TV Review: Parks and Recreation, 4.02-- Ron and Tammys

I've discovered a new inability to write about this season's episodes after just one viewing, because there has been so much going on.  Therefore, I waited until I was able to re-watch "Ron and Tammys" to make sure I did my best to capture all of it.

This episode was absolutely hilarious, and such a nice reprieve from the angst and drama of last week's premiere.  Of course, it's usually a safe bet that any episode featuring Ron and the wacky women in his life is going to be pretty funny, but this one outdid even my high expectations.  Tammy 1 is truly a terrifying character, and I loved the way they wrote her as having just as much control over Ron as Tammy 2, but in a completely different way.  And I have to agree with Leslie that for as bizarre as Ron gets around his second ex-wife, the neutered version of him (the one who has to call Tammy 1 for permission to eat lunch with Leslie), is far more terrifying.

As if that weren't enough, this episode also introduces us to Ron's mother, who is predictably the source of most of our Ron's core values.  She is badass and hates the government and has a room in her house full of just guns (which Andy delightedly discovers), and she decides to help Leslie and her sidekicks bring Ron back from the edge.  How is she going to accomplish this?  An old-fashioned drinking contest of course.  I think I spent most of this scene alternately wondering what the heck that stuff would even taste like (all I could come up with was Leslie's take, "POISON"), and laughing hysterically at Leslie's intoxicated antics.  This show has shown us drunk Leslie on several occasions, but this one is absolutely my new favorite.

And because this show loves its viewers enough to top off a fantastic A plot with a wonderful B plot, we got to see Ben thrown into the crazy world of Entertainment 720.  First, it must have slipped my mind that Ben has never met Jean Ralphio before-- their interactions were priceless, not to mention they resulted in Ben being given the nickname "Jello Shot" (which should give you an indication of the integrity of this company).  Anyway, Tom asked Ben to take a look at 720's finances, which are pretty dismal ("they'll be bankrupt by the end of...this sentence").  Ben tried to talk sense into Tom, but I don't know how much our favorite would-be entrepreneur took the advice to heart.  It seems that Entertainment 720 may be doomed to failure, which is kind of a shame-- I would have liked to see them in an actual event-planning or promoting situation.  Maybe we'll get to see another adventure with this ridiculous duo before they lose whatever money they have left.  Oh, and also-- using Ben in the tag to give an incredulous tour of the office and staff of Entertainment 720?  Genius. 

There was also an annoying and far too long C plot involving Chris and Ann filming a PSA for diabetes.  Because the rest of the episode was so stellar this plot was made even more tedious by comparison, and left many viewers (myself included) wondering what purpose, exactly, Rob Lowe serves on this show anymore.  They could have easily left this out and incorporated Ann into a different story line somehow, because as it is now, she's stuck in the episode's only dull moments.

I hope next week sees a return to Leslie's campaign (because you know there are potential hijinks galore), and returns to the plot momentum that was so abundant in last week's premiere.

TV Review: Community 3.02-- Geography of Global Conflict

First, let's just all pause and appreciate the genius of inviting Martin Starr to make a guest appearance in this week's episode, and as Annie's political science professor nonetheless.  He is absolutely perfect in this role, and despite the relatively small part he played, managed to stand out as yet another oddball, half-inept teacher at Greendale.

I really liked that this episode took the time to focus a little on Annie as a character, and particularly that it took us back to her roots, rather than using her primarily as eye candy for the men involved.  However, the interactions between Jeff and Annie were a little weird, especially his insistence on fighting Annie's battle for her. And yeah, he explained it later, but it seemed to be in the name of another gratuitous Jeff/Annie fakeout more than anything else.  The "Model UN-Off" was pretty fantastic, though, especially Annie's meltdown.  This was one of the first times we really got a glimpse of what she must have been like during her adderall phase, and it was pretty darn compelling.

