us to sympathize with or even really relate to her. I know it’s a matter of taste, and I’m sure most people find it funny. I’m just not one of them. I’m okay with a childish outburst or some ridiculousness for a little while; I just don’t like when it becomes the focal point of the episode.

This episode reminded me of Season Four’s “Smallest Park,” which is interesting because I love that episode and feel less positively about this one. Both feature Leslie acting ridiculously because she wants something she can’t have from a person she loves (a relationship with Ben in one and for Ann to decide to stay in the other). However, what made “Smallest Park” work was the scene at the end, where the emotions ran raw and real, making the resolution feel earned because we got to really see both Leslie and Ben talking through things together. We got to feel Leslie’s pain and Ben’s, which made her actions more understandable. In “Doppelgangers,” everything felt rushed between Ann and Leslie. There was very little nuance, which is something this show usually does quite well. I wish we could have seen more of the scene between Leslie and Ann at the end of the episode. It felt like the episode was tied up with a nice little bow, but it didn’t feel as earned or as heartwarming as I wanted it to feel.

Don’t get me wrong; this storyline had some great moments. I loved how Ann knew exactly how to break the news to Leslie—with waffles and shirtless Joe Biden. I loved the way the rest of the parks department called Leslie out on how ridiculous she was being with the loyalty contracts. And I really liked the contrast with Ben’s reaction to Chris telling him the news. Adam Scott’s delivery was characteristically perfect—you could feel his surprise and sadness, but you could also sense how happy he was for his friend to find happiness. That scene between Chris and Ben hit all the emotional beats I wanted from the last scene between Leslie and Ann. In fact, I really think Chris and Ben’s friendship (and adorable working relationship) is my favorite thing about Parks and Rec right now. The writing for them and the performances by Scott and Rob Lowe are firing on all cylinders right now.

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Title The Pawnee-Eagleton Tip Off Classic

Two-Sentence Summary When Leslie learns that Eagleton is facing a financial crisis, she has to put aside her own hatred for the town and do the right thing, which in this case involves absorbing Eagleton into Pawnee. Meanwhile, Ron enlists Tom and Donna to help him get off the grid, and April and Ann take a trip to Bloomington that doesn’t exactly go as planned.

Favorite Line “ERASE ALL PICTURES OF RON!”

My Thoughts It would have been difficult for any episode of Parks and Recreation to follow up the fantastic fun of last week’s season premiere, but “The Pawnee-Eagleton Tip Off Classic” was a valiant effort. It had plenty of funny moments, but where it faltered a bit was in its character development. It made me wish Parks and Rec could always be an hour long because so much of this episode felt rushed.

Let’s start with one of the things that had me most excited for this episode—Kristen Bell as Eagleton councilwoman Ingrid de Forest. While she given some very funny and sharply satirical lines about government spending (I loved that she tried to tip Ben in Euros), I wished she had been used more. Bell is such a fantastic actress and such a funny lady that I can only hope the events of this episode mean we’ll be seeing more of Ingrid as the season goes on. Otherwise, it was kind of a waste of her talent—and a chance to see her flex her comedic muscles opposite Amy Poehler.

All in all, I wasn’t crazy about Leslie’s storyline for the majority of this episode. I know Leslie’s overdramatic hatred of Eagleton is as much a part of her character as her love of Joe Biden, but that doesn’t mean I will ever really enjoy episodes like this. I don’t like watching Leslie Knope be mean; it makes me squirm rather than laugh. And it really bothered me to see her trying to drag Ben down to her level. I understand that Leslie needed to be worse than she’s ever been about Eagleton in order for her change of heart to feel the most dramatic and earned, but this was all a little too over-the-top for my liking.

In the end, though, Leslie did the right thing, the “Leslie Thing” (aka the thing that is most helpful and supportive towards another person or, in this case, town). It made me happy to see Ben’s influence on her in this episode. He knew exactly what to say to get Leslie to act on what she knew to be true all along: She may say that helping Eagleton goes against everything she stands for, but, in reality, laughing at their suffering and refusing to help them goes against everything she stands for at the core of who she is. I was so proud of Ben for standing up to his headstrong wife and helping her to be her best self. A marriage is a team, and Ben is always on Leslie’s team. But sometimes teammates have to call each other out when they’re not doing the right thing. Ben and Leslie are a marriage of equals, so it was nice to see the effect that rational, calm Ben has on (overly) impassioned, dramatic Leslie.

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