Parks and Rec: "Camping"

Once I find out what the f**k a German muffin is, I’ll offer up a review of tonight’s episode, after the jump….

“We do not want to have a sophomore slump.” – Leslie

There was a very obvious – but very important – allegory at the heart of tonight’s episode. Even though last week’s episode that was produced during the third production season, it obviously belonged to the six that came before it. Tonight’s however, belongs to the new portion of season three, whatever that ends up being.

If we view the first seven episodes of the season as riding on the high that season two produced, it can be easy to understand why the show might be so worried about. They now, much like Leslie, have to come up with new, big ideas that will sustain them over the long haul. Again like Leslie, they may have a binder full of small ideas, but those won’t be able to propel the show forward in the ways of the past.

Yet if tonight is any indication, the show has nothing to worry about, even if no “big idea” was introduced tonight. It was funny and sweet, able to deliver those character beats that are essential life blood for the show. And much like last week’s episode, the show created a lot of narrative momentum by having everyone gathered in the same place in order to achieve roughly the same goal.

“What if I’m never going to any better than that?” – Leslie

And it was a good thing that the show was able to deliver these character beats, because it was these that helped to take the episode away from straight allegory and turned it into something that functions as an episode within this season.

The most important of these was Leslie, especially given that it was her character that housed tonight’s allegory. Tonight we saw Leslie at her best tonight, if in spirit and not functionality. The real turn for the series was in season one/season two, where Leslie went from Michael Scott-lite and became a functional and bright, if annoyingly ambitious bureaucrat who is able to win people over with her unique charm and can-do spirit. So while it was interesting, and possibly a bit off-putting, to see Leslie struggle with a task that she had done so ably up until now, at least they stayed true to (the second version of) her character. Bonus points for this plot line ending with some assistance from Ron Effing Swanson. The working relationship the two of those have is so sweet and natural that I’m not sure that I’ll ever tire of seeing it.

Elsewhere, we saw Anne continue to struggle with her break-up with Chris. Much like last week, this is a storyline that’s still in development, and it will be hard to judge until we reach the apex of this. But for now, it can be said the show is doing a good job of building it up, both in the way they let Rashida Jones remain lovable while she is entertaining her relationship-based neuroses, and in the way they are effectively building the resolution into a mystery, adeptly using Chris’ impenetrable, sunny exterior to full effect.

The rest of the plotlines/runners tonight were light fluff, mostly meant to provide the funny in an episode that also took some of its characters seriously. April and Andy’s subplot was cute and funny, though it does make me wonder how long the show can keep doing these stories before they become tired/annoying. The various other camp gags where somewhat hit-or-miss (I didn’t really find Jerry’s stories about his teenage daughter all that funny), but how hard can I really be on an episode that brought back DJ Roomba?

What did everybody else think?

Additional Thoughts:

“That was the second most awkward way a man has ever grabbed my breast.”

“My boob does not kill.”

“By the way, The Pawnee Sun said my breast saved his life.”

“Either way, a ton of making out.”

“I heard you were back…I didn’t do this because of you.”

“It was hard to stay mad at him. He was an AMAZING dentist.”

“Fishing relaxes me. It’s like yoga, but I still get to kill something.”

“This is a dog couch, but it’s still super comfortable.”

“They are all rap-ists.”

“Poodles only. No pooping.”

“There’s a brook somewhere that won’t stop babbling. SHUT UP!”

From Leslie’s dream journal: “I married Alf and we’re pretty happy.”

“The key is crying a lot. No one likes to see a grown man crime.”

“…FOR A STATE INSPECTION!”

“NCIS: Los Angeles Season One isn’t going to watch itself.”

For Chris, walking is like being in quicksand.

“No! I was TIVO-ing Cupcake Wars.”

“What the fuck is a German Muffin?”

“…and I had to fight a squirrel.”

“All due respect Ms. Klak, stick a German Muffin in it.”

“I slept for 7 hours last night, which is twice as long as a normal, so I’m a little disoriented.”