Parks and Recreation - “The Bubble/Lil’ Sebastian”
“When I take a look at my life right now, it feels almost perfect.” - Leslie
Parks and Recreation was the best sitcom on television last year. Out of the 24 episodes in Season 2, about three were clunkers, and those still had hilarious moments. The show also evolved from the short first season - the pit was no longer the catalyst, because now the characters were interesting enough to just focus on them at their jobs. But this was a plot change, mostly, and didn’t change the characters.
Parks and Rec has sometimes played with sentimentality, like when Brendanaquits and Leslie talked at the park bench, but that was a capper to the season and his character. Mostly, the show has stuck with being side-splittingly hilarious through its characters. Sure, some laughs could be appreciated by newbies, but hearing Leslie show Ben the Ruth Bader Ginsburg kiss? Only a regular viewer could’ve gotten the full laugh.
The 16 episodes in this season have all been excellent - I wouldn’t say one was bad, which is rare for any show, ever. It’s been the best show on television. But instead of resting on its laurels, like most shows would, Parks and Rec is changing, just like its excellently-drawn characters.
The things introduced at the end of tonight’s episodes weren’t merely plot changes or surface-level character moments. They will change the series, probably pushing it from one of the funniest shows to one of the great shows.
You may be saying: did I miss something? Leslie will still be in the office covering her relationship with Ben, and he’ll still be there, and Tom will surely still be around, since 720 Productions won’t last, and Tammy 1 will be funny, not revelatory - so what’s the big deal?
The change is that we now have real stakes now, stakes that are directly rooted in the characters that Michael Schur & Co. have diligently developed for three seasons.
Remember Leslie Knope circa Season 1? She was mostly perfect, idealist to a fault, and reminded me of Michael Scott more than I liked. As the character grew into herself, we began to see a real human being, with flaws and aspirations, and we especially know those two things very well. Her main flaw is her devotion to her friends, and that includes Ben - she’s not giving up on him, no matter what. The first stake I realized tonight was that this wasn’t just some relationship, like Officer Dave was, or even like Andy and April are. She truly believes in him (like she tells him before her meeting), and he believes in her just as much. They just can’t break up and have a few episodes of awkward interactions and then move on - if this doesn’t work out, their lives will change, and we, the audience, don’t want to see that happen because we believe in them too.
And the second raising of the stakes ties into this - we all know Leslie would make a great politician. She’s not just some idealist anymore - she’s smart and capable of doing the best for everybody while understanding politics. We know how much this means to her through all those silly jokes while she was at her desk staring into the documentary camera. But maybe the most genius part of this is that Parks and Rec comes at a poignant time for Americans, where we all know we need a Leslie Knope in politics to do battle with the Dexharts for us. Having read Schur’s stuff for many years, I know how he gets frustrated with seemingly common sense solutions and how people in charge screw those things up. Leslie is his answer, and it’s important to him, her, and us that she gets a good shot at it.
That ties into everything the show will do next season - Ron knows Leslie well, as he states in “The Bubble” shortly before maybe the funniest scene this season, and he’ll be pulling for her. Everyone in the department cares about this. I can’t remember the last time a sitcom made me so emotionally invested. The shot where Leslie looks out the window at Ben was so utterly perfect, conveying so much without words.
Tom’s turn this episode is much the same, although on a lighter note. He’s essentially the selfish Leslie - singularly dedicated to a goal, to make Tom Haverford successful. We’ve seen all series that he enjoys the people he works with but not his job - most every Tom plot this season consisted of him working out of the office (Snake Juice) or trying to leave the office (Know Ya Boo). When we see him doing good, solid work at the memorial, we know this is important to him, although it’s not built up nearly as much as Leslie’s, which is fine. It’s still a huge step for him, one which will presumably crumble since Aziz is still on contract for next season. (Schur says 720 will be a major factor in the beginning of the next season.)
Most of the other things in these episodes were hilarious but not quite as game-changing, although Tammy 1 seems to be important (could she be a regular or a recurring star?). Jerry’s incompetence (or everyone making him incompetent, either way) burned off Ron Swanson’s mustache, the holy grail of the show. Next season will be interesting as Ron has to deal with his ex-wives, Leslie and Ben, and Chris still being a real boss.
Chris’s turn in this episode tied in well with the Sebastian plot, but I am scared of where it might go. He seemed at the end to be interested in Ann again, which I think is tired territory by this point. (Then again, I thought Chris’s rules regarding Leslie/Ben would be a stock sitcom plot, and I never felt that way during the episodes.) I would’ve liked to see a little more of what Ann was doing here - I don’t feel like there was any real resolution to her dating all of those guys, although you could say she was overcompensating for being humiliated by Chris and since she talked with him, she was cleared there. I feel Chris and Ann are the most underutilized two on this show, although that’s unavoidable with this many regulars and so many great Pawnee townspeople.
One question about Donna: when will she bang Jean-Ralphio?
April and Andy are simmering along just fine, with Andy’s pretty great “5000 Candles In The Wind” a highlight. April is now Mouse Rat’s manager, so it’ll be nice to see her have some responsibility. I thought the wedding episode’s execution was jumbled (I stand by that), but I see the decision for the quick wedding was perfect for their characters.
Ben continues to be one of my favorites, if only because I’m most similar to him. (I didn’t bankrupt a town as a teenager, no.) Adam Scott has done a great job - he completely fits in to the cast, and he comes across as a completely real character. Staying in Pawnee could’ve been incredibly trite and unbelievable, but instead it made sense. Thinking about Ben and Leslie just make me smile because their relationship is so well-developed, and yeah, so damn happy. What’s wrong with that?
Every good story is about the characters, and Parks and Rec has some of the best on television. The best and worst thing about all of this: we only have three months until they’re back.
