Parks and Recreation S04E04, "Pawnee Rangers": Jerry Disappoints (But What Did You Expect)

Even more so than the introduction that unseen Eagleton is an over-the-top ritzville, or that all along Leslie Knope has been in a women's group or writing a history of Pawnee, or that Ron's first ex-wife is an IRS agent and his former schoolteacher, I just could not suspend my disbelief at the central conceit of this episode: that Ron Swanson would willingly lead a boy scout troop.

Sure, of course Leslie would form her own girls' troop after a young lady was rejected from the boys-only Pawnee Rangers. It's frustrating that this is retconned in as having been going on for several years (instead of this episode chronicling the Pawnee Goddesses' founding), that their meetings questionably occur at the Parks Department, and that April has somehow been roped in as being a chaperone, but I'll buy it. Ron, though? Ron Swanson is a staunch libertarian, and the Scouts are an organization famously accused of espousing communism. It's believable that as in "Road Trip," if forced into a situation with a youth, Ron would embrace it to share some of his anti-government values. But voluntarily take some kids camping? And then be sad when they leave him alone? Not Ron f***ing Swanson.

This essential issue with the A-plot is only exacerbated by how the storyline plays out: with one of the worst stock sitcom plots, "girls vs boys." Leslie decides that this weekend (even though the Pawnee Rangers and Goddesses have ostensibly been around for years now) is a great time for the rival troops to have at it, and decide once and for all, which one is simply "better." Every trite storyline has the potential to be freshened or twisted into something exciting again (think Community), but even with a Leslie Knope spin, the A-line cannot surpass its cliched origins. This rather goofy, unbelievable plot attempts to provide itself with some emotional resonance with a (what is becoming increasingly-requisite) "Ron and Leslie touching moment," replete with a little Ron smile. But this storyline has not earned that little Ron grin, and the connection between the characters feel as in-genuine and contrived as the idea that Ron would lead a boy scout troop.

This episode could be saved by plentiful jokes or adequate ancillary stories, but sadly no in both cases. As Andy, April, and Ann are relegated to background players in the Leslie vs Ron showdown - though I did enjoy Ann's constant rebuffs by the Goddesses - the other plots are left with secondary-characters, and put into uncomfortable pairings: Donna, Tom, and Ben, and Jerry and Chris.

Jerry has not had very many of his own plots, and justifiably: he almost always brings laughs, but he's a one-joke character. That being that he is everyone else's scapegoat for apparently no reason. But if we get to know Jerry more, he could give us some explanation for that unwarranted hatred, and the joke would stop being so funny. No fear, this story did not ruin the punchline by providing Jerry with characterization, but it also wasn't very humorous - just a lot of awkward facial expressions and "umms," as Jerry Jerries it up with no one to make it funny by calling him out, and Rob Lowe cartooning up the place with his increasingly-caricatured Chris. And the reveal that Jerry's daughter is gorgeous and normal - this does not add to his character, but just takes away some of that ambiguity of Jerry's home life, which is a large component of his character's joke (this story inevitably disappoints much like introducing Ron's mom in "Ron and Tammys"; an unseen/imagined off-screen presence will often be much funnier than the eventual reveal of that character can ever be).

The Donna/Tom plot does not waste any big reveals, nor is it complicit in any especially malignant retconning (the "Treat Yo'self" was harmless), but it was just sort of irritating, with Tom spouting off more of his recent ridiculous idioms (has he become Jean-Ralphio?) and containing another of the worst stock scenarios: a montage of people trying on crrrrrazy outfits, culminating in Ben and a batman suit. Sure, he's dealing with his Leslie breakup, but though authentic to his relationship struggles, I couldn't help but thinking this entire mall situation was built around the punchline of Adam Scott in cosplay, not his character's current emotional conflicts. And yeah, that image is highly comic, but it's immediately spoiled by Tom's corny, predictable repetition of The Dark Knight's catchphrase.

Parks and Recreation has some of the most original characters on television right now, and with some of the most consistent characterization, but an effect of that freshness is a severe discordance and incompatibility with cliche. Every good show has some bad episodes, but it's especially disappointing when it's a series as generally exceptional as Parks and Rec.

-"Did they cancel Game of Thrones?"

Parks and Recreation S04E03, "Born and Raised": YES!

This episode had me from second one. I was already cracking up just from the opening background music parodying that of public radio, as Leslie makes a guest appearance on "Thoughts for Your Thoughts" to promote her new book, Pawnee: the Greatest Town in America. This book A-plot was pretty much just non-stop hilarity: the radio spot; the few pages shown*; the appearance on Pawnee Today and the ensuing scandal. Definitely the funniest episode this season.

