Parks and Recreation – “William Henry Harrison” / “Leslie and Ron”

Season Seven, Episode Three & Four

Grade: A

—

We all knew that Leslie and Ron would settle their differences, because this is Parks and Recreation and the show is significantly better when they’re working on the same side. It has always been a great odd couple of sorts with Leslie pushing all the time to build up Pawnee with Ron frowning alongside her at the thriving government. But there were holes that we just couldn’t understand because of the three-year time gap. Why were Leslie and Ron so mad at each other? And what the hell is this Morningstar project they keep referring to?

I don’t know if these two episodes were specifically paired up, but it certainly seems like it because it was set up and executed perfectly. The first half hour of “William Henry Harrison” increased the tension between Ron and Leslie. While Leslie desperately searched for any historical significance to build a national park, Ron and his team searched for the face of their campaign, which went to the ridiculous Annabel Porter. I thoroughly enjoyed the beef milk that sells for $60 a gallon, mainly because of Ron’s reaction.

I also loved how Ben and Terry were bouncing back and forth between Ron and Leslie, trying to sort out the paperwork needed. But all of this was leading up to the point when everyone who used to work for Ron and Leslie realized they needed to have them figure out and settle their differences. So they locked them inside of the old offices and told them they would return at 8 a.m., which was 12 hours later. At first, Leslie and Ron were furious, but slowly they started to reason with one another.

That wasn’t accomplished without some hilarious moments. As Ron swore to never talk to Leslie, she bombarded with him ways of annoying him until he agreed to talk. This included my favorite scene of Leslie singing “We Didn’t Start the Fire” with terrible, incorrect lyrics. Finally, Ron cracked down and we got our first reveal of what Morningstar was. But more importantly, Ron and Leslie were able to get to the bottom of why they were enemies.

The reason why Ron left the department was because he decided to ask Leslie for a job with the federal government, but was stood up when she had to fly out to Washington D.C. last minute. He then joined the company that was responsible for building the Morningstar apartments right over where Ann Perkins’ house was. Seeing Poehler and Offerman almost entirely alone during the second episode was a thing of beauty. They made us laugh and they made us cry when they finally forgave each other and became friends again. What a fantastic episode this was.

Moving forward, I’m glad that Ron and Leslie settled their differences because maybe now they can jump on the same side and try to get this national park built. They have quite an uphill battle to fight, but if they have the whole crew, then it’ll be a great way to end the show.

Parks and Recreation – “2017” / “Ron and Jammy”

Season Seven, Episodes One/Two

Grade: B+

—

The premiere to the final season of Parks and Recreation aired last night and even though it continued with its three year jump, everyone is practically the same (or at least trying to go back to being the same). So what kind of mission is Leslie going to have her eye on for the final season? The land that Newport owns is being sold and she desperately wants to turn that into a national park. Sounds good right? The problem that stands in her way is Ron Swanson.

Ron, along with Tom and Donna, have sided with Gryzzl’s bid to build a new campus on Newport’s land and they’re willing to pay $90 million for it. But also in the running is Leslie, who successfully explained how building the Newport National Park will make the name live on for generations to come. It’s a great conflict between money and legend, but I have to say that unless Leslie gets her old team back on her side, then she doesn’t stand a chance. That being said, is there really a doubt in your mind that Leslie won’t eventually get her team back? And is there a doubt that she’ll get that national park built? That takes away from a lot of the plot, but hey this is Parks and Recreation and no matter how predictable it can be, it’s still highly entertaining because no one’s watching it for the drama.

Meanwhile during “Ron and Jammy” we find out that Jam and Tammy are hooking up, and naturally Tammy’s turning Jam into a version of Ron by dressing him up, grooming him a mustache, and force feeding him steak and whiskey. Why should we be interested in Jam? Because he’s the deciding vote on what the council will decide to do with Newport’s land. But to be fair, it was fun watching Jam suffer under the talons of Tammy for most of the episode. Leslie is too kind because I would’ve let him suffer longer, but her kindness did start because she wanted his vote.

As the episode went on, Ron and Leslie teamed up to rid Tammy of Jam’s life, not because they wanted his vote but because it was the right thing to do. It was great seeing Ron and Leslie on the same side, but they resumed their feud once Jam returned to his old self again. Meanwhile, Tom’s an arrogant mogul who is craving a companion and Andy and April are concerned that they’ve discarded their nonchalant, care-free ways and are now a lame married couple who plans their weeks.

What these first two episodes did well was establish where the characters are now and what they want to change about them. It gives us these short story-arcs while Leslie and Ron duke it out some more before they eventually side together and take down the Newport project and build the national park! And then they all live happily ever after! Okay I’m getting ahead of myself.

TV Blur (10/20/12)

The TV Blur is the weekly post where I will recap the television shows that I watched.

