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| Left to right: Rob Lowe, Adam Scott, Jenny Slate, and Aziz Ansari |
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 16
"Bailout"
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| Left to right: Amy Poehler and Jason Schwartzman |
"I'm kind of just fracking for friendship."
-Ann (Rashida Jones)
Tom's (Aziz Ansari) is busy running Rent-A-Swag with Jean Ralphio (Ben Schwartz) and his sister Mona Lisa (Jenny Slate), who don't quite cooperate with his business model. Ben (Adam Scott) tries to convince Chris (Rob Lowe) to mentor Tom to help his business, if just to prove that he is capable of being a father for Ann (Rashida Jones). Meanwhile, April (Aubrey Plaza) is trying to get into a nursing program and asks Ann for a recommendation. To this, Ann abuses her privilege by making her spend the day together. Leslie (Amy Poehler) is busy with a local video store trying to keep it afloat by making it get a historical landmark status in order for a tax cut. Ron (Nick Offerman) doesn't stand for it, though the status is eventually granted. Upon Leslie's previous comment about making the video store more accessible, the owner (Jason Schwartzman) decides to turn it into a porn store. This drives Leslie nuts. Meanwhile, Chris is helping Tom convince Mona Lisa to work more efficiently. This backfires and the two fall in love. April eventually ends up with Ann singing "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper in order to get the recommendation. The video store eventually works itself out by getting more accessible, non-pornographic titles. Tom and Mona Lisa are a thing, and Ron admits that capitalism makes America great.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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| Left to right: Mara Marini, Schwartzman, and Poehler |
I have to admit that a lot of crazy stuff happens on the show, and it is a miracle that any of it gets resolved. I am a big fan of episodes where good intentions end up going haywire in some innocent manner. With this one, it was Leslie's desire to keep the video store open, but instead converts it into a porn shop. It may be a stock concept for Parks and Recreation, but it is still ingenious when pulled off correctly. I must admit that the porn angle wasn't the most amazing thing, but it was a nice contradiction to the concept of "what is art?" and what happens when people are pressured to change. While not the finest episode, Leslie does a great job maneuvering inside of it.
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| Left to right: Lowe, Aubrey Plaza, and Rashida Jones |
Best scene: It was a great week for ensemble. Even the sight of Jean Ralphio was a nice addition, even if his screen time felt a little underwhelming. It was mostly about the porn shop in this particular episode, which had plenty of solid moments. Of course, this was also overshadowed by the introduction of Mona Lisa, who isn't exactly a pleasing character for me. She seems like an annoying type that if not written off somehow, is going to really drag the show down. With all of this said, the real highlight of the episode was when April and Ann are forced to sing "Time After Time" together in order to reach each other's isolated goals. What makes the moment greater is when Donna (Retta) bursts through the door and creates a three part harmony. It is an excellent moment of the show and proves that everyone indeed can sing.
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