I have to say, in a string of very strong recent episodes, "Sweet Sixteen" didn't quite meet my admittedly high expectations for this show. This might be at least partially because the plot centered so heavily on Jerry (who we all know is as mediocre as they come); that said, the episode is still solid and funnier than most of what TV had to offer this week, it just could have been better.
We find out this week that Jerry's birthday falls on February 29th (Leap Day), which means that it only occurs every four years. This seems par for the course for Jerry, but in a fit of guilt over neglecting some of her Parks Department duties, Leslie is determined to make it special. She rallies the entire department (plus Ben and Ann, of course) to throw Jerry a surprise "16th" birthday part (he's turning 64, so it's his 16th Leap Day) at Donna's luxurious (and secret) lake house. Of course, because Leslie is twice as frazzled as usual due to splitting her focus between the City Council campaign and managing the Parks Department, the planning for this event results in one disaster after another, the biggest misstep being that she forgets the small detail of actually inviting Jerry to his own surprise party.
Ron can see that Leslie is not going to be able to play both roles at full throttle for long, and nudges her toward taking a leave of absence from the Parks Department in order to focus on winning her campaign. Leslie refuses, insisting that she can get everything done, but after botching the party for Jerry and spending the day wrangling misprinted campaign posters, she finally relents and agrees to cut her hours at work down to just ten per week. I'm glad the show addressed this, because even given Leslie's documented ability to only sleep 3 hours per night and her obsession with her job, the notion that she could continue burning the candle at both ends and still stand a chance of winning that City Council seat is a bit unbelievable, even for her. I also think the show has struggled a bit in the past few weeks trying to decide where its focus would be best placed. This way they can have a largely even split between Leslie working on her campaign and the goings-on at the Parks Department in her absence, rather than scrambling to incorporate enough of both into a mere 21 minutes.
One thing this episode showcased (likely inadvertently) is the growing problem of Tom and Ann. This story line played second to the Leslie/Jerry/Ron antics, and it was extremely weak by comparison. I would even say that it was only saved by the brilliance of Aubrey Plaza's April and her increasing frustration in her role as matchmaker-turned-relationship counselor. Now I know I was one of the people defending Ann's choice to go out with Tom and insisting that it's true to her character--and I do stand by that, because I think the writers must have their reasons for thrusting this odd pairing at us for the third consecutive week. What is becoming hard to comprehend, though, is why either party is continuing to stay in the relationship when any chemistry that seemed palpable before seems to have evaporated. I appreciate the maturity (particularly on Tom's part) of the decision to stop fighting about "stupid things," but at that point it seemed like there was hardly a fantastic relationship worth saving. We have yet to see Tom and Ann have a legitimate, sincere moment together (and we all know this show knows how to do sincere moments), and continuing to assume those are happening behind the scenes (if indeed they do exist) is becoming tedious. I need the show to illustrate why it's okay that Ann broke several of Tom's "oh no nos" and why he wants to stay with her in spite of them having almost nothing in common.
Oh, and there was also a plot about Chris bonding with Champion, Andy's dog, and making Andy feel like a worse pet owner. I think Chris needs to be given something (or someone) to do, because whenever he is not in a relationship (which we then have to hear all about), he is extremely needy. Sure, his antics are still funny, but I still feel like he hasn't quite found his place within this band of misfits (unlike Ben, who emerged at the same time and manages to blend right in in a way Chris has yet to manage). I think as we move to focus more on Leslie's campaign we should accordingly see less of Chris, which might be a relief for characters and viewers alike.
On a much less related note, I think this episode may have rubbed me the wrong way at least in part due to the news that we are soon to be slapped with 5 (five!) Parks-free weeks due to the brain trust over at NBC shuffling the Thursday night lineup yet again to allow Community a return from its own unjust hiatus. I wanted Parks to air an episode that would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is the best show on Thursday and ought to be the last chosen to walk off the schedule (of course, most us would believe this no matter what). I just wanted "Sweet Sixteen" to be the episode that really put up a fight and made the execs question their decision, and I'm not convinced that it was.
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