Note: This post contains spoilers!

—

Boardwalk Empire – “You’d Be Surprised”

Surprisingly, there wasn’t much to be surprised about. Nucky is still wrapped around Billie’s finger and pushes his weight around to get her play rejuvenated after it was pretty much dead. Also, Nucky and Rothstein share a heated conversation over how Gyp Rosetti has control of Tabor Heights. This leads to an attempted assassination, but we knew that Rosetti wouldn’t go down that easily. Meanwhile, George Muller has his “wife” convinced he’s a good man who had to run away from bad men. Incidentally, she beats a man half to death thinking he was one of those bad men. Finally, Margaret is still going on with her business at the hospital and Gillian won’t admit that Jimmy is dead.

The stare after the attempted assassination of Gyp when he looks at the dead paper boy gives you all the reason to know he realizes who ordered the hit on him. That being said, you can bet an all out war is on the horizon. Here’s a thought, if Nucky wanted Rosetti dead, why not just hire Richard Harrow to do it? Maybe I just want one of my favorite characters back on the show, but out of everyone he’s proven to be a stud in killing. Aside from that great scene, the whole Van Alden/Muller story-line stole the episode. He now has a body to dispose of and went to Dean O’Bannion. You just know things are going to get a bit whacky with him. I’m still not a fan of the Margaret or Gillian story-line, and as for Nucky and Billie, I really don’t understand why he’s jumping through hoops for her (they haven’t shown any reason for it yet). Half the season over, and this is more a Season One set-up than a Season Two action.

—

The Walking Dead – “Seed”

Season 3 premiered with our group of survivors beating down zombies and scavenging for food. They’ve been on the road ever since the farm house was invaded and finally catch a break when they arrive as a prison. After mowing down zombies left and right, they make their way inside and sleep in cells. But as they explore more of the prison, Hershel is bit and Rick chops off his leg to keep him alive. Brutal.

You can sense that this group has overcome most their Season 2 drama: Hershel and his farm, Carol losing Sophia, Rick protecting Carl. Now they’re a zombie-killing unit without much to live for other than Lori’s pregnancy. The episode simply displayed how unhappy the group is, but even though they might be hopeless, they’re still going on. Meanwhile, we see some more of Michonne, the black woman with a sword and two armless zombies on chains. She’s caring for Andrea who has become sick and weak on the trek to stay alive away from the group. Even though they haven’t explained Michonne at all yet, I am intrigued and cannot wait to find out more about her character.

I’m usually not a fan of the drama that unfolds in The Walking Dead, but I must admit that the scene where Lori is talking to Hershel about her worries. If everyone has the virus, what if the baby dies while still in her stomach? Will it turn into a zombie and tear her apart from the inside? That’s quite a thought, though I’m not exactly opposed to this happening since Lori gets on my nerves more times than not. Anyway, the episode ends with the discovery of a few humans living in the prison. We’ll find out what their deal is in the next episode.

—

Homeland – “State of Independence”

Carrie writes a report and is excited to debrief the crew later that night, but is turned down by Estes who clarifies that she’s not being reinstated. Disappointed and upset, Carrie attempts suicide by swallowing a handful of pills with wine, but quickly reconsiders and vomits them up. Meanwhile, Brody promises Jessica to make a speech at her fundraiser, but has to pick up the tailor who crafted his suicide vest and drop him off at a safe house since the CIA has acquired intelligence leading to him. This becomes problematic as Brody gets a flat tire and after a stop at a gas station, the tailor runs away. Brody catches the tailor and tackles him, unfortunately the tailor is wounded from a stake sticking up from the ground. Under the stress of Jessica on the phone, Brody kills the tailor and later buries him. Finally, Saul arrives at Carrie’s door to personally deliver the video of Brody.

The final minute of this episode came with a huge sigh of relief. It was a struggle watching Carrie beat herself up over being wrong about Brody, but to finally see her say, “I was right” made every Homeland fan breathe easier. I also have to mention the brilliance of Claire Danes in her attempted-suicide scene (a second Emmy is on the way). As for Brody, I’m wondering how many hoops he’s going to have to jump through for Roya and Abu Nazir until he’s fed up with everything. It seems that every additional thing he’s asked to do is pushing him further away from staying with the plan. As for Jessica, she’s been put through a lot since Brody’s return and gave a great speech in place of Brody. Wonder how far things would’ve got between her and Mike if they ever had that nightcap. I guess we’ll never know.

—

How I Met Your Mother – “Who Wants to Be a Godparent?”

