Parks and Recreation - Episode 6.10 & 6.11 - Second Chunce & New Beginnings - Review

I’m combining the episodes from this week and last week into one review, and I’ll try to actually keep it short this time (once again, it’s doubtful I’ll succeed).

First, a few short words regarding Parks and Recreation reaching its 100th episode. As a show that’s been on the bubble basically every year, it seemed doubtful that the show would make it to the sixth season and the 100th episode, and yet, imbued with the spirit of Leslie Knope, it is the little show that could. It has built an incredible world within the show full of crazy characters, inhabited by a fantastic cast and guest stars, and it hits a tricky balance of smart humor and heart. Parks and Recreation has shown that comedy doesn’t have to be mean to be funny - but shut up Larry!

This season has been a big one for Leslie as she tries to find the next step for her to take. Leslie is someone who always needs to have that next project, that next goal, that thing that she can do to make the world (aka Pawnee) a better place. After the Harvest Festival she freaked out until she knew what direction in which to take the department next, which she only figured out after being locked in a B&B room full to the brim of cats. Hopefully it won’t take that intense amount of feline pressure for Leslie to find her way this time. In the 100th episode Leslie decides, concurrently with being booted from her post as a City Councilor, that she’s going to become a City Councilor! Nobody thinks it’s a good idea, especially considering the dirty way she plans to fight Councilman Dexhart, but for Leslie this is "Smallest Park" all over again. She can’t let go because she can’t see herself without this position, and so she’s going to fight like crazy (or a crazy person) to hold on. Luckily Ben helps to pull her out of her manic spiral, by hiring a very blunt Jennifer Barkley (Kathryn Hahn) to tell Leslie that she can do a whole lot better than Pawnee City Councilor, and she should trust her, because she doesn’t care about her enough to lie. And with that Leslie gives up her crazy quest and heads to Paris with her loving husband.

In the “New Beginnings” Leslie has pulled back a bit, but she’s still jonesing for a project. Unfortunately Leslie has very successfully followed the old adage, “Give a man a fish and you’ll feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, and you’ll feed him for a lifetime.” (Or something like that). She taught everyone in her department how to fish for themselves, and now, as Ron confirms, they don’t need her anymore. She tries to steamroll Tom in the Stew/Lemonade war of ’14, but self-sabotaged when she realized that he was perfectly capable of handling the meeting by himself. Now that Leslie’s looking for a next step, it’ll be interesting to see whether she tries to rise in the ranks of Pawnee government, or perhaps starts to look at external possibilities. It’d be hard to have Parks and Recreation with Leslie outside of Pawnee, but if this turns out to be (Bob Greenblatt forbid) the last season, perhaps she’ll be able to get out and pursue bigger opportunities. After all, Leslie’s aiming for the White House.

Chris and Ann reach some exciting milestones in the last two episodes. In the 100th episode they found out the sex of their baby - a boy, something they were both happy about. The next episode was a little more important for them, though, as they waffled with the idea of getting married. Parks is great at weddings, making them perfect for each couple. Which is why it was a pleasant surprise that the perfect wedding for Ann and Chris was not a wedding at all. They had already committed to a child, and then to each other, and marriage really didn’t matter that much to them. As they said, they made out on the first night they met, they broke up without Ann realizing it, they decided to become parents together when they weren’t together - unconventionality is a big part of their relationship, why stop now?

It’s a little disappointing that with the two of them leaving so soon, that Ann and Leslie don’t have more time together. They haven’t really had many stories together since Leslie made an effort to accept the impending move in the fall, which is disappointing as their friendship has served as such a good emotional base for the show, not to mention one of the first close relationships to appear on the show.

Ben was awkward as ever as he moved from his perfectly nerdy rebound job (accountant for accountants) to take Chris’ place as City Manager. He’s come a long way since he entered Pawnee as a grouchy budget-slasher, and it shows in his attempt to be fun (although trying to cover Chris’ positivity and his stern rule-enforcement did make him appear a little schizophrenic). Donna, April and Andy (by the way, ANDY’S BACK! HOORAY!) play a prank on Ben, getting him arrested for bringing in unpasteurized cheese from France. He tries to get them back with an insane prank worthy of Winston on New Girl, involving a fake kidnapping plot, and a shooting. Although Ben cancels the pranks, upon finally realizing the insanity, Andy sets off the squibs anyway, showering the four of them in fake blood. It was a fun story highlighting Ben’s extreme nerdiness, April and Andy’s perpetually youthful natures, and Donna just having fun.

Just a side note: Shouldn’t Diane be about to pop right now? No real clue on the timeline, but she was pregnant a little before Ann, and Ann seems to be fairly pregnant at this point. Where’s Ron at with his impending fatherhood? (Obviously with Lucy Lawless living in NZ, Diane can only make a few appearances a year - who knows when she’ll pop up to pop out a Swanson).

Big CONGRATS to Parks and Recreation for a fantastic 100 episodes! Here’s to 100 more!

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