Parks and Recreation: Article Two (5x19)

This is my favorite episode of Parks and Recreation that we've had in a long time. There were a lot of laughs in all three subplots, and there was a real opportunity for the characters to have time with people they don't normally get to play off of very much. For example, Ann and Ben got to bond this week, as did Ron and Chris. Let's look at the individual threads.

Leslie's plot: Apparently there is a Pawnee tradition wherein a person with the name of Ted is thrown into the lake, due to a line in the Pawnee charter where "tea" looks like "Ted." This was a hilarious example of Pawnee's quirky and insulting history, and it devolved into a realization that there are a lot of outdated laws on the books in Pawnee. Ted, the unfortunate victim of the ceremony, points out to Leslie that he can take Tom's car for 25 cents because of a law about "Indians" in the charter. He's also able to break an egg on Leslie's face because she's a woman raising her voice to a white landowning male. But, when Leslie tries to get rid of these archaic laws, she runs up against resistance from one of Pawnee's town weirdos: Garth.

The citizen filibuster was hilarious, as Garth ran down his proposed plot for the next installment of Star Wars. My favorite line from this part: "Luke Skywalker says 'Darth Vader was my father but Ben Kenobi was my master,' and he cuts Hannibal Lecter in half." I found myself really wanting to see this movie!

So, Leslie and Garth make a deal to see who can go the longest without the help of modern technology. Turns out, Garth is a total loser with no friends, and he actually thrives in this back-breaking environment. Leslie eventually solves the problem by appointing Garth to the historical society in town. My favorite moments here came from Tom, who had hilarious dialogue. When Leslie and Garth were attempting to churn butter, he expressed his disbelief over how hard they were working: "One time my refrigerator stopped working. I didn't know what to do, I just moved!" Later, upon seeing Garth's depressing email history, he notices that he hasn't received an email in "Twelve days? Is he a ghost? The only one he gets are spam! And he responds to them!"

Leslie gets rid of the outdated laws, but she doesn't change Article 2, because she " just couldn't vote against a good old fashioned lake dunking."

Then we've got Ben and Ann. Apparently, Leslie has a holiday for everything. The first time Ann and Leslie have breakfast together, the first time they go to the zoo, etc. etc. It's a very Leslie-ish thing to do, and it was funny how both Ann and Ben are fed up with her for being so thoughtful. Ann is trying to get a special waffle iron, but she is being out-bidded by someone called "TallTyrionLannister." I loved Donna's appreciation for Game of Thrones, and I loved that Ann had no idea what she was talking about. Then, it turns out that Ben is TallTyrionLannister, and then Ann and Benn fight over who gets to buy the waffle iron. At the end of the episode, they finally decide to get Leslie to compromise, and they bring her the gift together. Now, there will just be one week out of the year for Leslie to celebrate Ben, and one week for Ann. Leslie pulls out presents for both of them to celebrate the commencement of this new tradition. Ben and Ann are both a bit annoyed. They say "thank you," but they sound grudging about it at best. Leslie is just so good at getting presents that they're always embarrassed by their inability to live up to it!

Some good quotes from this section: "Wait, you have Breakfast Day, too? Mine's in June!" (Ben to Ann). I also loved it when Ben nerded out on Ann and explained Game of Thrones to her. Then there was the end of the episode, when Ann and Ben tell Leslie that she's better at gift giving than them. She starts to deny it, but then says: "That's ridiculous, I'm so much better. Point taken."

Lastly, we've got Ron, Chris, and April. Apparently, April has to take a training course in order to be a department head. Ron tries to get her out of it, and in doing so reveals to Chris that he never took the course either. Chris is now forced to teach them both. This setup is hilarious because it involves the most enthused government employee, Chris, working with the two most indifferent characters, Ron and April. In the end, the two guys end up running experiments on Jerry to see which type of management style works better. Ron says that the only motivators are "money, fear, and hunger." Chris, of course, goes with encouragement and support. It turns out that the whole thing was just April's way of pitting the two guys against each other so that she could bail. Chris and Ron both agree that she'll make a great manager.

My favorite quote from this part of the episode: Chris says: "I don't want to seem over-dramatic, but this is literally a battle for April's soul." Ron says: "I don't want to seem over-dramatic, but I don't really care what happens here."

All in all, this was a solid episode that tied together several of the characters in interesting ways. I was laughing the whole way through.

9.5/10