After a five week wait for our four remaining Parks and
Recreation episodes expectations were set pretty high, and as always Leslie
Knope and crew delivered spectacularly. First in terms of character
distribution we were fairly even in this episode; everyone got a time to shine
as opposed to just focusing on a few characters while sidelining the rest. Now
in a cast as large and fantastic as Parks it’s pretty hard to evenly sort out
plots, but they pulled it off in ‘Live Ammo’, while also introducing a new
character. This is great because we as the audience get a nice refresher of all
the character, (as if we would ever forget!), and it also brings up one of the
major issues for the end of the season.
Unlike previous seasons of Parks and Rec, this season will
be ending with a high stakes gamble for the writers; will Leslie Knope win or
lose her election? And not only Leslie is affected. Depending on the outcome almost
all of our characters will have to go through some type of change or shift.
Throughout the season we’ve seen hints of what that might be, so for example
Chris telling Ron that he’s considering him for Assistant City Manager. We in
this episode since we’re nearing the end of the season these hints have started
to become reality. Continuing with Chris and Ron, we found out that after a
series of meditation sessions that Ron was offered the job. But wait; if
Newport wins he’ll want to fire Chris and bring in new people. So now the
careers of two people are at stake. April in the meantime is attempting to
replace Leslie and is finding out that if you don’t care about the job you’re
not going to be very good at it, so she finds a project that she cares about
but she still fails. Her post-election fate is also in the air; will she go
back to being Ron’s assistant or try for a real career? Really almost everyone
will be affected by the election, and although it hasn’t been brought up
explicitly in any episodes yet Ben and Andy are also on the line. If Leslie
doesn’t win what will Ben do? Try again with the calzone restaurant idea? Even
if she does win what happens, does he go to work for her? Could he even do
that? Andy is only Leslie’s assistant because she’s running for office and
needs help, but after the campaign where does he go? A MouseRat world tour?
Parks isn’t the kind of show that typically has a high-stakes season finale,
and I hope they don’t try to do this every season, but I’m really enjoying it
this year.
Since the start of Leslie’s campaign there have been subtle
and sometimes not so subtle parodies of elections and our political process as
a whole. Tonight we saw another side of that by bringing up a classic political
issue that is talked about in our news cycle almost every day, the budget. I
commend the writers for bringing up a serious issue and treating it seriously;
you can’t pay for everything that you want and sometimes tough decisions have
to be made. This is a real issue that legislators deal with on a daily basis
and one that Leslie has a hard time with, but is a great real world problem for
her to deal with. Does the Parks budget get slashed, the Animal Shelter closes
and has to kill all its animals, or Ann and a bunch of other people lose their jobs?
This was the main story of the episode that most of our cast find themselves
entangled in. And like most budget shortages it was solved by taxing the rich,
well not exactly of course but Leslie did essentially force Bobby Newport into
funding the animal shelter. And yes, Bobby will look like the hero for a little
while, but as Leslie reminds us next week is the debate and Bobby is going
down. Next Thursday can’t come soon enough!
Random Thoughts:
- How awesome is Tom’s apartment? I would put up with him too if I could stay there. Also on a side note, that is the actual house of onevery awesome redditor who posted behind the scene pictures and stories here.
- I too have a love of furry blankets, I’ve got a nice pink one at work that I snuggle up in whenever the AC kicks on.
- The Ken Burns documentary that Leslie talks about is one of my absolute favorites, everyone who loves parks or the outdoors should watch!
- Of course Ron would have a leather-bound journal filled with ideas about bringing down the government. A manifesto one might say? Along with the cabin in the woods it almost seems like the writers are setting him up to be the next Ted Kaczynski.
- Ummm who are all these random people at MouseRat/Campaign headquarters? Some introductions might be nice.
- It looks like politics makes Leslie super horny, so Ben better watch out.
- They’ve made Nick Offerman do a lot of crazy things of the seasons, cornrows, burned and ripped mustaches, etc. But still I would give anything to see a shot of him in a pair of tight ass yoga pants.
- Any parks with a cavalcade of animals gets an A+ in my book, too freaking cute, especially the pig.
- And another amazing store name appears tonight in Pawnee, this time it’s the Greek restaurant the ‘Achilles Meal’, which is on a level of awesomeness not previously achievable.
- Does anyone else remember that half-time show that Leslie brings up? My boyfriend made me pause the show so he could laugh his ass off, apparently that group of singers should not be allowed to perform together, EVER.
- And why wouldn’t dogs play poker? Oh Andy, we love you.
- I love how the retiring councilman could not care less. I wonder what Bobby Newport would do if he was elected? As least building ships in a bottle is somewhat of a respectable hobby.
- Who wouldn’t want those cute cats!!! Although I did love April chasing after the woman.
- On a side note; if you’re going to get a cat or dog please adopt! Both of my cats are from the shelter and they are not only ridiculously cute but also very friendly and loving. The terrible commercials on TV may show pathetic looking animals with sad songs in the background, but the majority of shelter animals are amazing and healthy and just need a forever home.
- Councilman Houser! It’s been awhile since Leslie harassed you.
- What? Tom being nice and trying to inspire April? I guess he owes her for setting him up with Ann. It still is weird though to see Tom being sweet and nice to anyone though. Of course the next photo in the frame is that ridiculous one from the second season of him with the tiny cup, which is so amazing that they’re still using it two years later.
- That shot of Chris watching Ann was kind of ominous. Now that I’m just starting to get used to Ann and Tom, I’m not sure if I want Chris back in the picture. Although it would make for an interesting love triangle.
- I love Leslie trolling Jennifer about the water in the town, is Pawnee the new Mexico?
Favorite Quotes:
- “He’s deeply in debt, but you know what, who cares! Check it out, cheese plate and Adriatic figs! Leslie, this is always here! I don’t know when he has time to make it!”
- “If you hear any of them talking about that blonde pain in the ass, thatsa me!”
- “She referred to this meeting as a non-stop thrill ride.”
- “All due respect mister hamster-penis, no I don’t.”
- “Chris I feel I should remind you that I do not believe that the position or the entire government should exist. That said you’d be a fool not to pick me.”
- “The Beer-nonce Knowles. Which is just beer in a super sexy mug. Goes great with a J-Zima.”
- “Ok here’s the deal. It’s crazy boring, it lasts forever, and you’re going to wish that you were dead. Do you wanna borrow my yoga pants?”
- “Now I’m not saying that Leslie Knope is a dog murderer per se, I just think that her actions raise some questions. Like, for example, is she a dog murderer?”
- “I don’t know the answer to that Jennifer, but your tone makes me think yes.”
- “Hey good morning honey, how did you sleep? I adopted thirty-one dogs and cats. Did you want some pancakes?”
- “They should be rewarded for not being people. I hate people.”
- “A lot of these dogs helped rescue people from burning buildings. This one used to help Ray Charles around.”
- “There is a hot, spinning, cone of meat in the restaurant next door. I don’t know what it is but I want to eat the whole thing.”
- “Wait a second, am I Michelle?”
- “In the grand scheme of things, who cares? We’re all just molecules, floating around in random patterns, devoid of meaning.”
- “He wishes to remain undisturbed as to clarify his headspace.”
