This episode was written by Megan Amram, most famous for her bizarre and hilarious Twitter feed, which may explain some of the casual surrealism here. Nothing major, just occasional moments of oddness that flourish amongst the usual banality that forms Parks and Recreation‘s meat and potatoes. This was more prevalent in the April/Donna/Ron story than Leslie and Ben, and was a welcome distraction from the obvious maw left by the departure of Ann and Chris.
“Anniversaries” skilfully navigates around the hole by spending a fair amount of time with the old, crotchety Pawnee/Eagleton couple and the myriad of guest stars in supporting roles (John Hodgman being a new addition, and immediate favourite). This will be kicking up a notch after the announcement that Michelle Obama will be appearing in a future episode, but she’ll have to work pretty hard to be better than Hodgman, whose impact is immediate and perfect. He’s the ultimate Eagletonian, and the passive-agressive showdown he has with Dan Castellanata (also great) was a highlight.
The real meat of the narrative though might have been with Ben and Leslie, but the fun of the episode was with April, Donna and Ron. With April’s recent promotion, she’s in a position of authority over Donna and is struggling with trying to keep her in control. To combat this she asks for Ron’s advice, which she then ignores, and starts leaving anonymous Yelp comments complaining about Donna.
I am a big fan of characters in anything using both the first and surnames of characters, and the repeated “Donna Meagle” in the Yelp comment really made me laugh. Maybe because it felt like something Chris Traeger would say? Her threat to “go Mjolnir” on the commenter’s “ass” combined with the epic, whooshing camera angle felt simultaneously perfect and at odds with the rest of the episode. I’d like a few more of these moments in the future please.
Ron’s realisation that he too could tell companies what he thought of them – like April, with Yelp – inspired in him a flush of honesty that led to him doing that exact same thing, in the most Ron way possible. I love Ron, and that he uses a typewriter to type out complaints that he then sends to companies after finding their address on the internet seemed like something he would do. Not only is it the actions of a luddite, it’s also an absurd waste of time – in other words, Ron to a T. His childish glee at writing to Canada – “Dear Canada, go fuck yourself” – and also to the makers of carbonated water and a local vegan restaurant tied in nicely with the character. For an absurd Libertarian cartoon stereotype, there’s a lot of depth and honesty to be gotten from him, and I’m in awe at how he’s written in every episode.
Random Robservations:
- The gift that Leslie eventually gets for Chris is both perfect for him and exciting for us, reminding us of a very important upcoming date. Only two months to go! Also, I need one.
- Donna was great this episode. I thought her lipstick looked OK.
- No April/Andy action, and very little Tom Haverford action. Not good enough
- I did like the misleading giant check, though.
More Parks and Recreation next week!
