Wha...? But they were (I was) so happy! And then--but are they--wait, what did I just watch?
That's the summation of how I felt about the last five minutes of "Lil Sebastian," when we saw Leslie's game-changing moment and hints at the potential fallout. But there is almost a full two episodes to cover before we get to that. First, let's check how I did on my finale predictions:
*Lil Sebastian was the one to die, as expected.
*We did in fact see Tom hand in his resignation to pursue his dreams
*Ann did have an interaction with Chris, though it was different from what I expected. Chris is surprisingly still in the dark about Ben and Leslie, and so their conversation had nothing to do with the wayward couple. I did like that Ann seems to finally be over her past with Chris, and that they were able to talk as friends. I initially hoped that Chris' musing after she left was a sign that he might relax his policy about inter-office dating just a little, but by episode's end that wasn't even the biggest problem on the Ben/Leslie front.
*In fairness, I think the interview I cited in my predictions oversold the Ron/Tammy thing a bit. I was expecting an actual storyline rather than a relatively minute interaction, though I am interested to meet Tammy #1 (and see who'll be playing her), and to find out why she strikes so much fear(?) into Tammy #2, who bolted upon seeing her.
*As I forecasted, little developments with Andy and April were all we saw, like the show was trying to check in with them every time we needed a cute moment.
*I admit that I was completely off the mark in my assessment of what would happen with Leslie and her job. Chris' overhaul of the Parks Department seemed not to affect her at all, busy as she was with other matters, and the political recruitment plot was not something I was expecting to see this early in the show's run (though in fairness I guess they want to move it along and set up for a potential game-changer in a season or two. Leslie isn't going anywhere any time soon, but Ben might be? I was disappointed and surprised by this, but we'll get to that, I promise.
First, let's go all the way back to the beginning of "The Bubble" when things were a little bit sunnier. Ben was super awkward this episode, in a way that was almost difficult to watch. His meeting with Leslie's mom was a particular example of this, and I'm just glad they didn't put us through watching the entire exchange.
We saw Tom and Andy get banished to the fourth floor per Chris' revamping of the department, and I loved Andy's irrational enthusiasm about helping out with such a menial task, in contrast with Tom's loathing, which built nicely (I especially enjoyed him bickering with the elderly women in the office).
Leslie teaching Ben how to deal with her mother was amusing, and Ms. Knope Sr. liking him maybe a little too much was doubly so. Two things bothered me about this plot initially: one, Leslie and Ben were spending way too much time together to be legitimately passed off as just work, and two, I don't think Leslie actually did any of her own work all day. These things both proved to be a hint of things to come in the night's second episode (their many failures at secrecy and the relationship in general impacting the quality of their work), but it seemed like they were being too reckless right off the bat. Both of them said on several occasions that they both didn't want to break up and didn't want to get fired, I just thought that neither did a very good job of showing that they meant it. The only person I was glad to have find out about their relationship was Leslie's mom, especially because her approval of Ben clearly meant a lot to her daughter.
Let's move on to talk about "Lil Sebastian," where my heart started to crack (and not because of the mini-horse funeral upon which the episode's plot focused). There is a lot that happened in a very short time, and a lot of questions left unanswered, which means I will undoubtedly spend my summer wondering where things are headed.
Right off the bat we got more of Ben and Leslie just sucking at keeping their relationship a secret, to the point of it being really frustrating. I mean, they kept their attraction to each other secret for ages (Ben didn't even know for sure that Leslie was into him until "The Fight"), but now they're suddenly incapable of behaving like adults? I know why it was written this way, and what it was intended to do, I just still don't know if I buy it.
I really liked Ron being the first one to find out about the relationship, although I'm a little disturbed by how long he stayed on the line after Ben accidentally called him (and more than a little disturbed at the content of the conversations he overheard). I liked that he was upfront with Leslie about the risk she was taking, assuming that fatherly role he sometimes does (reluctantly) when it comes to her. You could tell that he doesn't actually oppose their relationship, just opposes losing his most valuable employee.
Chris' struggle with death during the funeral proceedings and his health "scare" probably should have humanized him a little, but I couldn't not laugh. It was just so absurd to think that someone so obviously concerned with prolonging his life and health has never fully realized that he's eventually going to die.
And of course that last scene with Leslie. She and Ben had just agreed to really try to tone it down (in other words, to do what they should have been doing the entire time) and be as professional as possible, when she was approached by political recruiters (would that be their official title? I know nothing about this). The Leslie Knope enthusiast in me was overjoyed that she's finally being recognized for her work and offered an opportunity that she desperately wants, but the Ben and Leslie "shipper" part of me wanted to cry. Of course they aren't just going to let her get away with choosing between her current job and her boyfriend; they're going to throw another wrench entirely into the machine and make her choose between him and her biggest aspiration. The episode left it up to us to speculate on what her "no" to the scandals question meant (is she going to break up with Ben? or did she just do herself in by lying about the first thing they asked?), not to mention that sad look through the window.
I honestly don't know which way it will go; there are obvious downsides no matter what. If she stays with Ben she risks her political career blowing up in her face before it's even gotten off the ground; if she dumps him she's sacrificing a relationship that at least two people in her life have expressed support for (not to mention the implication that she's already happier with Ben than she has been with anyone in the past). Both the relationship and the career can make her happy, but Leslie (and the viewership) is learning that in a non-ideal world, you usually only get to choose one path to potential happiness.
I'm going to count down the days until September trying to find a loophole wherein she can have both. Because Leslie is above all else an average gal, like you and me. And if she can have the best of both worlds, maybe we can too.
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