Season 3, Episode 13 & 14
Two episodes, two relationship studies
Writing about two back-to-back, yet mostly non-connected episodes within one post is an inherently tricky process, mostly because, well, to write about both fully takes a whole lot of words and very well may turn people off by the time you get to the end. Plus, it just tires me out. So for tonight’s two episodes – and most likely for next week as well – I’ll be doing a bit more picking and choosing of which plots I want to talk about.
“The Fight”
“Sometimes if I don’t push you in the right direction, you end up standing still.”
-Leslie
A week or two ago, an article appeared on Slate entitled “The Politics of Parks and Recreation,” which is good for a read, but the article’s main point isn’t mine in bringing it up. During the article, the author made several insinuations that Leslie was “cruelly demanding” of those around her, even while noting that she “works tirelessly on behalf of people she doesn't know.” The author has a point, to be sure, but she still left out any talk about the fact that Leslie is so demanding because she cares so much, and she either wants the best for these people, or she wants them to care as much as she does.
Well, I hope this author was watching “The Fight,” an episode that proved just why Leslie acts the way she does, and the effect that is has on those around her, specifically Ann. Though she – and possibly the show – might not want to admit it, Ann had been in something of a spiral in the past few weeks, as she has been cultivating something of a hedonistic lifestyle (as far as men are concerned) in order to move past Chris. Though I would hate to make any sort of moral judgment on her – she can grieve however the hell she wants – I can’t help but imagine that she’s not truly happy with where she is.
And I have to imagine that Leslie feels the same way that I do, and that she’s pushing Ann tonight not only to improve her job status, but just to give her a different, perhaps healthier way to go about changing her life. Yet as loving and respectful as these two are to one another, their friendship is still pretty young – going on something like two years now, I imagine – and they probably aren’t at the place where they can really be that open and honest with one another. Their drunken fight at the Snake Hole Lounge – much like the rest of the Department’s exploits that night – is a dark moment that the pair would most likely want to forget, even if the alcohol already erased most of it from their memories. (Seriously, what is in Snake Juice?).
Yet it is an important moment for the two of them, one from which their friendship will most likely grow. For as much as Ann needs Leslie to motivate her, Leslie needs Ann to know when to chill out. It’s a delicate friendship, to be sure, but as Ann’s interview with “The Committee” taught us, it’s also perhaps the purest relationship in a show full of them.
Other Highlights: Andy & April’s role playing was just dumb fun, and Ron Swanson shilling Snake Juice may just be one of the funniest moments the show has ever done.
“Road Trip”
“Uh-oh”
-Leslie
So I guess we now have an answer to the question of “When are Ben and Leslie finally going to get together?” Though it was briefly discussed in “The Fight” – of course Leslie would focus on Ann to distract herself from the relationship she can’t have with Ben – the show finally plunges head first here, both acknowledging the reasons why the two can’t be together, yet no longer treating those reasons as a plot device to keep them apart.
I wouldn’t say a whole lot happens here, as a large portion of the episode is spent in the car or at the pitch meeting, with Leslie trying to “anti-seduce” Ben at every turn. But there were a lot of jokes, and they all worked magnificently. But what really keeps this plot going in the arrival of Chris about halfway through, who both serves a comedic monkey wrench for the two in this episode and serve as a type of foreshadowing for us as towhat this relationship will be like for the two of them going forward. Yet as difficult as it maybe – and as contrived as the “no dating coworkers” rule might get – all of this is thankfully couched in two character who are extremely cute together.
The other big plot here involved Tom, hatching yet another money making scheme on government time, sets up to create his own dirtier version of The Newlywed Game, and casts the other parks department employees as his trial contestants. In a “twist” that probably surprised no one, Jerry and Donna perform better than actual newlyweds April and Andy. Yet despite the clichéd nature of this story’s setup, it quickly redeemed itself as April tried repeatedly to win back Andy’s favor after unintentionally insulting Mouse Rat. And to top it all off – because this is Parks & Rec, after all – the story ended with April performing on of Andy’s songs. Awwww…..
Other Highlights: Ron’s interview with the kids was not only hilarious, but it also deftly raises the issue of just when we should teach kids about how the practice of democracy fails to live up to its ideals.
Quotes, Etc.:
Donna can only drink warm tap water with cayenne pepper
“Jerry, you’ll be playing a boring beer drinker. You’ll be Jerry.”
“Re-elect Jan Cooper, Mayor of Whoreville.”
“I do have to mention it would be nice not to have to pull strange things out of people’s butts.”
“Why didn’t you stop at ‘Pawnee’?”
“Is there enough room for some mayonnaise in this lady sandwich?”
“Hello, my name is Ron Swanson. In general, I try not to talk to people…”
“Baba Booey.”
“Tom’s in the trunk. Jerry’s on the roof.”
“First you take the cow to the killing floor.”
“Snitches get stitches.”
“I got home last night and I thought I might go sledding.”
“Ben, is there something we can do?...Dammit, he’s not here.”
“Lots of regret and shame. That should be the slogan for Snakejuice.”
The three most important things in life: Friends, Waffles, Work.
****
“That was the most sexual tension I’ve ever seen in a conversation about documents.”
“Oh, I have a good idea. Ask him about his penis.”
“I love Slurp HD.”
“And something called Banjo Boogie Bonanza.”
“I’m gonna need a different metaphor to give this nine-year-old.”
“I’m allergic to fingers.”
“The raccoons have their part of the town, and we have ours.”
“Do you even feel that Mouse Rat is the greatest band in the world? Cause it’s starting not to feel that way.”
“C’mon, photographer, last chance.”
“And that Lauren, is how FDR ruined this country.”
“This is a claymore landmine. Use it to protect your property.”
“He told me that he liked me, and now I’m going to make out with him, on his face.”
Chris urinates roughly twelve times a night. Good thing he eats all those radishes.
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