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| Left to right: Amy Poehler and Chris Pratt |
Welcome to Parts of Rec, a new column that will attempt to take the weekly brilliance of NBC show Parks and Recreation and cut it into the bare essentials. After all, time is precious and sometimes you cannot read pages and pages of reviews. While it will be impossible to bottle all of the highlights, I will do my best to cover the plot, as well as memorable moments and just what makes it great in general. Make sure to look for Parts of Rec every Friday following the episode.
Season 5, Episode 1
"Ms. Knope Goes to Washington"
“Do you know why it’s called the Oval Office? … Oval Redenbacher…
popcorn inventor…he hung out with John F. Kennedy a lot…”
-Andy (Chris Pratt)
In the season premiere of Parks and Recreation, we see two camps. After being elected City Councilwoman, Leslie (Amy Poehler) goes to Washington to present a bill involving the water supply. She has taken along helpers that include April (Aubrey Plaza), Andy (Chris Pratt), and Ben (Adam Scott). Meanwhile, everyone else is back in Pawnee having a barbecue put on by Ron (Nick Offerman) in which he is planning on cooking a pig named Tom. This upsets everyone, so he doesn't do it. Meanwhile, Tom (Aziz Ansari) and Ann (Rashida Jones) are dealing with the recent choice to get together after a drunk date. They don't like each other and spend most of the time throwing glitter on each other, which is part of a new line that Tom wants to start called Sparkle Suds. They piss off Ron, who takes his barbecue and leaves the park. In the end, Leslie doesn't get her bill passed and decides to solve the problem herself. Ron also decides to hold an apology potluck by feeding everyone the cooked carcass of Tom the pig.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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| Left to right: John McCain and Poehler |
MVP: Leslie (Amy Poehler)
When it came to deciding who was better this week, it was between Leslie and Ron. While there are many great laughs that come from Andy and Tom, it was probably Leslie who had the more interesting arc this episode. In a turn that feels like a subtle nod to James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, she went to Washington D.C. and her time as a small fish in a big pond made for some great awkward moments and equally interesting cameos that include real life politicians John McCain and Barbara Boxer. If anything, this gives me some faith that the show is finally making it in this world. I would also love to see more of Leslie in Washington D.C., especially if Andy is around giving tours and spouting advice about First Kid and Orville Redenbacher.
Best scene: Since I gave Leslie MVP, I decided to give Ron the best scene. While the whole barbecue sequence was popping with great moments, it was really Ron's desire to cook Tom the pig that made this a great moment for his character. When everyone is against slaughtering a pig, he is sternly of the mindset that he is in the right to do it, even though he legally can't as it isn't a parks-sanctioned event. It may seem cruel, but it only adds to the delusional brilliance that is Ron's character. It is also pretty funny when there is a case of mistaken identity between Tom the pig and Tom the character.
Check out more of my work at www.nevpodcast.com where I post every Wednesday and have a podcast called Nerd's Eye View.
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