TV Review: Parks and Recreation Double Dose

As you might have noticed, I failed to review last week's episode, "Campaign Shake-Up."  I took a bit of a hiatus from writing entries last week due to some personal things, but I think I lucked out when it comes to Parks and Recreation, because last week's episode and this week's installment, "Lucky," seem in many ways to kind of go hand in hand.  Ergo I will attempt to compile some coherent and insightful thoughts on both of them.

First, talk about phenomenal guest stars, amIright? Last week we had Kathryn Hahn as Bobby Newport's conniving campaign manager who is very much only in it for the money.  She was the perfect villain and a great counterpart to Bobby's cluelessness (which we were treated to a few weeks ago, and will see again before season's end), making you love to hate or hate to love her in every scene.  When even Leslie Knope can't really decide about a person, you know that person is probably complicated and definitely dangerous.  Then this week saw Sean Hayes' appearance as Buddy Wood, the "Matt Lauer of Indianapolis" (at least, that's how showrunner Mike Schur describes him), a Pawnee-hating wannabe superstar who I wish we'd have seen a bit more of.  Hayes didn't get quite as much time to really get into his stride in the role, overshadowed by Amy Poehler's always hilarious drunk-Leslie antics, but then his character had a very small purpose to serve anyway.

As I've mentioned, these episodes felt like two that really complement each other, both giving us snapshots of moments in Leslie's campaign and both providing us with quickly dismissed (perhaps too quickly, in Hahn's case) human obstacles standing in the way of our favorite Parks lady's ascent to power.  I think the chief reason these two installments seem attached to each other is due to the lack of resolution in "Campaign Shake-Up."  The end saw Ben and Leslie reflecting on this newly established complication, but it had been by no means eliminated by episode's end.  Maybe that's what made "Lucky" just a little disappointing as a stand-alone:  by wrapping up the interview debacle neatly at the end, it was almost as though it had never happened at all.  I would have much rather seen either greater consequences as a result of Leslie's disastrous interview, or else another week devoted to the campaign crunch and the rise of Leslie's opponents (I think this might all have had something to do with the availability of Hahn and or Paul Rudd, who portrays Bobby Newport).  This week marks, as other reviewers have noted, the first occasion on which Leslie's campaign feels just a little too dragged out.  I know they're hoping to give us an exciting finale come May 10th (intel from PaleyFest is that both a Leslie victory and a Leslie loss have been shot and only a handful of people know which will be used), but in the mean time it might behoove them to distract us with a B-plot that isn't totally disposable, as they have been the past few weeks.

Speaking of B-plots, I really loved this week's with Ron, April, and Andy (oh, and Chris I guess).  Nick Offerman wrote this episode, and one thing I loved about this part of it was the numerous self-referential moments, little nods to details we've learned about the characters in previous episodes (especially Ron,which I suppose is understandable given that Offerman plays him).  I love that we got to see the conclusion of Andy's foray into higher education (although I'd love to see him continue on and very slowly earn a degree in women's studies), and that we got to see a woman choose Ron over Chris (that must have been fun to write). 

Overall, I think I was just hoping for a stronger episode leading into hiatus, where we'll be sadly Parks free for five weeks.  Of course, the show's writers didn't know at the time that NBC would once again mindlessly shuffle its Thursday night lineup (yet another sign The Office should be preparing its swan song, but that's another story), so they couldn't plan accordingly with some kind of cliffhanger or major development.  The good news is that when Parks does return in late April we will be treated to an episode written and directed by Amy Poehler and (as if that weren't enough) featuring a fierce debate between all of the candidates running for this much-coveted City Council seat.  By the time I'm writing my next review we'll be edging toward May sweeps, and I for one am hoping this show has a few more tricks up its sleeve than just the mystery of whether Leslie will win or lose.

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.

