Parks and Recreation: Farmers Market (6x12)

What a fun episode of Parks and Recreation! I was smiling through this whole thing. Some really lovely character moments and some excellent jokes made for one of my favorite episodes of the season.

So, Leslie and Ben visit the Farmers Market that Leslie helped set up, but then something strange happens: the chard salesman starts putting on a lewd show with dancing women and men in their underwear, and strobe lights, and the whole works. Leslie tells Ben to put a stop to it, but he says he can't do anything as city manager. Leslie keeps bothering him about it, but Ben creates a rule that they aren't allowed to talk about work while at home. However, Leslie is so bent on getting the chard people kicked out, that she keeps pursuing the topic. This all culminates in Leslie and Ben standing in a freezing fountain together, discussing the awkwardness of their relationship and their power dynamic at work. Eventually, they come to a compromise. The chard people can do their whole routine, but only after 5pm.

The exploration of Ben and Leslie's relationship in this new environment was excellently done. I thoroughly enjoyed it. All of the vegetable puns were hilarious too. I was very pleased and very entertained!

Then we've got Ann, who is pregnant and annoyed with everything. The only trouble is, whenever she tries to complain to Chris, he just instantly tries to fix all the problems. His positive energy is driving Ann crazy. She goes to work to complain about it at the "Whine and Cheese Club," where Donna, Tom, Jerry, and Ron are all complaining about work problems. Well, Ron isn't. He has his headphones on and he's listening to music, because he's required to be there for people to talk about work complaints. Ann ends up hijacking the group to complain about her pregnancy, which results in Tom and Donna going to Chris's house and telling him to stop trying to fix Ann's problems. When Ann next comes home and complains about her day, Chris just tells her that "that sucks," and Ann is grateful.

Another good story line. Highlight of the episode is when Ron, gesturing towards an iPod, says "Tom put all of my records into this rectangle!" I just loved the word "rectangle" here. It made me chuckle. Also, Chris is an amazing person. He tries so hard to help, but when he learns that Ann needs something else, he adjusts his behavior to give it to her. What a winner! The whine and cheese club thing was also great.

Lastly, we've got Andy, who ends up playing a show for a children's birthday party and has a lot of fun and makes good money. April tells him that he might be able to make a career out of this. Andy is uncertain, because he's supposed to be a rock star, but April encourages him to do what makes him happy. I was glad to see this plot, because it showed Andy doing something good with his life, but on the other hand it did make me realize how stupid that London plot was. Wasn't that supposed to give Andy more direction in life? And then they just totally scrapped that plot for no good reason. I hate it when shows do that. But, I did like the plot that they came up with in its place... so... I'm not sure.

Okay, so there you have it! I loved Leslie and Ben's plot, and Chris and Ann's was very good, which has not been the case for a lot of the season, so I was glad to see that!

8/10