Parks and Recreation: Two Funerals (7x11)

A little bit less unified and therefore less impressive than the episodes we've had recently, but I did really enjoy it nonetheless.

It seems like everybody is moving on all at the same time. Leslie and Ben have started looking for a place in DC, April and Andy are leaving, Donna and Joe are planning to move to Seattle, and Garry is retiring. As they are all discussing these changes, they learn that the mayor, Walter Gunderson, has died. It is up to Ben as city planner to find an interim mayor until an election can be held. Ben and April go around trying to find someone who would be suitable. April tells Ben that he would make a great mayor, but Ben says he can't go through with it. He doesn't want to erase his memories of Ice Town. He's glad that his first disastrous attempt at being mayor happened. It was what led him to Pawnee, to Leslie, and to the wonderful life he has now. He decides to make Garry the mayor, to April's horror. Leslie throws a little inauguration party for Garry, complete with a throne and a hot air balloon, and, of course, a banner.

Meanwhile, Ron discovers that his barber, Salvatore, has died. He is devastated, because Salvatore was a big part of his routine. Donna and Andy both help Ron to move on, going with him to the service, and later finding him a new barber. At first he is horrified by the flashiness of the new guy, but then he starts to enjoy himself, as the guy starts talking about how much he hates Europe, and bicycles.

Leslie is really upset about all the things that have been ending lately, so she's happy to hear that Tom wants to propose to Lucy. This will be a new beginning! Leslie helps Tom set up an elaborate proposal. They shoot an action movie with Tom running around getting in fights and such. However, when he picks Lucy up at the airport, he realizes that it's all wrong. He nixes the elaborate plan, and instead just takes her to the place where they first met. He does a card trick, having her pull a card that says "will you marry me," and Lucy says yes. Aww!

Okay. I do have a few problems. The Ice Town thing was supposedly resolved a few episodes back, when Ben fought for the town against Gryzzl's privacy invasion. I thought that was supposed to be his moment of overcoming and accepting his past, so when they did the same sort of thing here, it felt like repetition.

Tom and Lucy's proposal is cute and all, but I'm a bit confused by it. A few episodes ago, we had a plot thread where Lucy freaked out because Tom was moving too fast. Now, after taking a trip together, they're totally ready for marriage? It almost felt like I missed an episode, or something.

But other than that, this episode was lovely. Much like the other episode from this week, most of the awesomeness came from individual jokes rather than larger themes.

First of all, the continued near-future references are so fantastic. Apparently, Shia Labeouf has become a jewelry designer. Also, there's the fact that apparently people go into space on commercial flights now. They've managed to toe the line so amazingly this season. I'm never distracted by the whole "it's the year 2017" thing, but I'm always amused by it.

Ron's plot thread was lacking in substance, but it had some of the funniest jokes, such as Ron asking his new barber to "please talk more about how you hate Europe and bicycles," There was also the fact that Ron pretty much collapsed when he found out that Salvatore was dead. Ron is by nature a stoic guy, so the contrast there was pretty much automatically amusing.

Despite my slight confusion about the proposal, I did really love the way Tom proposed. He did his over-the-top bit, and it was fantastic to see Jean-Ralphio again, by the way, but ultimately Tom knew what Lucy would want. It shows that he really has matured, so that was nice. And the way he actually did propose was just so sweet!

Leslie sort of took a backseat this week, but she did have one of the funniest little jokes in the episode, when we learned that she's spent thousands of dollars at the banner-making store over the years, enough so that her credit card company called to sincerely ask if she was insane. Ha!

Lastly, I've made no secret of the fact that Garry is not funny to me. However, this was actually a really amusing end to his plot arc. He gets his moment of victory and appreciation, and the most maligned character on the whole show ends up mayor. That's actually kind of funny!

I'll leave it there. Next week, this show is ending. I'm really going to miss it!

8/10