Emmys 2011: Disappointments

The Emmy nominations came out this morning, and after all my hard work predicting the nominees, I confess myself (on the whole) very disappointed.  It feels like the voters were just lazy this year, for the most part, picking familiar shows they've nominated in the past-- such as Glee, which was God-awful this season-- and when in doubt, just nominating everyone from Modern Family (and they're funny, but not rule-out-all-competition funny).  Among the robbed:

Nick Offerman:  It was predicted across the board that he would be getting a nod and possibly even a win for his portrayal of Ron Swanson.  I can't imagine I'm the only one who gasped in shock when his name did not appear on the list.

Community:  Again, no Emmy love for this fantastic little show, which has more wit in one cold-open than Glee had it's entire second season (sorry, I'm just feeling really bitter about all the recognition for Glee, if you couldn't tell).

How I Met Your Mother:  I got excited when I read that it had received 5 nominations... until I saw that not one of those was in the major categories.  A tragedy, considering this season was much stronger than last.

Parks and Recreation:  Yes, they got 3, and I'm thrilled about that.  And maybe I'm being greedy, but I still feel that the best comedy on television (and yes, I will keep saying that forevermore) should probably have received more nods than the one of worst comedies on television (Glee).  Amy and the show had better win come September 18th, or I will have some serious anger to overcome.

And on the whole, way too much love for shows that had mediocre to downright weak seasons:  30 Rock, Glee, and Modern Family (still love it, but it genuinely wasn't as funny this year).  Branch out a little, Emmy voters, the rest of us have.

Parks and Rec Season 4 Updates!

Switching gears back to television just for a moment, I enjoyed immensely this interview with Mike Schur, executive producer of Parks and Recreation.  He talks a bit about what we'll see going on in Season 4, which returns on Thursday, September 22nd!

Very interested to see Tammy 1, Ann and Tom's respective story lines, and of course, what happens with Leslie and Ben.

Parks and Recreation Season Finale: Two Roads

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. 

TV Discussion: Parks and Rec Predictions

I've been saying it since January, but Parks and Recreation is honestly the best show on television right now, and is getting about one micron of the credit it so deserves.   I will be sad to see it go after only 16 installments this season, but I am overjoyed that it is (rightfully) coming back for season 4 in September.  Four months isn't that long....right?

Anyway, I've been anticipating the finale a lot, as anyone who reads this blog or has had to endure my endless musings will tell  you, and I thought in anticipation of tonight's wrap-up I would put all my thoughts out there for consideration (not to mention I like having all my predictions outlined so I can check later to see if I was right).

First let me say that this is all speculation based on my analysis of the show and the sources I've read teasing what might happen in tonight's concluding episodes, so no all-out spoilers here.  I will warn though, without trying to sound arrogant, that I'm fairly confident in some of my predictions.  Most of my thoughts are in response to this article on Entertainment Weekly's website in which Mike Schur goes into some of what might be going on in the finale.

Let's start with Tom.  As much as I adore Aziz Ansari (and barring a big career jump for him, feel pretty confident they'd be able to work him back into the show in some capacity), I'm fairly certain that this is the end of Tom's run with the Parks Department, or at least the finale will leave it looking that way.  We saw in "The Fight" that Tom's attempts at entrepreneurship aren't simply gimmicks for attention; he really wants to make a name for himself, and believes he can do it. Chris' oppression of Tom's creativity is very likely going to come up again tonight, and based on the scoop about Jean Ralphio's business proposal, I think it's probable that Tom will decide that now is the time to cut his government ties and strike out on his own.

What about Ann?  This season has seen her devolve a little bit (although it has been nice to see Rashida Jones break from exclusively playing the straight-man to Leslie's crazy), and we haven't gotten as substantial a story for her as I would have liked to see (in a near perfect season, this was one of the few minor flaws).  I'm intrigued, though, by what Schur has to say about her finally coming to terms with her relationship with Chris.  I think the idea of Ann getting closure opens the door for her to communicate with Chris again, and I think we may see her either stand up for Leslie and Ben outright, or else say something to fundamentally change his mind.  The more I think about it, the more I think I like the idea of Ann being the unsung hero(ine) of the hour.

