Honestly, I was just really happy to see lot 48 come back, and “Leslie vs. April” spent much of its runtime sprinkling in similar callbacks to supporting characters, and Pawnee geography, to show the richness of Parks and Recreation’s elaborately detailed world. Recruiting Ben to help him get his Rent A Swag business off the ground, Tom begins a tour of familiar Pawnee businesses to try and find funding. Marginally older, but undoubtedly wiser after the pipe dream that was Entertainment 720, Tom brings his usual charm to the conference room table, but more importantly, financial projections, and an actual business plan.
When Ben’s presence backfires via a litany of job offers for the twice-successful campaign manager, Tom’s frustration is palpable. Granted, the investors they visit seem like they’d be more tailored towards doing business with an accountant than a fashion mogul to begin with. Getting into bed with Sweetums isn’t the sort of thing a Parks employee would reasonably do, not after how hard they tried to buy the city council campaign out from under Leslie, and a local news station doesn’t seem like it would involve itself well in the teen/tween market Tom is courting.
In fact, both Leslie and Tom’s stories don’t quite hold together with the grace their setups seem worthy of. Leslie heeding Ron’s advice to distract April by showing an interest in her (creepy) friend Orin’s art show feels like, well, a distraction, and Pawnee suddenly throwing jobs at Ben left and right shows unprecedented awareness of politics. Perhaps the mechanics feel a bit more forced than usual considering how simple the C-plot is, with Andy’s tracking down of a stolen office computer allowing him test the waters of really becoming a cop. This plotline came about unexpectedly at the season’s beginning, but the episode convincingly moves it forward ever so slightly: Chris hires Andy as a temp security guard for city hall, which lets the writers get a feel for how serious they are about Andy’s new job, without forcing him to leave the office.
And while I don’t want to sound like a broken record, the personal beats are as good as they are every week, so the stories hanging together flawlessly on their own doesn’t really matter that much. Councilman Jamm once more rearing his ugly, well-enameled head, by trying to turn Lot 48 into a Paunch Burger, was a quick way of getting April and Leslie to reconcile, even if their plan to stop him by flooding his lawn with dogs and kids felt a bit rushed. The upshot of the story though (besides being very funny) was the introduction of a new long-term goal: a vote in 90 days, meant to determine the fate of Lot 48.
Post D.C., the show could have just futzed around with Leslie in her new job for a few more episodes, but it’s much more exciting to know that we’ve got another ongoing plot thread to play with. Jamm will get the chance to become less cartoonish a villain than his introduction a few weeks back painted him as, Leslie and April have something to work towards, and Lot 48 may finally get a park built on it. In the same way, Ben quitting his accounting job (again) so he can help Tom makes for a fun character pairing, one with an objective far off in the distance. There’s plenty of potential in both stories, and rest assured, for as often as they’ll weave in references to old gags and favorite recurring characters, I’m sure they’ll add to the texture of Pawnee such that the next Lot 48, or Rent a Swag, will build upon our favorite town in Indiana even more.
- Stray Thoughts
-Much as I despise opposite humor (“I’d never do ___”, *cut to character doing ___*), everyone dumping on Jerry, after expressing their love for each other, was especially funny this week.
-Ben continues to prove his courage by rejecting the sad sacks at Tilton and Radomski once more. I can’t decide what was funnier, Quick-Books Pro lover Phil calling over Ted to hear another cutup from Ben, or Ben’s face once he realized the risk that comes with getting into business with Tom.
-Andy interrogating Gerry was a nice callback to Gary Gergich, but is Bert Macklin truly dead? Andy didn’t go into character once.
-Goddamit, Orin is creepy.
– Spin-off suggestion: Chris dresses up in his Sherlock Holmes costume, Andy goes shirtless, and the two solve crimes. Microchip and Macklin are on the case!
-Biden was a real sport tonight, although one has to wonder how the cameo would have gone down had the election swung the other way. Paul Ryan doesn’t seem like the type to let Amy Poehler coddle his face.
-At the mention of triple sex between Ann, Leslie and April, P&R shippers got a whole new wealth of fan fiction inspiration. Actually, it’s probably always existed.