OH MY GOD. This is my favorite episode ever. Yes, yes, yes! Good job, Parks and Recreation. Seriously. Good job. Let's go over the plot, yeah?
Ben's campaign gets under way, and Leslie immediately comes under fire for not being a good wife. She refuses to participate in a pie contest traditionally done by all the congressional wives. People have lots of different opinions. Women's rights organizations applaud her for not participating, while most people turn on her for not being a good wife. They come up with a solution - Ben will enter the contest instead, therefore showing their willingness to participate in tradition, while still getting rid of the sexism. It doesn't go as planned, as a men's rights activist group shows up and says that Ben is being repressed by Leslie. Leslie is told that she must publicly apologize. Right before she does that, Ben decides he can't let her go through with it. The two of them tear down this whole ridiculous sexist thing, calling out the men's rights activists for their ridiculousness, and just in general bashing down the criticism. They get about 50% cheers, 50% boos.
Meanwhile, April breaks the news to Ron that she'll be moving to start her new job, and Ron requests that April give him back the key to his house that he gave her years ago in case of emergencies. April goes to get the key out of the hiding place, but then she remembered that she set up a scavenger hunt to keep the key well hidden. April and Andy tell Ron what happened, but he's not upset - he's excited to try and solve the puzzle! April, Andy and Ron all run around trying to solve the mystery. They go to Donna, then down to the old shoe shine station. The key is nowhere to be found. Ron eventually tells April that he changes the locks on his house doors all the time, so the key is useless anyway. April realizes where it's hidden - she buried it under a tree that reminded her of Ron.
Lastly, Garry (apparently I've been spelling it wrong, sorry) and Donna have their own little plot thread. Garry accidentally loses his wedding ring and his keys down the grate. Donna sticks around to watch as Garry tries to get the ring back. The two of them reminisce about all of Garry's past screw-ups. Donna gets the city to unlock the grate, and she retrieves his rings, his credit cards, his heart medicine, his keys, etc. etc. Garry is grateful.
Complaints? No Tom for both episodes this week! I'm not terribly upset, because I didn't find his story line all that compelling, but at the same time, it was strange not seeing him at all. Other than that? This episode was gold.
Okay, so first of all, you've got the AWESOME BASHING OF THE MEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVISTS. Leslie Knope, you are my hero. She literally said: "You're ridiculous and men's rights is nothing." That made my heart swell with joy. And all of the things that the MRAs were saying... "Men have had a real tough go if it for just recently" and "can we have one conversation about feminism where men get to be in charge?" All of this sounded so absolutely ridiculous, and as well it should. The gross thing is - people really do say crap like that. In the real world. Hopefully at least one MRA saw this episode and realized how completely and utterly misogynistic and disgusting their beliefs are. Also, there's the punchline to all of this, which is that Ben gets named "Woman of the Year," pointing back to what I like to call the Macklemore effect. (Well-meaning straight dude is lauded as a leader of queer rights movement... Men getting laurels for being feminists...) Leslie's exasperation was just so spot-on. Damn. This episode was not pulling its punches.
Not to be a hypocrite, but I admit I did think it was sweet how Ben was so queasy about all of the sexism that he completely ignored what would have been the best strategy and just let Leslie go for it and rip everybody apart. They truly are a great team.
Also, Brandi Maxxx was back, telling us about some of her newest films, including 50 Shaved Old Gays. Anything that mocks that piece of trash book and movie is a win with me. (Seriously - don't go see 50 Shades of Grey. Be responsible and find your porn on the internet for free).
Then there's the plot thread with Ron and April. I've always said that Ron is at his best when he's being a father-like influence on the other characters. This was no exception. I loved the scavenger hunt, particularly when they had to find "a racist ghost with black hair who likes shoeshines," and discovered that it was Councilman Milton. That cracked me up. It was so sweet when Ron told April that the key was a sign of trust, even if it did become obsolete very quickly. And, the fact that April buried it under that tree is yet another sign that Ron was right to like her - that's the very same tree where he buried a large amount of gold. He's since moved it. Or has he? :)
We also got a recurring joke wherein Andy made fun of April for having a crush on him back in the day. This was really sweet, especially since it ended with Andy assuring April that he had a crush on her, too. However, the best joke of the plot thread might have been Donna's line: "You only get to see the second Twilight film for the seventh time once." (But seriously kids. Don't see 50 Shades. Or Twilight. I beg you).
The last plot thread was probably the weakest, but that's not to say there was anything wrong with it. I enjoyed seeing Donna and Garry bond... especially after last week, when Donna purposefully put "Garry" on his nameplate at the wedding, as a gift to him so that people would start calling him by his actual name at work. These two have an interesting little friendship. It's no secret that I've never found Garry to be all that funny, but I was okay with this here. Donna even calls Garry "the B word... Buddy!" Very sweet.
I think that's where I leave off. I can't believe this show is going to be over in a few weeks! How sad!
9.5/10
Okay, so first of all, you've got the AWESOME BASHING OF THE MEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVISTS. Leslie Knope, you are my hero. She literally said: "You're ridiculous and men's rights is nothing." That made my heart swell with joy. And all of the things that the MRAs were saying... "Men have had a real tough go if it for just recently" and "can we have one conversation about feminism where men get to be in charge?" All of this sounded so absolutely ridiculous, and as well it should. The gross thing is - people really do say crap like that. In the real world. Hopefully at least one MRA saw this episode and realized how completely and utterly misogynistic and disgusting their beliefs are. Also, there's the punchline to all of this, which is that Ben gets named "Woman of the Year," pointing back to what I like to call the Macklemore effect. (Well-meaning straight dude is lauded as a leader of queer rights movement... Men getting laurels for being feminists...) Leslie's exasperation was just so spot-on. Damn. This episode was not pulling its punches.
Not to be a hypocrite, but I admit I did think it was sweet how Ben was so queasy about all of the sexism that he completely ignored what would have been the best strategy and just let Leslie go for it and rip everybody apart. They truly are a great team.
Also, Brandi Maxxx was back, telling us about some of her newest films, including 50 Shaved Old Gays. Anything that mocks that piece of trash book and movie is a win with me. (Seriously - don't go see 50 Shades of Grey. Be responsible and find your porn on the internet for free).
Then there's the plot thread with Ron and April. I've always said that Ron is at his best when he's being a father-like influence on the other characters. This was no exception. I loved the scavenger hunt, particularly when they had to find "a racist ghost with black hair who likes shoeshines," and discovered that it was Councilman Milton. That cracked me up. It was so sweet when Ron told April that the key was a sign of trust, even if it did become obsolete very quickly. And, the fact that April buried it under that tree is yet another sign that Ron was right to like her - that's the very same tree where he buried a large amount of gold. He's since moved it. Or has he? :)
We also got a recurring joke wherein Andy made fun of April for having a crush on him back in the day. This was really sweet, especially since it ended with Andy assuring April that he had a crush on her, too. However, the best joke of the plot thread might have been Donna's line: "You only get to see the second Twilight film for the seventh time once." (But seriously kids. Don't see 50 Shades. Or Twilight. I beg you).
The last plot thread was probably the weakest, but that's not to say there was anything wrong with it. I enjoyed seeing Donna and Garry bond... especially after last week, when Donna purposefully put "Garry" on his nameplate at the wedding, as a gift to him so that people would start calling him by his actual name at work. These two have an interesting little friendship. It's no secret that I've never found Garry to be all that funny, but I was okay with this here. Donna even calls Garry "the B word... Buddy!" Very sweet.
I think that's where I leave off. I can't believe this show is going to be over in a few weeks! How sad!
9.5/10
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