Ron (and Tammy) seem to have a lot coming up in this episode as well, though I'm more hesitant to speculate on this one because Ron is a much more difficult character to read.  I'm getting the impression, though, that while most of us would expect him to be the first to help Leslie out of whatever mess she manages to get herself and Ben into, the personal issues he's dealing with will take center stage and will either prohibit him from helping or simply make him dismissive to any concerns beyond his own.

From what I can tell, Andy and April are going to be very much the "B" storyline during these two episodes, which I think will be very fitting.  Their relationship was a critical thread at the end of season 2 and the first half of season 3, and they've been on such a fast track since reconciling that I think giving them a slow, steady series of bumps in the road, teaching them how to take care of one another, is really the best approach.

And of course we have to talk about Leslie and Ben.  I think I'm finally done squealing and giggling over the last minute of "Road Trip," but from the sound of it "The Bubble" (at least before the conflict ensues) is going to have me turning to mush all over again.  I hope they'll give us a few moments of giddy happiness before Ben and Leslie inevitably turn the situation into a disaster.  I'm interested to see how the news of their relationship spreads, and how other people react.  I'm most intrigued to see if Chris will be as much of a douche about the revelation as we've been set up to expect (at this point my money's still on 'yes').  It seems that their decision to be together is going to leave one (possibly both) of their careers hanging in the balance, and I was sure it would be Ben's until I read the article mentioned above.

Schur says that there will be an "out of nowhere curveball" for Leslie in the final scene, and my gut is telling me, against (almost) all logic, that we are going to see Leslie Knope step down as the Deputy Director of the Parks Department.  There are really only a couple of scenarios in which I could see this happening, so let me outline it as best I can:

*If it came down to one of them (Leslie or Ben) having to quit their job to keep their relationship (assuming they're committed enough to do that), my money would be on Ben 98% of the time.  He's not as attached, his skills are probably more transferable, and Leslie is much more established in Pawnee.  Additionally, I just don't think Leslie is serious enough about Ben to quit her job for him.

HOWEVER...

*There is this nagging plot point of Chris trying to drastically restructure the department, and it sounds like he's going to be pretty aggressive about it.  Let's suppose he wants to alter the Parks Department in such a way that Leslie's job and perhaps her staff will be very different, to its detriment.  The fact that Chris is actively preventing her relationship in conjunction with him making her beloved job virtually unrecognizable may well prompt her to issue her resignation by the episode's end.

I have to stop here; there are already way too many thoughts in this for one post.  But I am so excited to watch tonight, and even if I'm wrong about absolutely everything, I know the show will deliver like it has been all season, and leave me wishing September could start tomorrow.

TV Review: The Parks and Rec Gang's All Here...and They're Wasted

I've decided to recap each half of last night's Parks and Recreation Double-Shot Bonanza individually, if only because I'm anticipating having a lot to say, and most of my thoughts on "Road Trip" are still gushing and hitting random keys on the keyboard.

I don't think I fully realized that Leslie and Ann have never had an honest-to-goodness fight before, but I really liked the way the show handled it.  Each of them got a lot off her chest, and even though they were all viciously hungover the next day (literally and figuratively), they resolved it in a way that was very honest and realistic.  Bonus points for having Ben be the one to extend Leslie's olive branch on her behalf, and double bonus points for it leading to Ann's revelation that his feelings for their yellow-haired friend were mutual.

As someone with an absurdly high tolerance for alcohol, I'd be very interested to try Snake Juice.  It sounded right up my alley-- caffeine, booze, Kahlua-like flavor-- but I digress.  I loved the way that everyone jumped on board with Tom's latest crackpot scheme, with hilarious results.  Just seeing how everyone reacted to the drank was worth the entire episode, especially Leslie's angry demands that Jean Ralphio "dance up on her."

Overall, this episode was not only hysterical, but it was a great setup for the next installment.  It ended up being a huge blessing that they both aired in the same night, because I think I might have died of anticipation if NBC had made me wait seven whole days to find out what was coming next.