Marshall and Lily spend their first night away from the baby with their friends, but when they ask what’s new with them the friends remember they requested stories of only an 8-or-above in importance. This results in the friends telling Marshall and Lily that everything is great, when they actually aren’t. Marshall and Lily later begin discussing who they would designate godparent for Marvin in case they both die. To determine which friend they would choose, Marshall and Lily make them compete in a game show-like competition. After the game, the group and the parents are split with what they consider important. Marshall and Lily come around after realizing they don’t know a thing about their friends anymore. The episode concludes with Marshall and Lily revoking their request to only hear 8-or-above stories and decide to have all three of their best friends as godparents.

HIMYM is still looking at gimmicks and stand-alone episodes to save their terrible start to the Eighth Season. The episode barely had any comedy and instead, dealt with the difficulties that friends go through when someone has a child. The scene when the group argues comes off as mean and vicious, something HIMYM usually avoids at all costs. Overall, the episode was uneven and this stems from revolving it around Marshall and Lily, the two worst characters on the show.

—

Revolution – “Soul Train”

The group catches up with Captain Neville and while they prepare to rescue Danny, Nora plans to bomb the train. The episode flashes back to the day of the blackout for Captain Neville. He gets fired from his office job and is portrayed as a loving, family man with a son. But he has a dangerous side to him, shown as he takes his frustration out on his punching bag and then later as he kills his neighbor who tried to rob him. Back to the present, the train departs so Miles and Charlie boards the train to save Danny. Nora is stabbed by a man from the Resistance for having second thoughts about bombing the train. Miles disposes of the bomb but they’re unable to rescue Danny. The train reaches the base where Monroe and Rachel are. When she sees her son, she informs Monroe with a drawing of a pendant that there are twelve of them out in the world and they’re key to restoring power. The episode ends as Captain Neville hugs his wife and then Nate is revealed as Captain Neville’s son, Jason.

Since the pilot, this was the strongest episode of the season. It had timely action sequences and an insight to Captain Neville’s past, which was very well done. But continuing with Revolution’s flaws, every time they try to surprise the audience with a mind-blowing revelation, they fall short. It was no surprise to me that Nate was Captain Neville’s son, nor was I surprised that Rachel informed Monroe about the pendant. It would be wiser to avoid this type of narrative altogether, or at least presenting these scenes in the middle of the episode. The risk of keeping these things at the very end is that if it doesn’t actually surprise the audience, it’s considered a weak and unsatisfying ending, which causes a drop in viewership. As of right now, Revolution isn’t doing as good a job as other new shows like Nashville and Last Resort to keep my interest peaked, but I’m going to stay with it until at least the half-way mark.

—

Ben and Kate – “21st Birthday”

Kate hasn’t had the crazy birthday party she deserves since she had her daughter, so Ben decides to throw her a surprise party. Kate spends most of her night with her old friend Molly, who is still up to partying all night long, drinking heavily, taking drugs, and clubbing to pick up guys. Kate realizes that’s not her idea of having fun anymore. Also, Tommy and Kate get a bit closer when he admits he’s mad at Maddie for a bet she never paid to him that he was going to use to take Kate out on a date. Meanwhile, Ben finds out that Darcy moved into her parents’ house with her husband, adding salt in the wound that Ben still wishes to be with her. BJ defends Ben in front of Darcy and the episode concludes with everyone, including Maddie, at the ice cream shop celebrating Kate’s birthday the way she wanted.

This show continues its impressive beginning run balancing sentiment with comedy. This episode separated Ben and Kate for the most part, but showed that it could still work. Putting Ben and BJ together proved to be hilarious as the two craziest characters tried to steal a tree in Darcy’s backyard. Having Kate and Tommy together in the other story-line brought out a sincere sweetness to their future story-line. But just like every episode thus far, the show will leave you with a smile on your face.

—

The Office – “Work Bus”

There’s a strong reading of EMF in the office and Jim attempts to prank Dwight to grant Pam (and everyone else in the office) a week off to repair the dangerous levels. The plan backfires when Dwight presents the staff a work bus, providing them a cramp work space. Jim wants to do something great for Pam since she was so supportive about his new job plans, but Dwight keeps derailing his plans. Dwight reveals that he thinks the EMF made him infertile because he wasn’t the father of Angela’s baby. Jim cheers him up admitting he’s sort of the father to the entire office, resulting in Dwight driving the bus to the pie stand. Meanwhile, Nellie asks Andy to sign her application letter to adopt a baby. At first, he’s harsh but has a change of heart (thanks to Erinn) and signs the letter.

The episode was pretty complex for The Office, one that doesn’t fair well as a stand-alone episode. Without knowing the characters’ past such as Jim hiding his future plans, Dwight’s affair with Angela, etc., all the important story-lines are lost. That being said, it was a more effective episode for fans of the series. I still don’t like the Andy-Nellie feud but hopefully that could be put to rest soon.

