Parts of Rec: "Women in Garbage"

Left to right: Amy Poehler and Aubrey Plaza

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 11

"Women in Garbage"

Left to right: Alison Becker and Rob Lowe

"Hot tip for you babysitters out there, let your kids play with medical tools all the time."

-Ann (Rashida Jones)

*This week, I am playing catch-up to Parks and Recreation. Expect a daily recap until we reach the current episode. That recap will be made available on Friday. After that, the schedule will return to releasing them on Fridays.

After a discussion with an old councilwoman (Bonnie Bartlett) that reveals how unequal genders are at employment in Pawnee, Leslie (Amy Poehler) has a meeting to try and justify things. This only leads to her and April (Aubrey Plaza) being forced to pick up garbage and show the men how capable women are. Meanwhile, Diane (Lucy Lawless) dumps her kids on Ron (Nick Offerman) to watch while she is out of town. They take him to town and mess up his office. Ron decides to pass the kids off onto Ann (Rashida Jones), who keeps them entertained by having them rummage through her medical tools. Tom (Aziz Ansari) is doing successful with Rent-A-Swag, but wants to appear cooler, so he has Andy (Chris Pratt) and Ben (Adam Scott) teach him how to play basketball. They lose against the little kids, but win their business. While Leslie and April are picking up trash, Chris (Rob Lowe) and Shauna (Alison Becker) are hitting it off as she writes the article. The garbage men sidetrack April and Leslie by forcing them to try and lift a giant fridge onto a truck. This eats up most of their time, until Leslie gets the bright idea to sell it to a women's shelter. This results in the women getting more jobs as garbage collectors. Shauna and Rob are possibly dating. Ron is seen as a hero in Diane's eyes, even though Ann was the real hero, having solved a crisis involving a haircut disaster. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

MVP: April (Aubrey Plaza)

Say what you will about her dedication to the Parks and Recreation department, but she seems pretty dedicated to proving that she is better than men. With her typical sardonic wit and consistent desire to make fun of people she hate by rummaging through their trash, she somehow is the prime source of motivation int his episode. She is the one that keeps Leslie sane by saying that they could beat the men. It is also exceptionally great, as this episode seems to be rooted in the battle of the sexes through a job that is often perceived as demeaning. By staying motivated, the episode just proves that women are as capable of picking up trash as men are. Bravo, April.

Nick Offerman

Best scene: And I feel the need to give a shout out to poor old Ron. Having to deal with Diane's kids for a whole episode was a nightmare. Still, his motivation, which was to prove his responsibility as an adult was inspiring. Still, the moment that best signifies that Ron is in love though still uncomfortable about being emotional follows a tragic scene where the kids are locked in an office with Ann's medical tools. When he gets in there and confesses, you can sense that it pains him to have to profess his love. Along with the Chris and Shauna romance, this was heavy on couples progressing in story. However, hearing Ann joint he kids in a round of "Ron loves mommy" was somewhat of a touching moment.