Parks and Rec Looks at Life on the Other Side of the Fence

Pawnee vs. Eagleton.  Love it!  This show just has so many dimensions that emerge week by week; I can't get enough.  The comparisons were really great, I especially loved the cupcake-induced vanilla air.  I also loved that we got another little snapshot of Leslie's history-- it's getting hard to believe there will be a development that won't make me love her even more.

Parker Posey, who I did not care for up to this point, played typical rich snob Lindsey with the perfect amount of venom and condescension.  And by the time the garbage fight started, you could hardly blame Leslie for tackling her. 

The episode wrapped up on a heartfelt note, restoring our faith in Leslie as the right gal for the job she does.  Loved her conversation with Ron (and loved that it followed the entire episode of him trying to avoid having his birthday celebrated), and loved the baseball league.

There wasn't much of Ben and Leslie during this episode, which I expected given that the emphasis on them has been pretty heavy over the last few episodes.  This is okay with me for two reasons:  one, the episode gave us a great moment of Ben talking Leslie down (and I imagine he's the only one she would've listened to), only further convincing me of their perfect-ness; and two, not only are we getting a double dose of Parks next week, one of them episodes is supposed to center almost entirely on everyone's favorite couple.  I can wait another week to watch that pan out.

TV Review: The Writers of Parks and Recreation May Be My "Soulmates"

There were so many things going on in this episode that I adored.  To name a few:  Chris taking the team on a journey to the natural foods store; April and Andy being the cutest boring married couple in the world; Ann taking the sluttiness up a notch (I'm sensing potential for an intervention, Leslie Knope style, in the near future); literally every single thing that Tom said/did; and of course my favorite development of the night....any guesses?  Anyone?

Let's talk about that first, since I'll just be distracted trying to write on anything else.  I cannot express how worried I was when Ben shot Leslie down in their first scene together.  I mean, I was pissed.  You can't just build up someone being attracted to someone else for an entire season then have them drop it like nothing happened.  Fortunately, I held out hope, knowing that the writers over at Parks would never be so incompetent (I mean, it isn't Glee, folks).  And alas, they redeemed themselves in the end:  Ben just doesn't want to get himself or Leslie fired, because Chris has a policy against inter-office relationships.  (Sidenote:  I was totally thinking to myself, "Well that's hypocritical, what about him and Ann?", and then I remembered that she doesn't actually work in their office.)  At any rate, I'm glad that they both know how the other feels now, and I'm interested to see how they're going to handle this.  The obvious answer (and hope) is some kind of secret romance, but unfortunately neither Leslie nor Ben strikes me as capable of being particularly stealthy.  I just hope they don't spend the rest of the season pretending that the revelations in this episode didn't happen (again, it isn't Glee, and I need to remember that).

But backtracking just a little bit, I want to take a moment to examine the LOLZ factor of the Leslie and Tom saga with which this episode gifted us.  Point number one:  Tom looks like such a creeper in his online dating profile photo.  Point number two: That little smile he aimed at the camera, the one where you could almost see him deciding to mess with Leslie, that was like the smile of a hilarious baby angel, and I think Aziz Ansari needs to make that face like, all the time.  Point number three:  Tom's three wishes.  Enough said.  Point four:  The kiss, and Tom's reaction/description with Ben afterward was so perfectly awkward.  Moments like these and plot lines like this one would probably never work on any other show, and that's part of what makes this one so fabulous.

Bonus moment of hilarity:  Ron comparing watching the vegans in the natural foods store to watching animals in the zoo.  So, so good.

TV Round-Up: Comedy Night Done Right, Indeed

Community- "Competitive Wine Tasting":  This episode was such a perfect return for this show, and one that I think indicates a very successful final leg of season two.  It had everything that makes this show great-- Jeff with his standard smarminess fully loaded once again, Abed being a television-savant, Troy and Britta (we'll get to that in a minute!), and of course, Pierce meeting his racist, shallow match.  Minimal Shirley, Chang, and Annie proved to be a good thing this week as well.