The B plot had Britta struggling (and I do mean struggling) to return to her would-be anarchist roots, protesting just about anything she could think up.  Add in Chang as the newly minted security guard she's chosen to target, and an oddly fantastic (though random) Lionel Richie track, and you've got a pretty hilarious subplot.  I have to admit that Britta got a little tedious during the show's second season, so I was glad to see her going back to being her somewhat strange self, the version we saw back in the beginning of season one.

So even in the aftermath of last week's shaky premiere, we got a fresh-feeling episode, jam-packed with laughs and even surprisingly astute political commentary.  And that's what this show specializes in:  surprising you with just how well it can deliver the things you didn't even know you wanted from it.  Now let's hope the ratings match the effort just a little bit better this week.

TV Review: Up All Night, 1.03-- "Working Late and Working It"

Another successful installment of this show, which is really starting to find its groove.  The writers are figuring out the balance between the three main actors, and let's be honest, a guest appearance by Will Forte is almost never a bad thing.  This episode had Chris struggling to maintain the romance in his and Reagan's marriage, assisted by a neighborhood friend who provides sage advice about just about everything (including an underwear analysis) in order to help him seduce his wife.

To be honest, I would have been willing to watch this entire episode if Will Arnett's had been the only plot line, but we also saw Reagan trying to coach Ava through dealing with the news of her ex-fiance's engagement.  Who is this fiance, you may ask?  Why, none other than a once-popular boy-band member played to hilarious perfection by Jorma Taccone, who you might recognize from The Lonely Island.  Ava naturally has a meltdown, leaving Reagan to pick up the pieces.  Also, there's a terrible, 90's inspired music video involved.

And how did Reagan react to Chris' over the top attempts to spice up their evenings?  She tried to beat him at his own game, escalating his need for them to be "dressed up" at home to a full-on Victorian bit, complete with a cringe-worthy English accent.  Fortunately, Ava was able to take her experience with her ex and use it to help Reagan, convincing her that Chris is "one of the good ones", which certainly seems to be true (he reads an adorable and hilarious poem about what his life would be like without her, complete with photo slideshow!). 

This episode didn't feature baby Amy at all, but that more than worked out.  It was all about the relationship between Chris and Reagan, and it was truly well done.  I'm glad that the writers have taken what could easily have become a weekly dose of crazy antics and have carefully laid a groundwork for something much richer.  Up All Night is definitely becoming one of the better comedies on television.

TV Review: How I Met Your Mother, 7.03-- "Ducky Tie"

This was another fantastic old-school episode of this show.  We had the somewhat silly story of the gang going out to Marshall's favorite restaurant and his bet with Barney, the stakes of which included a glimpse of Lily's "pregnancy boobs" and wearing Marshall's duck tie for a whole year.  We also had Ted somewhat sentimentally narrating his run-in with Victoria, and yet another lesson on fate.  And as if that weren't enough, we finished the episode with a strange twist in Ted and Victoria's conversation, which led to a somewhat cryptic hint about his and Barney's friendship with Robin.

It seems no matter how many ties they do it, the whole Marshall and Lily trying to outmaneuver Barney shtick never fails to amuse me.  Because of course Barney went all the way to New Jersey to learn Hibachi cooking, just so he could trick Marshall into a Pavlovian suggestion of that particular restaurant.  I'm not always an advocate of making light of sociopath behavior, but with Barney it just adds to his ridiculous character (and it usually manages to blow up in his face any time it nears the danger zone).  Plus, this plot was a nice balance to the more serious things happening with Ted and Victoria.

Speaking of, I really did like what they did with this development.  I was worried they would send Ted back down this path only for it to go nowhere (since we already had confirmation Victoria wasn't the mother), but I really liked the idea of Ted trying to do penance for cheating, and that Victoria has found someone she's really happy with.  I think it was important for Ted to have this interaction with her at this point in his story, because I think it will both alleviate the guilt he carried for his betrayal as well as give him an extra nudge in the search for the mother. 

