Parts of Rec: "How a Bill Becomes a Law"

Left to right: Amy Poehler and Jon Glaser 

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 3

"How a Bill Becomes a Law"

Left to right: Lucy Lawless, Nick Offerman, Chris Pratt

"I'm not eating racist salad."

- Tom (Aziz Ansari)

Leslie (Amy Poehler) is on a quest to pass a bill to allow a swimming pool to be open for more days during the year. Along with the help of a group of kids and Tom (Aziz Ansari), she fights against a noody man (Jon Glaser) to try and do this. Meanwhile, the department opens a new phone line where Donna (Retta) and Jerry (Jim O'Heir) answer phones. The number is supposed to be 3-1-1, but somehow is getting calls for 9-1-1, which causes the staff to dispense medical advice. Ron (Nick Offerman) and Andy (Chris Pratt) go out to fix a pot hole only to be stopped by little girls, who has them dress up as princesses. Ben (Adam Scott) and April (Aubrey Plaza) decide to go on a road trip together, only to listen to Ben's terrible mix CD (the other options were movie soundtracks) that features Salt N Peppa's "Shoop." They barely get anywhere before they run out of gas. Leslie gets her bill passed, but does so after only doing half of a perm. Ron gets a lady friend (Luck Lawless), and the rest lives happily ever after.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

MVP:  Leslie (Amy Poehler)

Take one last minute to admire that half perm that managed to steal the last half of the episode away from Ron Swanson in make-up and April's distaste for Ben's music. It takes real skill to pull off such a ridiculous hairdo and still get all concerned when you get it wet. Maybe the MVP is not Leslie (though she was pretty great this week), but her hair, which should be quickly become one of the show's most memorable moments in an otherwise lackluster episode. It wasn't a terrible week, but nowhere near as strong as the past two weeks.

Left to right: Aubrey Plaza and Adam Scott

Best scene: Tough call, but since I gave Leslie's hairdo the MVP, I figured that I would give the best scene to someone else. How about the recently discovered genius of the April and Ben team-up? They did such an amazing job last week that I kind of want to see them do it more often. Sticking them in a car together for the entire episode was a nice touch, and April just insulting Ben's music is brilliant. Making fun of the Singles and Grosse Pointe Blank soundtracks was great, but it was only topped by the cheesiness of the music on his own mix tape, which was Salt N Peppa's "Shoop." These guys need to go on road trips more. You know what, just enjoy the music for yourself.

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