First the Jeff and Pierce story:  well executed and genuinely intriguing, not to mention funny.  I really enjoyed the contrast between Jeff's disbelief that any girl could choose Pierce over him, and then his subsequent striving to protect his friend from the same woman.  He was charming and sympathetic, but still managed to have a few lines that made you want to roll your eyes at him.  Also, I am loving the way that Annie gets incorporated more and more as Jeff's conscience, warning him when he's about to go astray.  If I can't have them as a couple, then I'll take this as an alternative.

And speaking of couples... what was going on with Britta and Troy?  This was clearly a follow-up to what we (arguably) saw beginnings of in "Interpretive Dance," with that weird hint of tension between them.  And of course, the writers do seem interested in proving this season that they'll literally pair anyone together for at least a small arc.  Troy's line in their little talk at the end there, when he hinted that he wanted Britta to be attracted to him threw me off, but in a good way (I think).  I think they're both cute and definitely cute together, and I'm all for random pairings if they make at least a little bit of sense.  I like that we got a little bit of setup for something more, if the writers choose to go that direction, but not so much that I'll be devastated if it doesn't happen.

Parks and Recreation- "Fancy Party":  Well, shit.  All I can really say is that this was an adorable-ness overload.  No, wait, I'll say more-- I'll say that I'm pretty sure this is the best episode of any of the shows I review this entire season.  It was just perfect in every regard, and when I'm done gushing and getting myself un-choked up, I'll be able to articulate actual thoughts.

I never thought this show would have the ability to make me laugh hysterically and genuinely tear up in the course of the same episode, but this one did, and it was April and Andy's surprise wedding that did it.  I loved every moment of it, from the shock of realizing they weren't going to have some kind of disruption from Leslie or Ann or one of themselves, to the absurd preciousness of Andy's vows.  I'm so glad that this show doesn't feel the need to adhere to the "rules" of TV relationships-- I was worried they'd spend the rest of this season not allowing Andy and April to be happy together but putting roadblocks in their relationship every other episode for the sake of drama.  But they went the opposite direction, and I know I'm not the only viewer who appreciates that.  Yes, the marriage will probably not be perfect (even though as far as couples go, this one is just about  perfect), but I'm excited to see what happens next, and if nothing else just bask in the pure happiness of witnessing the occasion.

Leslie and Ben, you two are killing me.  This tension reminds me of (and may even be worse than) those early days of The Office when Jim and Pam were falling in love with each other but refusing to acknowledge it.  I say that this might even be worse because in the case of Leslie and Ben it's clearly mutual (whereas I was always just a little unsure of Pam's feelings), and both Leslie and Ben are free to pursue a relationship, they're just not quite brave enough yet.  But just watching even their faces when they talk to each other gives me goosebumps-- there's so much chemistry, and they seem to care about each other so much.  I'm glad we got to see Leslie's side of it too; all that talk about being afraid to jump into something, and then during Ron's pep talk you know she was thinking about Ben.  As much as I was just about dying for something big to happen between these two, I'm kind of glad it didn't get thrown in on top of all the other developments in this episode.  I thought their conversation about Ben staying in Pawnee was the perfect closing for them, plus that means that when we finally do get something more, it can be the focus of its own episode.

As for sweeps, I'm not sure how they're going to be able to top this.  Something interesting I did read though is that the show has confirmed that in the course of sweeps a character will die.  I'm hoping it's someone more on the periphery (maybe Jerry or Donna), where it wouldn't grind things to a halt but it might persuade certain characters to take advantage of the moment before them.  What I am worried about now that I'm writing this is that it will be Andy or April who dies, seeing as one of his lines in the episode was about life being short, not to mention the fact that on TV there's never a whole lot of safety in the wake of so much joy, because if good things happened all the time we wouldn't watch

** This entry is so long that I'll do a separate review of The Office tomorrow after I've watched it.