However, even though the A-plot was hilarious enough to carry the episode, the other stories suffered what seem to be becoming recurring problems. The Ben/Tom pairing, repeated from last week, resulted in some humorous "nerd" conversation, but never seemed to go anywhere (it ended up Leslie didn't need them to "seduce" Joan after all... like poor Jerry and his errand), and had such a strange, awkward, rushed climax. ("Where the hell am I?") The Ann plotline, too, was uncomfortably lacking in purpose. As April and Andy have married, and the UST between him and Ann has been Rd, the character Ann has become more and more obsolete in any context other than her friendship with Leslie. Even with her formal promotion to civil servant, she feels out of place and extraneous to the Parks Department. It was even more awkward that this story involved her trying to engage in conversation with Ron and April... just: why? Ann explains in a talking head that she's know these people for three years now and they've barely exchanged hellos, but that's hardly motivation enough. April/Ron vs Ann is a pairing comedy gold is mined for, but there's no character-consistent reason to justify this happening. April hates Ann and Ron hates everyone -- unless Ann is a masochist or is "doing it for Lesie," why would she bother? Like the Chris PSA story last week, I just couldn't buy it, and this sort of spoiled the ensuing Jenny/Lester/Steve goof. I do deeply love Ron and April together, though. Oh, his little smile when she made him proud.

Many laughs were had this episode, but Parks and Rec definitely still has some character-kinks to work out.

*I have some screencaps for those of you who didn't have a chance to pause on the pages, but HOLY KNOPE IT ACTUALLY EXISTS!!!!!! I already placed a hold at my local library... where it is suspiciously/hilariously titled Pawnee : the greatest town in American [sic] / written, compiled, researched, typed, collated, proof-read, and run through spell-check by Leslie Knope. Super excited.

-"A non-profit group that puts umbrella hats on homeless people when it rains."
-"But they are lesbians."
-"Usually I only read nautical novels and my own personal manifestos."
-"Mine just says 'Get well soon.'" "Aren't you sick?"
-BERT MACKLIN!
-"You might as well be from China!"
-I noticed early on that Joan seemed to be wearing more makeup than usual... and with the divorce reveal, was shown to be a conscious character choice and not just another example of the media's exploitation of females. Yay, Parks and Rec!
-"Is she gonna powder her vagina?"
-"Nerd culture is mainstream now, so when you use the word 'nerd' derogatorily, it means you're the one out of the zeitgeist."
-"Well, let's just say the message boards are going nuts."

What Did I Watch Today: Too Many Tammys

Now that the academic quarter has started, I'm a little behind on my television watching.

Parks and Recreation S04E02 ("Ron & Tammys") - meh


Don't let me down next week please!

Two cliffhangers from the end of the third season came to fruition in this episode -- Tammy I's return and Entertainment 7Twenty's inevitable bankruptcy -- but these plot continuations/conclusions felt ill-conceived and frankly, a let-down. Patricia Clarkson as Tammy I out-intensified everyone in the cast, which really made me unable to buy anyone's reactions to her. The characters seemed just very goofy, and acting like the writers thought "oh this would be funny" rather than scripting what felt genuine to the situation (like Ron's rapid regression to an obedient schoolboy, or that scene with Leslie drunk - the latter likely inspired by the positive response to the intoxicated scenes in "The Fight"). But though there were lines I laughed at (I'll list below), this episode largely wasn't funny - just trying too hard, and I was very disappointed that this is all we got after a summer of Tammy-anticipations. The Tammys are funny characters, but they need to be written actual material -- just the fact that there is a Megan Mullally cameo is not sufficient, and it was comedy-overhaul to include Tammy I, Tammy II, and Ron's mom all in one ep.

The Ben/Tom plot was innocuous enough, but felt like filler -- it didn't build anywhere except to reveal the company crisis we've been aware of since last season, and there were no new or surprising jokes (Detlef Schrempf's cameo this time couldn't be considered unexpected), just reiterations on "Jean-Ralphio and Tom pay a lot of money for useless stuff!!" (Also, when did Jean-Ralphio become such a silly klutz?) The Ann/Chris plot was equally purposeless: Ann forgets and then remembers why she likes Chris, and to reach this epiphany, the viewer has to be subjected to Rob Lowe literally acting like a obsessive-compulsive tweeker -- "STOP POOPING" was funny, but Chris has passed the limits of mental stability on his path to eccentricity. Ann told much of this to the camera, and there were copious other redundant explanations of what was happening in a scene (Ben summarizing his and Tom's friendship; a Leslie cutting head telling us about the Ron situation), with little actually happening outside the narration. I do like the idea of these plotlines (especially meeting Ron's mom), but there were too many, and they were all too clumsily done.

