BLOGS

Parks and Recreation: Who Made the Comedy Grade Last Night?

If I ever get into the acting biz, Parks and Recreation is the first show I'm auditioning for (is this even how people get acting gigs?) because once you're in the Pawnee universe, you're there forever. That crazy DJ that Tom hired to announce his entrances into new places? In "Operation Ann," he's being considered in the search for the person responsible for getting the Valentine's Day dance attendees "wet with sound." That weird friend of April's who always freaks Ben out? He just may be an eligible suitor for Ann! It doesn't hurt that my memory for extremely minor characters is freakishly good, but I love every appearance we've ever gotten of both DJ Bluntz and Oren... but even then, as soon as you hear their name and see their mannerisms, they are instantly recognizable as the hilarious archetypes they're meant to be. Same goes with all of Pawnee's fine business establishments.

"Operation Ann" was another one of those episodes of Parks & Rec where pretty much every single line anyone said made me laugh out loud. My notes are basically a transcript, so if I don't include your favorite quote or moment here, please feel free to leave them in the comments so we can all laugh at them some more.

Tom: B
Okay, can we talk about this for a second? In what is clearly a sign that I'm far too into this show, seeing Tom and Ann on that date at first made me feel betrayed. I then went through similarly dramatic emotions, beginning with disappointment, confusion, clarity and, finally, acceptance. As far as funny lines and shenanigans, Tom's the same as he ever was, but if I didn't get out my feelings about him now, I think I would have literally died. Great hat at the dance, by the way.
Best Line of the Night: "Hey, Chris-Cross, can we change up the music? It kind of sounds like the end of a movie about a monk who killed himself."

April: B+
To be clear, one of the only reasons I am (gradually) feeling okay about Ann and Tom is because of April's involvement. It was a great move on the show to allow April to narrate the events that led up to their secret date, because if Pawnee's reigning snarky lady and Ann's ultimate rival can accept the concept of this coupling, I guess I can too.
Best Line of the Night: "Last week, [Andy] was supposed to buy gas, but instead he bought novelty cookie cutters. Now everything we eat is shaped like a dinosaur. He's amazing."

Ann: A-
Earlier in the season, I would have been very weary of an Ann episode, but these days I think the writers are a bit more secure with where they want to take her. Rashida Jones did a great job with her last night, and I'm pleasantly surprised that the writers didn't go the more predictable route and stick her back together with Chris. That's not to say I don't want those two extremely attractive exes to never be together again, but I'm all for seeing where things go with Tom.
Best Line of the Night: "It's really hard to say 'congrats' without sounding sarcastic... Seriously, I really hope you guys are all very happy... dammit."

Chris: A
I love everything about Chris right now. He's is best when he's depressed and I'm actually excited to see where this show takes him next. His music selection during the dance pretty much slayed me, as did his creepy too-long stare at Jerry. When Rob Lowe complained that he was underutilized on Brothers & Sisters, I thought he was being absurd... but I totally get it now.
Best Line of the Night: "Happy Valentine's Day, Pawnee. For me, it is not happy. But don't let my sadness diminish your night. Anyway, life is fleeting."

Jerry and Donna: B+
There wasn't a whole lot going on with these two, but they each had their chance at tiny little hilarious moments.
Jerry's Best Line of the Night: "I put an ad on Craigslist: 'Man seeking Man for night of casual fun.' Eureka! He responded right away."
Donna's Best Line of the Night: "I have several men in rotation, one's waiting for me out in the car... don't worry, I rolled down the window."

Ben, Andy and Ron: A-
Two questions: 1) It's been years since I read The Da Vinci Code, but why didn't they just smash the Cryptex open with a hammer? Easy peasy. And 2) Martin Starr! Is there any show reunion more exciting than a Party Down reunion? I would say no. Anyways, this was a fun little side plot to all of the Ann action and nicely pitted each of the guy's personalities together in order to solve a puzzle. I've been complaining about the lack of Ron and Andy's character developments all season, but at the end of the day, I love my Pawnee men.
Ben's Best Line of the Night: [in typical Ben cadence] "I think I can crack the code!"
Andy's Best Line of the Night: "April hates Valentine's Day. And brunch and outside and smiling. Ha ha, she's weird."
Ron's Best Line of the Night: "Well, I guess there's nothing to do but spend the rest of the night methodically solving this puzzle."

Leslie: A-
It's so adorable that Leslie pretended that she was too busy to buy Ben a Valentine's Day gift, and ended up creating the most intricate scavenger hunt of all time. I'm also thrilled that Parks & Rec brought back Galentine's Day, but I was really, really hoping with it would be a practical use for salgar... I had no choice but to take a few points off for the omission.
Best Line of the Night: [on the most depressing place to be] "What about a wedding where you used to go out with the groom, and you're the only one there without a date, so the bride makes you dance to 'Single Ladies' by yourself?"

Even More Funny Things That I Feel the Need to Include:
* Leslie's mom's "JOSEF STALIN DIES" pillow.
* The yachter otter! How soon 'til we see him in the NBC store?
* Ideal men for Ann include Ryan Gosling, Joe Biden and Sam Waterston.
* "I'm just curious if Ann had a little Indian in her?"
* A five-letter-word for the Cryptex clue: "Have you tried f***?"
* The tiny little clue taped to the bottom of Ron's shoe, and Andy trying to retrieving the clue from behind the glass.
* A possible suitor, on Ann: "She's not as beautiful as my sister, but you know the law!"
* Oren's hands slowly retracting from under the table, and the accompanying, "Yeah, I see you, weirdo," from Leslie.
* DJ Donna!
* Aw, everyone visits Li'l Sebastian's memorial on Valentine's Day
* Ben's cute little smile drooping as Leslie tries to pinpoint his heritage.

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