TV Review: Parks and Recreation 4.14-- Operation Ann

Valentine's Day a few weeks early?  I really couldn't allow it from any other show, but as usual the Parks gang gets an allowance to make me laugh, and they rose to the challenge spectacularly.  Not only was this another great episode in this season's winning streak, it featured a number of brilliant callbacks to some of the show's best minutiae from seasons past.

The first of these references to make a reappearance is the ladies-celebrating-ladies tradition of Galentine's Day (and yes, Leslie, I agree that it should be a national holiday), in which Leslie gathers all her favorite gal pals on Valentine's Day morning for breakfast foods and some of the most thoughtful gifts ever.  And this outing of course brought our attention to one Miss Ann Perkins, who is single and not exactly loving it.  Naturally, Leslie instantaneously embarks on a mission to improve her best friend's romantic situation.

After walking the Parks gang through what she thought Ann might be looking for in a potential partner (apparently he ought to fall somewhere between Ryan Gosling and Joe Biden in terms of attractiveness...), Leslie convinced her co-workers to recruit their best candidates for the position and bring them to the annual Pawnee Valentine's dance.

Also happening in this episode:  the most magnificent scavenger hunt adventure featuring Ben (for whom Leslie designed the hunt), Andy, and Ron, a (not so) reluctant participant.  Ron turns out to be the best sleuth of the three, but would like the record to show that he does not enjoy riddles.  The 25-clue wild-goose chase takes Ben and the others on a trip down memory lane, literally.  There's a stop at JJ's Diner (mandatory, as Leslie's favorite food is whipped cream), the snowglobe museum (which we've never actually visited, and which featured a guest appearance by Martin Starr, Adam Scott's erstwhile co-star on the cancelled-too-soon Party Down), and ultimately, the Lil' Sebastian memorial.  But if you thought that was the night's biggest mystery, you would be sorely mistaken.

The intrigue that quickly made its way to the forefront was the question of who Ann would end the evening with.  Leslie's search turned up very few potential mates for her BFF, and we got a few hints that the recently-dumped Chris might be looking for a rebound.  Leslie certainly expected as much when she followed Ann out of the dance and let Ben in on her suspicions.  Ben was surprisingly vindictive, wanting to catch Chris out on a date with his subordinate (reminding us just how hypocritical that would be), but he and Leslie could not have been more wrong about the identity of Ann's date.

Who was it?  Well, Tom, of course.  Okay, not of course (though I'd like to smugly point out that I did predict this particular twist), but it was definitely interesting.  What intrigued me more about this twist was the revelation that one April Ludgate-Dwyer had been the one to arrange the rendezvous.  This was another great instance of April showing her soft side, helping Ann (who she frequently claims to hate) enjoy an evening with "the one guy who made her smile all night".  I don't know what kind of future this couple has (if any), but I think any furthering of this plot has the potential to really take both Tom and Ann out of their respective elements in a really interesting way. 

Overall, a hilarious themed installment (and I usually loathe the obligatory Valentine's Day episode), that was both really funny and genuinely captivating.  It also gave us this gem, and a reminder that Leslie's love life hasn't always been the (relatively) smooth-sailing journey it is now:

Ann:  Well, it's Valentine's Day and I'm single and I'm at a couple's dance.  I can't imagine a more depressing place to be.
Leslie:  What about a wedding where you used to go out with the groom and you're the only one without a date, so the bride makes you dance to "Single Ladies" by yourself?