-"In terms of shirts, I can wear white..."
-"We don't have any pens because we're afraid it's gonna leak on our shirts."
-Nick Offerman looks kinda like Jon Daly without his moustache
-Who was that John the delivery guy??
-"Could we take a peek at it?"

Parks and Recreation, "I'm Leslie Knope": Glad to Have It Back, But Not the Strongest It's Been

In a smart move, Parks and Recreation picks up right where it concluded its very strong third season: at Li'l Sebastian's memorial service, where Leslie Knope has been scouted as a potential Pawnee political candidate. The fourth season begins with Leslie telling Ann the news, and Ron (his hair still charred from a fluke funeral fireball) fleeing from his evil ex Tammy the first.


Hulu's got you on this.

Leslie, now a political candidate with a reputation at stake, needs to tell Ben (her boss and secret lover) about her candidacy and then break up with him, so as to avoid any scandals. However, when we cut to three weeks later, Leslie still hasn't confided in Ben, too happy with their relationship (he got her an éclair shaped like an L!), and proceeds to run away whenever faced with the confrontation. Except for some hiatus haircuts, Parks and Rec's characters are satisfyingly consistent, but it seems a bit unlike Leslie Knope to deliberately avoid checking off a task she needs to accomplish. This plotline provides most of the tension in the episode, as Leslie ducks out of chances to break the bad news. This is done in the very low-stakes way of Parks and Rec: we know Ben will understand the need for them to stop seeing each other, but the conflict comes in realizing that means both he and the audience will no longer get to experience them together. In a nice scripting move, Ben has already deduced Leslie's secret, and is already willing to sacrifice his relationship-contentment for her success. This reinforces why Leslie would want to date Ben in the first place, and is a nice contrast to frequently over-the-top, unrealistic sitcom break-ups (reiterated by Ben's recitation of cliché break-up lines, in an attempt to shift blame from Leslie). However, the realism of the break-up scene just further underlines to supreme goofiness of Leslie's avoidance tactics ("Anchors away, ladies."), though that at least paid-off in Ron's epic toe speech.

Leslie's A-plot is not the strongest, and excitement that Parks and Rec has returned distracts from the fact that the other plotlines, too, do not play out as solidly as they could have. Joe from Sewage emails a picture of his "drainpipe" to all the female staff (and Jerry), and after an offhand diagnosis about the size of the piping's "ears," Ann is flooded with other blurred-out photos to diagnose. This penis gag was likely much more pertinent when the episode was written, and has not exactly aged well. The exchanges between Ben and Joe (who went to Sarah Lawrence) and Ann and Chris comprise some funny dialogue, but the plot's conclusion in a male health screening does not amount to much (except the revelation of Jerry's well-endowment), which — typical Jerry — is a bit disappointing. This email story ties into the A-plot when Leslie gives a publicity appearance that appeals to the recruiters, but it still does not feel quite justified. Similarly, Andy's wishy-washiness about whether to work for Entertainment 7twenty is openly a non-conflict. This thread seemingly progresses to nowhere until Andy is given a position as Leslie's new assistant. It is a bit unbelievable that Leslie would agree to hire "not even that good at shoeshining" shoeshine Andy, but this lateral move likely won't affect the office dynamic, and will keep the Parks and Rec family small without unnecessary additions (like The Office's pointless new executive assistant Jordan).

Tom immediately coming back to his government job in this episode also ensures the status quo, but his easy return voids any stakes there were in his leaving, which was one of the third season's cliffhangers. In the last episode's tag, Entertainment 7twenty seemed on the verge of collapse, but is now made a non-conflict. It is a startup company even Andy knows is likely doomed to fail, but that has no effect in this episode except to provide funny sight gags as Tom hands out ridiculous merchandise and business cards. Hopefully, upcoming episodes will deal with what a waste of time and capital this company is, but "I'm Leslie Knope" regretfully squelches any of the anxiety this plotline provided last season, instead ironically favoring Leslie's avoidance tactics.

As Leslie Knope gives her candidacy speech at the episode's end, the season premiere finally gains a sense of focus and real drive. With the character consistency and plentiful jokes, this episode is not unenjoyable, but as most of the running time is spent shuffling in circles around non-conflicts, it is hopefully just the springboard for another awesome Parks and Rec season, and not the blueprint for all fourth season episodes to come.



Postscript:
-"Anne, you beautiful, naïve, sophisticated newborn baby."
-"If I could go back in time and cut your eyeballs out, I would."
-Tom's leopard print shoes!
-"I always carry emergency S'more rations in my car."
-"...granted, it was a hilarious prank."
-"I have the toes I have."
-"Then why is your moustache trembling?"