A major moment happened on Thursday. I let TiVo grab The Office while I cleaned my room, but made sure to be done in time to watch Parks & Rec live. It was a slightly sad moment, but sometimes you have to accept that things change. Okay, let's do this.
Play...
0:01 - Really enjoyed the cold open with Ron Swanson enjoying his typewriter, while everyone else bristles at the constant tapping. The only thing I wonder is if they meant for Ron to mess up by calling it "Electronic Bay.com" or if the writers actually don't know the E stands for Echo. Controversy!
0:02 - Crazy Ira and the Douche, SO much better than Tubby Tony and the Papaya.
0:03 - Although I want Community to win every Emmy for everything, I would be more than happy with Parks & Rec winning for writing if only for Rob Lowe's dialogue this season. Obviously everything else about the writing is spectacular, but so much care and attention goes into everything he says, like "you are exactly the person, that I most want to talk to, right at this moment." Other television characters might have some odd and funny lines thrown in, but they have to come up with a bizarrely specific, optimistic, and enthusiastic one-liner for just about every sentence that comes out of his mouth, and they pull it off every time.
0:04 - I said last season that I was okay with the will-they-won't-they thing with Andy and April because it was working for me. It has ceased to work this season. Her antagonizing Ann while she had the flu worked, because April lashes out at everyone constantly, except for Andy and Ron. Her response when Ron yelled at her was to quit and just avoid him. So while her avoiding Andy while pissed at him was understandable, the part about showing up with a Venezuelan boyfriend didn't make any sense, and her treatment of Andy has made her really unlikable. Luckily Andy hasn't really been dragged down by the storyline, because nothing can drag him down, so it's not like it's been completely unwatchable. I'm even a little excited to see him tackle her list of things she hates to do.
0:05 - "There's no time! He can FLY!"
0:08 - I LOVE Ben's backstory as Benji Wyatt, teen mayor of Partridge, Minnesota. I really wasn't expecting it to pop up again in the show, especially not in the major way it does in this episode. Supposedly that was of the early ideas for Leslie's backstory, but I'm so glad they decided to hold off on it. It would be too much of a constant yoke around her neck, since she's such a visible personality, but for a sad sack character like Ben it just fits perfectly. Also, big props to Adam Scott for out awkwarding even The Office with his stammering when his past comes up in the radio interview.
0:12 - I wish Leslie could do a newspaper interview 4 times an episode. Her "___? More like ____!" puns (like this episode's "Harvest Festival? More like Harvest BESTival!") crack me up every single time. Also a great touch that she always speaks to the tape recorder rather than Shauna the reporter, even going to far as to hold the recorder herself this time.
0:14 - "Oh really? Cause Brooks Brothers Boys doesn't make garbage."
0:15 - Nice subtle moment I didn't realize the first time around with April talking to Donna. She gets really defensive the moment Donna touches on how she's making Andy do all her work, but looking closer at her reaction it's obvious she's just waiting for someone to call her on it. She's not totally dedicated to being vindictive towards him, but it's yet another signal he's not picking up on. I feel slightly better about her now.
0:15 - Okay, making him rub Donna and Jerry's feet? Yikes. She's back in the doghouse for that one.
0:17 - Okay, even better than Ben's nervousness on the radio was his meltdown on Ya' herd? With Perd. Great decision to have it revealed via a video recording, since seeing Ben cover his face and try to disappear while everyone is watching made him sympathetic, while just seeing his reactions live would've only made him seem psychotic.
0:21 - April's younger sister looks about 4 years older than her.
0:22 - Once again, Andy saves another bit all by himself. Him showing up in his van and getting arrested would've been really clichéd if not for his dumb innocence once again shining through. "Are you trying to lure this young lady into your van?" "Yeah, but she's being really difficult about it. And, uh, it's actually not my van, I stole it, from a friend of mine. I technically shouldn't be even driving because my license is...crazy expired. He he."
0:23 - I also really enjoy how Tom is excellent at flattering women, but in exactly the way that would only work in a small town. Everything he says reminds me of, "oh, I'm sorry, I was looking for my girlfriend, not PAM DAWBER!" And that's the highest funny compliment praise I can give.
0:24 - "Ben Wyatt, Human Disaster" might be the most accurate title card in the history of local access television.
0:24 - Glad I figured out the "April was just waiting to get called out for how mean she is to Andy" thing before getting to the part where Ron did exactly that. Honestly, what would the world be without Ron Swanson?
0:26 - Ahh, sweet sweet redemption for Ben. I was expecting him to go on a warpath and start schooling caller after caller, but they did such a good job showing his abysmal performance up to that point that it didn't take much to seem like a completely turn around. Also very smart to have everyone look him up on Alta Vista, which I totally did use back in 1997. Just another small town quirk that I completely believe would actually be true of somewhere.
0:27 - "BOOM! Andy Dwyer!" That is the exact quote of me when April kissed him. I'm glad that storyline seems to be over, but I was even more glad for Andy; and that's why I refer to him as one of the best characters on television. If only Heroes had been filled with characters that great, maybe the crappy storylines wouldn't have been so unbearable.
0:30 - Great decision to finish off Ben's catharsis by having them rewatch his meltdown on Ya' Herd. Just as I said in my Community review that my dislike of Shirley stemmed from her having zero sense of humor about her past mistakes, I find Ben even more likable now after watching him take a bow over calling the harmless host "Turd Crapley."
Another strong showing from Parks & Rec, definitely pushed up a level by Adam Scott's performance. Things are moving forward, and it's a show that's very good at picking arcs. The first season focusing on the pit was a dud, but last year with the town's bankruptcy, and this year with the Harvest Festival have been great. They help govern the show so we don't end up with as much water treading or random tangent episodes like The Office has had a problem with the past few seasons. Looking forward to seeing where it goes next.
Status: *ding ding* Two thumbs up.
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