Now let's talk about the Robin weirdness we saw at the episode's end.  First, Victoria's assessment of Robin and Ted's relationship might have made sense a few seasons ago, but I was feeling really secure that they're finally in a completely platonic place.  I don't know what to make of it, or of the fact that Ted didn't mention it.  And as for his comment at the end about how his and Barney and Robin's friendship "didn't work, but they didn't realize that until later"?  What in the world does that mean?  Now I'm going to be speculating about that for the rest of the season.  Great.

Overall though, a great third episode.  Season seven is looking very strong so far.

TV Review: Parks and Recreation, 4.01-- "I'm Leslie Knope"

I would normally be extremely ashamed of how late this review is, especially since I had a boatload of thoughts (some coherent, others not so much) the minute "I'm Leslie Knope" concluded on Thursday.  However, a bout of illness and a weird kind of writer's block prevented me from writing up my thoughts until now.

This episode was just about everything I could've hoped for in a premiere, and a premiere for this show nonetheless.  It was funny but genuinely heartfelt, and it accomplished everything it needed to in order for the season to really get rolling in episode two. 

We saw a lot of the fallout from last season's finale-- Tom plugging his new company at the Parks Department (although as April pointed out, they don't seem to be doing much in the way of actual work), Ron hiding in his cabin from Tammy 1 (and growing a truly fabulous beard in just a couple of weeks), and April serving as Andy's would-be mentor as he navigates the uphill climb from his career as a "shoe-shinist."  We got a fantastic humorous story line for Ann (finally!), but the most important part of this episode was Leslie, and the decisions she faced.

It would be dishonest to say that I didn't devote a large amount of time this summer to wondering how Leslie would negotiate a breakup with Ben (which I considered inevitable), and whether I would be okay with it.  After watching the premiere, the answers are (respectively):  flawlessly, and yes, I am beyond okay with it.  Despite the fact that the writers have further established Ben Wyatt as one of the most impossibly perfect men in the universe, the breakup was absolutely true to both characters and simultaneously heartbreaking and satisfying for the viewers.  They set up the actual breakup scene so well (and with so many fake-outs) that by the time Ben actually gave his little (adorable) speech, I was breathing a sigh of relief for both of them.  I know that there is a bigger plan in place for this couple (who are undeniably perfect for each other), and so for now I am perfectly content with watching Leslie pursue her dream and watching both of them figure themselves out.  When (not if) they do get back together, the relationship will be a hundred times stronger for having overcome this rough patch.

Also, the tiny teaser preview we got of Patricia Clarkson's performance?  Amazing.  Rumor has it next week's episode will feature Ron and all the Tammys in his life, and I am definitely looking forward to it.

TV Review: Community 3.01-- "Biology 101"

I have to confess myself just a little disappointed in this season's premiere, "Biology 101."  Then again, last season's premiere was kind of a similar letdown.  I understand that it probably comes from the writers not wanting to show all their cards this early on, but this episode felt too heavily reliant on some recycled group dynamics issues for its plot.  With a group of seven individual characters, it seems there should be almost infinite combinations for different scenarios, and yet Community seems to recycle the same ones over and over.  I guess I was too excited about some of the rumored upcoming developments, and to see an episode dealing (again) with Jeff and Pierce's respective relationships with the group felt tired.  And while normally I am willing to give this show a break, because one off week usually leads into several good installments in a row, I'm concerned that this kind of lazy writing will lose this show the negligible viewership it is just barely hanging onto.  NBC isn't going to lead off its Thursday lineup with a show that falls this flat this quickly.

I was also kind of annoyed by the opening musical number, to be perfectly honest.  Yes, I get that it was probably intended as a parody, but as a viewer who enjoys this show breaking with the format of typical shows like Glee, it felt a little cheap to see them using this as a device to add flair to the show.  Similarly, the Dean vs. Vice-Dean sounded great on paper, especially with guest star John Goodman, but in practice it was not nearly what I expected.  It was a subplot that was flat initially and then overused for the remainder of the episode, which suffered for it. 

Again, I have high hopes for the next couple of episodes, because this show has been proven to need a little time to regain its momentum after a flop.  I am still excited about the many different journeys we'll see these characters take this season (and I'm hoping they're a little bit fresher than the premiere would indicate), and hope that there will come a day, some time around midseason and after perhaps a really great film-parody episode, when "Biology 101" will be little more than a lackluster memory.

