Parks and Recreation: "Woman of the Year" Review

March 6, 2010 - I wouldn't say that this past week's Parks and Recreation was a stand-out, but it did offer up a lot of great character moments between Ron (Nick Offerman) and Leslie (Amy Poehler) which culminated in another warm reciprocation of respect and admiration, along the lines of the superior episodes "Sweetums" and "Hunting Trip." After Ron "accidentally" wins the Dorothy Everton Smythe Female Empowerment Award, he tries to make Leslie jealous in order to make her see the ridiculousness of institutionalized gratification. By the end, both of them wanted the other to have the award, realizing that the organization that was handing out the award had no intent of honoring actual achievement. I have to say, I half expected Ron to fall for the strong-willed woman from the IOW who told him to take the award "like a man."

There was a nice bit of bickering between them, but it didn't really crackle like it could have since Ron was only playing around. He was intentionally egging Leslie on by being a bit of a mock-chauvinist. As much as they've softened Ron a bit, I think they should be wary of taking away all of his rough edges. So far Leslie's gotten him out of an unhealthy relationship, convinced him to eat better, and taken his kind advice about her own boyfriend. Pretty soon he just might not be Ron "f***ing" Swanson anymore. He's still funny, but he needs to recapture some of his awesome curmudgeonly qualities.

For those of you that enjoy Tom (Aziz Ansari) and his aspirations for living the life of a high-rolling g-money pimp, then you're likely to have loved this episode, which included a Tom Haverford inter-office VIP presentation to try and get his co-workers to kick in a thousand dollars so that he and smarm-tacular Jean-Ralphio (the return!) can invest in the local Pawnee nightclub, The Snakehole. Tom's utter ridiculousness in his quest to live a hip hop mogul lifestyle is always funny, but not always engaging. His dreams are so plastic that it's hard to actually feel sorry for him whenever he winds up faltering. I did love the Three's Company reference with Tom entertaining the notion of naming his own future club "Tom's Bistro." "The word 'bistro' is classy as s***," Tom insisted, showing once again how great this show is with bleeped words.

And I'm sorry to say, but Mouse Rat is no more. Long live Tackle Shaft! Yes, Andy's (Chris Pratt) band has changed their name for the tenth or eleventh time and it was time for him to possibly move out of his guitarist's pad and try to get his own place. I almost hope that Andy and April (Aubrey Plaza) never get together because I enjoy their little moments together so much. You know, those moments with the very specific dynamic of her doting on him with wide eyes while he remains mostly oblivious. "Don't you work at Lady Footlocker?" April says to Jean Ralfio, proving that she does not take kindly to posers and wannabes. I also love the fact that, apparently, Andy has put the same two lines into every song he's ever written: "Spread your wings and fly" and "You deserve to be a champion."