Parks and Recreation: Swing Vote (5x21)

 As always with this show, I'll break it into its subplots and talk about them each individually.

Leslie and Ron: Ron wants to cut government funding for a put put golf course, and Leslie is furious because she thinks that the funding is necessary. Turns out, they need to fight for a swing vote to see whether the funding should be cut or not. That swing vote is... Councilman Jamm. They play some golf, and Ron wins Jamm's vote. Jamm tries to cut a deal with Leslie but she says no, so the funding gets cut due to Leslie's integrity, and she angrily declares that she will find a way to bring it back.

What did I like about this part of the episode? Well, all the Ron and Leslie stuff. These two have great comedic chemistry with one another, and it's always fun to see. Ron tells Leslie that she is "rage sweating" to which she replies that she's actually "rage glowing." Leslie was a sass master this week - I loved how frazzled she was getting when she backed herself into a corner - "I'll figure it out! Who cares?!" I liked their put put showdown, and how Leslie tries to distract Ron from a good put by listing things she knows will drive him crazy, including "Ayn Rand is a terrible writer!"

Also, an A+ to Chris this week for his portrayal of the caddy. He's not just there to carry things around. He's also there for general encouragement: "Nice shot. Great sweeping! Way to be, duck!" He also gets pretty tense when he's waiting for Leslie and Ron's competition: "I could literally faint if I didn't have impeccable blood pressure." Oh, Chris. I do love you.

Then we've got Tom, Ann, and Mona Lisa. Okay, I don't think Mona Lisa is funny. I don't think Jean-Ralphio is funny either, and I never have. But this episode actually had a pretty compelling setup and there was some nice comedic payoff. Basically, Tom is trying to break up with Mona Lisa, and he needs Ann's help to do it. Ann talks to her, and gets her to break up with Tom by lying and saying that Tom is really poor and *gasp!* drinks tap water when she's not around. She breaks up with Tom, but latches herself on to Ann instead. In order to fix this, Tom kisses Ann to get Mona Lisa to back off. That moment was actually really funny. Tom says: "We just can't keep our hands off each other." And Ann, bless her heart, just says: "That is accurate." Other than this moment and a few other funny lines from Tom, I didn't care much for this thread. I just don't care about Mona Lisa at all.

And, finally, we have Andy. He's upset because his band was playing without him, since he's been so busy with other things. April tries to be supportive, but she doesn't care too much about Andy's music. Andy angrily writes a swan song to declare his retirement from music, but April helps him realize that he loves it too much, and he rejoins the band at the end. Rather simple, pretty cute. My favorite line was April's, as she discusses how Andy's music isn't her cup of tea: "I really only listen to, like, German death reggae and Halloween sound effects records from the 1950s. and Bett Midler.
Obviously." I also liked Andy's song. It made me laugh.

Ben didn't play much of a role in this one, but I did love one of his moments. At the very end, Andy is bragging about how original his band his for having two lead singers. "Name one other band that's done that!" Ben yells "The Beatles!" from the crowd, but Andy just sort of goes quiet for a moment and then moves on like nothing has happened. Hilarious!

So, I guess my overall impression of this episode was that I didn't really have much of an overall impression. I don't like Jamm or Mona Lisa, but neither were intolerable in this episode. There were some funny jokes, but it wasn't a standout for me by any means.

6.5/10