**I will say that despite this being a largely negative review, I did really enjoy the scene with Jeff depicted in the photo above.

Fall TV 2011: Parks and Recreation, Season 4

Of all the shows I'm really invested in, I think it's fitting that this will be the last one to premiere, because it is the closest to my heart and the one that never fails to make me smile.  Parks may have just been snubbed out of a much-deserved Emmy award (but we don't need to get into that here...), but I have full faith that Season 4 is going make this show's status as one of TV's best something that simply cannot be denied.

Where We Left Off:  As we overcame our collective grief at Lil' Sebastian's funeral service, loose ends cropped up in virtually every corner.  Tom has resigned from his position with the Parks Department in order to go into business with the irrepressible Jean Ralphio, establishing Entertainment 720, a high-end conglomerate of...something (Tom explains it better).  Andy and April are taking a big step in their relationship-- she's going to be the new manager of Mouse Rat, his band!  Ron is currently somewhere cowering in fear because the implicitly terrifying Tammy 1 has rolled back into town.  But the biggest cliffhanger at all is what we saw happen for Leslie in the finale's last few minutes:  she's being vetted to run for political office in Pawnee, a lifelong dream of hers, but there can't be any scandals to dig up.  And unfortunately, her secret relationship with Ben is a scandal as big as they come.

What's Ahead:  The showrunner's have intimated that the season premiere will have Leslie making her decisions on both professional and personal fronts (though in typical Leslie fashion, she will likely try to avoid a confrontation with Ben for as long as possible), and it will not be an easy choice.  We're going to get a glimpse of the "rise and fall" of Entertainment 720, and we'll be seeing not only Tammy 1 but also Tammy 0 (Ron's mother) as early as the season's second episode.  Considering the fact that this is already quite a bit of chaos and there are still a handful of characters to be accounted for, it is shaping up to be a pretty busy season for everyone in Pawnee.

What I'd Like to See:  Much as it breaks my heart to admit it, I just can't foresee a scenario in which Leslie gets to both run for office and keep Ben, so I'm predicting we're going to see a breakup by the end of the season opener.  It'll likely be a reluctant breakup, but a breakup nonetheless.  What gives me hope in the face of this is two things:  one, we will (hopefully) get to see Ben with a story line of his own, unattached to his relationship with Leslie; and two, Mike Schur has spoken on numerous occasions of Leslie experiencing "buyer's remorse" with regard to her decision, and he has suggested that whichever choice she makes will likely be reversed or altered by the second half of Season 4.  So I think we'll see a breakup in the name of Leslie's political aspirations, but I think she will be very disillusioned by the world of politics and will either drop out of or lose her race by the midpoint of the season, leaving the door open for a reconciliation with Ben.  This would give both characters time to experience valuable growth as individuals and to realize how much they mean to each other, and I think their relationship will only be stronger for it in the long run.

As for the rest of the gang, I'm really excited to see some great stories for the unsung supporting players on this show.  I can't wait to see Tom's hijinks over at Entertainment 720, and how he deals with watching his dream essentially go up in flames.  Ron and anything to do with anyone named Tammy is bound to be hilarious, and Andy and April are sure to continue stumbling toward adulthood together.  What I'm really pulling for this season, though, is a better arc for Ann, Leslie's BFF.  Last season we saw her descend into a kind of pathetic trend of serial dating, and not a whole lot else.  She works at City Hall now, so there are a lot more options for her as a character, and I'd love to see her collaborate with the Parks department on something awesome.  I'm not sure what will happen with her and Chris; for my part I hope they remain just friends, but we'll have to see what the writers have in mind for that.

Overall, it will be very difficult for this show to destroy the unshakable foundation it has spent three seasons building, and no matter what happens (even if, sigh, all my predictions are proven wrong), I'm sure it will be the same hilarious and heartfelt show we've all come to know and love.

Premiere Date:  Thursday, September 22nd.