Parks and Recreation - "Bus Tour"

Season 4, Episode 21

There’s always been a disconnect between the politics of Parks and Recreation and that of the real world. Since this show is a comedy, and comedy tends to thrive on comedic exaggeration, this isn’t exactly a problem, and it becomes easy to just sort of roll with whatever the show decides to do. It also helps that the show is so strong and consistent in the characterization department (I don’t care what others say) that the show is able to take on an air of realism even when it’s doing something that are patently ridiculous.

The ridiculous thing to which I am referring is of course is the central conceit of the episode, which sees Leslie and Co. renting a tour bus for one day, and taking it around Pawnee so that she can deliver her stump speech to as many people as possible and hopefully makeup for that two point differential between her and Bobby Newport. How Leslie (or I guess really, Ben) was able to get a bus on such short notice, with presumably so little disposable funds, and for such an inefficient use of time is never explained. It’s probably for the best, as I doubt the show could come up with anything passing for a believable explanation as to why all of this happened.

If I could have my druthers, I would like to rewrite this plotline just a bit, and have Leslie want a tour bus, but unable to come up with on, be stuck driving from place to place in someone’s piece of shit automobile. It’s a move that I think would have highlighted Leslie’s lovably tenacious side and allowed for the show to get to it’s end goal of having Bobby endorse Leslie, and it would all make sense.

Really, the bus is nothing more than a comedic prop, and the only really thing that it allowed the episode to do, besides being able to have all of the characters stay in the same place, was that sigh gag where the Knope campaign is tricked into crashing Nick Newport’s funeral. (This also includes the bus backing into the portrait of the deceased Newport, a bit of stupidity to over-the-top for a campaign that we are supposed to sympathize with as competent and worthy of winning the race.)

Now, I recognize that there might have been something thematic about the use of the bus, the way that the opulence of it all was meant to reflect Leslie’s stubbornness in apologizing to Bobby for insulting his father, and then trying to use that apology for her own political gain. Together, they represent the flashiness that Leslie was espousing in favor of rhetoric. (And Ben says, and Perd Hapley demonstrates, most people are just easily entertained by a T-shit cannon, so why bother pushing the issues?) But just because something’s an effective means of getting people’s attention doesn’t mean that it should be done, and that goes for both Leslie’s and the episode’s use of the campaign bus. Really, I think I would have been more okay with this idea if it was spelled out a little bit more, because then at least the logical leap the bus represents would have been worth it.

I realize that I’ve been harping on this issue more than I probably should have, seeing as how it was just a small part of the episode, but it was such an integral part to the plot that I really threw off the rest of the episode for me. Now, having spent perhaps too many words on that damn campaign bus, I can actually turn to those parts that were effective and showed Parks and Recreation at its best.

Despite the issues with the bus, I felt that the twist of Bobby’s dad being dead, and Leslie putting her foot in her mouth and having to apologize to Bobby were really well done. It was a plot that showed Leslie’s more problematic tendencies – in this case, that in her passion she sometimes says things that are true, but aren’t the most politically correct – and it showed how strong she is that she could eventually find a work around and turn all of this into a win. Sure, Bobby calling Leslie up to the microphones at the end of the episode and accidentally giving Leslie a sort-of endorsement was a contrivance based on Bobby’s stupidity, but it also felt earned because it was Leslie’s reward for being earnest with Bobby inside of his house.

This plot also provided an excellent role for Ann and Ben as the respective Angel and Devil on her shoulders, trying to influence Leslie’s decision in the wake of her initial mistake. (Notice how they both stood equidistant from Leslie when she asked the people on the bus to gather around her in proportion to how much she trusted each person.) It was a nice use of Ann from show that usually doesn’t know what to do with her, and I hope the show manages to explore this dynamic more next season. (Well, here’s hoping there’s a next season, while we’re at it.)

The B- can C-plots were mostly just comedic filler, as is usually the case, but they were good ones nonetheless. The real winner was of course the return of Andy’s alter ego, Burt Macklin, as he went about trying to solve a mysterious pie-throwing incident. Andy was mostly alone for this – well, except for that great bit of pie-based comedy with Jerry – but it was a great showcase for Chris Pratt’s talent. Tom, Ron, and Donna’s plot was a little less successful, for while it featured the always awesome* Mike O-Malley, it mostly served as a reminder that Donna doesn’t always get to do a whole lot to do on the show. (I want a Ron-Donna plot, dammit!)

There was one other runner, with Chris trying to keep busy in the wake of several heartaches. This could have been another great example of seeing Chris change and become more open to being less than perfect, but there wasn’t any real room here for the plot to work that it, so it mostly served for a series of (rather funny) gags. Although, the episode did end with Jennifer taking Chris to bed, and I have to wonder if it was truly an act of desperation after seeing Bobby give up the race, or if she doesn’t have something else up her sleeve….

*The one exception: His time on Yes, Dear, though I can’t be sure if that was O’Malley’s doing or the fault of the show’s writing.

Quotes, Etc.:

“And I can see in the crowd, President Obama smiling at me. He made it! I didn’t think he would come, but he made it! Hey buddy!”

“If you are watching, perpetrator, just know that you are still at large.”

“Everybody says they care about the issues, but at the end of the day all anybody really wants is free clothing shot at them by a cannon.”

“In a minute, we’ll walk in there, give him out demands, and bam! – I start crying.”

“Harsh words, but this reporter does love those t-shirt cannons.”

“Anything else would be a classless move, on par with spray-painting nipples on the Lincoln memorial.”

“I wasn’t listening, but I strongly disagree with Ann!”

“We’re going to keep campaigning. But we’re going to do it in a classy and respectful way to get Ann off of all of our backs.”

“He’s going to steal Yogurt Platinum!”

“Ms. Knope, I have a follow up to what I have know decided to call ‘Jerk Gate’.”

“We brought a ‘Sorry for Your Loss’ fruit basket for Bobby. And it was very classy – no melons, and no apples.”

“Now I get it! Your mom and my dad are both dicks.”

“Yeah, it went down exactly as my girl said it did, you mean, bald man.”