Tonight I realized what is it P&R does better than any other comedy on air. It has this innate ability to introduce a variety of plot points at the beginning of an episode and then slowly, seamlessly roll them together into just two or three plotlines by the end of the episode.
Let's take the titular plotline of the night, that of Ron and his ex-wife, Tammy. (For those who didn't already know, Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally are married in real life.) We started the night with Ron still dating Wenday, Tom still mad at Ron, Tammy coming back into Ron's life just to screw with him, and Leslie trying to convince the police force to volunteer their services for the Harvest Festival. Soon Wendy ends her relationship with Ron so she can move back to Canada, Tom hooks up with Tammy to make Ron jealous, and they all meet up at the suaree thrown to win over the support of the cops. Soon Ron and Tammy get back together, and start one of their whirlwind, batshit crazy romances that those two fall into every once in a while. The fact that the show pulled off all of this without breaking a sweat is a testament to its skill at storytelling.
A less extreme example involves the convergence of the April and Anne plots, but this isn't nearly as revalatory as they both involved Chris. Yet, here it was about more than just the show getting all of its characters involved. Here, the show deftly dealt with three emotional ties: Anne to Chris, April to Anne, and Andy to April. We got to see just how much Anne has fallen for Chris – and how devastated she was when Chris wanted April to go to with him to Indianapolis (I think) and not Anne. (Here I'll point out that it's like Andy rejecting here all over again, in case you missed it.) We also got to see that April is still pissed at Anne for kissing Andy, as it expressed through her passive-aggressive move of not letting Anne know that Chris had to cancel on lunch. And we got to see that Andy is still sweet on April, as he forges a poorly written letter to get April out of the soul-crushing job of being Chris' assistant. (Seriously, I would hate that job too.) Now that's some efficient storytelling.
That kind of sweetness (another one of the show's strengths) was also present in the other half of the episode, and good thing it was, because while it would have still been funny, this episode did go to a dark place and it needed this sweetness balance everything out. Tom managed to admit to Ron that he just took Tammy out to make Ron jealous, and ended up taking a beating for Tammy, showing just how much Tom would lay on the line for Ron. (Just some great physical comedy form Aziz Anzari in that scene.) Not only does this reaffirm for the audience that Tom isn't the dick that his outward actions make him out to be, but this also marks that the show is moving past Tom's antagonism against Ron, which I think is the right choice, as there is only so much comedy to mine from that vein.
And then there's Ben. Poor, sweet Ben. By this point in the episode, the issue with the cops had become its own separate storyline, and while on the surface it was mostly about moving the larger Harvest Festival arc forward, it was also about furthering Ben's feelings for Leslie. This has been one of the better handles TV romances of the past few years, and I like how the show depicts Ben getting to know (and falling in love with) Leslie both by seeing her in action, and by seeing the respect other people hold for her. Not to say that Amy Poehler isn't an attractive lady (because she is), but I believe this is most any television show as shown one person falling in love with somebody based on who they are, not what they look like. (Well, there's Puck and Lauren on Glee, but I'm not sure if that counts.)
What did everybody else think?
Additional Thoughts:
“Don't be such a Jerry, Ben.”
“I don't know what it is about large outdoor gatherings that make people want to urinate all over everything, but it does. And they do.”
“And you imagine him in a cape while he's plowing your ex-wife?”
“Real piece of work.”
“Ron's got one just like it on his penis.”
“I didn't shave it off. It rubbed off. From friction.”
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