Season 4, Episode 13
“When have I ever let anything go?”
So here's the funny thing about Leslie Knope: as much as we all love her, and as positive of a role model as she may be for both women and politicians, she's actually kind of a horribly selfish person. As an audience we tend to let this go because A) her selfish actions are really just part of her attempts to the best thing possible and B) this a comedy, and things probably wouldn't be as funny if Leslie wasn't so over-the-top with her actions. This something that the show has addressed in the past, but it's not something that's really been “solved” (I'm not even sure that it should be), so your mileage of this episode probably varied based on how much of Leslie you're willing to buy/take.
That the centerpiece of tonight's episode was bowling match meant to sway just one focus group member only serves to prove this point. As hilarious as everything was at the bowling alley, it's a bit hard to escape the fact that this was another story driven by Leslie's inability to keep herself in check, and from the her friends inability or unwillingness to reign her in. But the real problem was that this wasn't anything noble like Leslie creating a Citizen Action Committee in order to keep improving Pawnee, or even something believable like an old feud with a rival getting out of hand. This was Leslie's noble actions (her run for city council) colliding with her uglier, baser need to be liked, and it was all done right in the public eye.
However, as much as the setup to this story line irked me, I liked the twist that it took at the end of the second act. Not only did Ben punching Derek show that Leslie wasn't the only one capable of letting her emotions control her (thus making her less worse in comparison) but it also turned into a critique of both Leslie and the American political system at large.
For Leslie, it was the episode's chance to recognize that she may have been wrong in her actions up to that point. Or least it would have been if the show hadn't decided to have it both ways with her later refusal to apologize for the trouble that she caused. I did like, however, how the show turned this around, and how her refusal to say she was wrong ended up making the next focus group go over a lot better than the first one we saw. It was a move that could have reeked of dues ex machina, but considering how often real-life politicians have succeeded off of moves that should have sunken their careers, it actually played like a trenchant observation.
Everything was much more solid in the other recesses of the episode, however. In the episode's B-plot, we see Andy, April, Jerry, Donna and Chris all gather in the Dwyer/Wyatt household to participate in some cold-calling for the Knope campaign. While that by itself would have been acceptable for the comedic possibilities (and payoff), the show took it a bit further by giving this plot it's own twist, wherein Milicent break up with Chris.
Now, the show hasn't done a lot with the Chris/Milicent pairing, so this very well may have been a chance for the writers to cut their losses on a storyline that didn't work. However, this storyline wasn't really about Milicent – it was about April. Besides freeing up Aubrey Plaza from doing the same old note of ironic detachment that she usually plays by allowing her to trot out a variety of accents, it also accessed the more vulnerable sides of both April and Chris, which we rarely get to see. It was powerful stuff wrapped in a stealth package.
The C-story was a fairly simple runner, with Tom and Ron squaring off about the proper “manly” bowling technique. But much like Ron's simple bowling technique, it delivered with some real force, as Ron's reactions to Tom's various unmanly reaction providing some of the biggest laughs of the night.
Quotes and Other Thoughts:
“Some things are helpful. Some things are not so help full. All of these things make me feel things about myself.”
“She's kind of short. Aggressively short, almost. It's like she's throwing it in my face!”
“I can't tell you how many times a fun tug-of-war with a dog over a chew toy turned contentious. One of use always ends up mad.”
“I choose to support Team Knope, because they're the best. Everybody's the best. We're all winners.”
“When I eat, it's the food that is scared.”
“I wrote 'Tom'.” “Classic. Timeless. I love it.”
“Straight down the middle. No hook, no spin, no fuss. Anything more, and this becomes figure skating.”
“I dunno Fred, I just want to live in a better place, and your donation will help us get there...to the better-place-world, Fred.”
“Are you a female bird?”
“Well when we write down official reports, we refrain from using words like 'jerk' or 'awesome'.”
“King Kong ain't got nothin' on me!....OW, my fingie still hurts.”
“You should be warned: If you do not vote for me, my boyfriend might beat you up.”
However, as much as the setup to this story line irked me, I liked the twist that it took at the end of the second act. Not only did Ben punching Derek show that Leslie wasn't the only one capable of letting her emotions control her (thus making her less worse in comparison) but it also turned into a critique of both Leslie and the American political system at large.
For Leslie, it was the episode's chance to recognize that she may have been wrong in her actions up to that point. Or least it would have been if the show hadn't decided to have it both ways with her later refusal to apologize for the trouble that she caused. I did like, however, how the show turned this around, and how her refusal to say she was wrong ended up making the next focus group go over a lot better than the first one we saw. It was a move that could have reeked of dues ex machina, but considering how often real-life politicians have succeeded off of moves that should have sunken their careers, it actually played like a trenchant observation.
Everything was much more solid in the other recesses of the episode, however. In the episode's B-plot, we see Andy, April, Jerry, Donna and Chris all gather in the Dwyer/Wyatt household to participate in some cold-calling for the Knope campaign. While that by itself would have been acceptable for the comedic possibilities (and payoff), the show took it a bit further by giving this plot it's own twist, wherein Milicent break up with Chris.
Now, the show hasn't done a lot with the Chris/Milicent pairing, so this very well may have been a chance for the writers to cut their losses on a storyline that didn't work. However, this storyline wasn't really about Milicent – it was about April. Besides freeing up Aubrey Plaza from doing the same old note of ironic detachment that she usually plays by allowing her to trot out a variety of accents, it also accessed the more vulnerable sides of both April and Chris, which we rarely get to see. It was powerful stuff wrapped in a stealth package.
The C-story was a fairly simple runner, with Tom and Ron squaring off about the proper “manly” bowling technique. But much like Ron's simple bowling technique, it delivered with some real force, as Ron's reactions to Tom's various unmanly reaction providing some of the biggest laughs of the night.
Quotes and Other Thoughts:
“Some things are helpful. Some things are not so help full. All of these things make me feel things about myself.”
“She's kind of short. Aggressively short, almost. It's like she's throwing it in my face!”
“I can't tell you how many times a fun tug-of-war with a dog over a chew toy turned contentious. One of use always ends up mad.”
“I choose to support Team Knope, because they're the best. Everybody's the best. We're all winners.”
“When I eat, it's the food that is scared.”
“I wrote 'Tom'.” “Classic. Timeless. I love it.”
“Straight down the middle. No hook, no spin, no fuss. Anything more, and this becomes figure skating.”
“I dunno Fred, I just want to live in a better place, and your donation will help us get there...to the better-place-world, Fred.”
“Are you a female bird?”
“Well when we write down official reports, we refrain from using words like 'jerk' or 'awesome'.”
“King Kong ain't got nothin' on me!....OW, my fingie still hurts.”
“You should be warned: If you do not vote for me, my boyfriend might beat you up.”
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