—

Parks and Recreation – “Sex Education”

Leslie attempts to education the senior citizens about sex education after they realize the seniors are more sexually active than ever, spreading sexually transmitted diseases. But it’s actually against the law to educate anyone in Pawnee other than abstinence. Meanwhile, Tom is sentenced to spend a week without any electronic devices after crashing his car while tweeting. In DC, Ben and April meet their boss, Congressman David Murray, who the suspect to be a robot because of his machine-like routines.

While I wasn’t a fan of Tom’s story-line, it did a good job at poking fun at the current generation of social media addiction. There’s no doubt that more than a handful of Parks and Rec fans nodded along to Tom’s daily routine of checking Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram in the morning then moving onto Reddit. Leslie did what she does best, fighting for the good of the people in Pawnee against ridiculous laws. Her and Ann had good exchanges, but the funniest parts were the seniors responding to Leslie’s session.

Television Blur (4/21/12)

How I Met Your Mother, “Now We’re Even” – While last week’s episode of HIMYM was very disappointing, this week’s episode dealt with the characters and the relationships at stake, which is when HIMYM is at its finest. Barney wants to distract his lonely nights by trying to make every night “legendary.” Meanwhile, Ted brags about how incredible living alone is. Marshall freaks out because Lily has a sex dream about someone other than Marshall. In the end, the story-line that had the most heart was with Robin trying to be well-known. She went up in a helicopter to cover some news and her pilot suffers a stroke. Her dangerous landing is covered on the news and she gains the fame she wanted. But more importantly, her near-death experience ensures that everyone contact her, including Ted who hasn’t spoken to Robin since she rejected him. You can always count on HIMYM to inject some painful, reality in their silly sitcom.

—

Smash, “The Movie Star” – Rebecca Duvall, played by Uma Thurman, makes her episode debut and… she cannot sing. Everyone gives her the movie star treatment and watches her in awe as she removes her coat, but once she opens up her mouth the ensemble is less impressed. Ivy has danced her way back into the production by the hand of Derek, which isn’t good news for Karen. Meanwhile, Eileen hooks up with Nick again, Dev flirts around and distances himself with Karen, and Tom and Sam go out on a date. The show keeps trying to maintain its steam from the beginning of the season, but it’s becoming stale week-after-week. Let’s see what kind of trouble Rebecca Duvall will create as there are only a few episodes left in the season.

—

New Girl, “Kids” – Cece freaks out because she’s late and might be pregnant, which introduces us to the theme of the episode, also conveniently titled, “Kids.” Jess agrees to babysit Russel’s daughter, who is also one of Jess’ students. She tells her roommates to be normal, but that impossible when Cece’s freaking out, Nick’s dating a high-schooler, and when Schmidt is being Schmidt. In the uninteresting story-line, Winston tries to calm his boss down to talk to Michael Strahan. While the first half of the show was slow, the second half made up for it with some classic Schmidt moments. And the “adorkable” scene of the episode was Jess and Nick sitting on the floor trying to talk to Russel’s daughter when she feels embarrassed admitting she has a crush on Nick. We all know the Jess and Russell relationship isn’t going to work out, but will the relationship last it to the second season? We’ll find out soon enough.

—

Community, “Virtual Systems Analysis” – You can always count on Community to provide the most engaging half-hour of television every week, and this episode was no different. In fact, this was arguably the best episode of the season. When Annie meddles in Troy and Britta’s afternoon by setting them up on an impromptu date, she fills Troy’s void by joining Abed in the dreamatorium. As she tries to teach empathy to Abed, she learns a lot about the group dynamic that Abed already knows. But in the end, she’s accepted in Abed’s imagination-playing room. I was thoroughly impressed with the technology used in the episode, as it was so easy to follow what was going on in the real world while it constantly flashed to the imaginary world Abed was creating. This was another Abed-centric episode, but since Community is a show that comments on the state of television, Abed is the perfect character to concentrate on frequently. In short, Community does it again.

—

The Office, “Angry Andy” – While Nellie is trying to weasel her way to take Andy’s managing position in Scranton, Andy has difficulty getting aroused with Erin. The word leaks out and Andy is embarrassed to no end. As the title suggests, Andy takes out his frustration of his embarrassment and how Nellie won’t relinquish his office with a rage we haven’t seen since Andy put his fist through a wall (which he does again). Andy is going to take some time off, but things are looking up, since the adrenaline resulted in Andy able to have erections again. The Office still has its moments, but as a whole it’s a sinking ship that really just needs to be put out of its misery. Nellie is a terrible character, Dwight is annoying without being the side-kick to Michael Scott, and they’re just recycling the Jim&Pam story with Andy&Erin. Let’s hope the end is near.

—

Parks and Recreation, “Live Ammo” – Leslie Knope is in the middle of a heated campaign for city council and finds herself in trouble when she pushes to prevent a budget cut to the Parks and Recreation department. As a result, the animal shelter budget is slashed, which means all the animals are to be put down. This doesn’t go over well for Leslie’s public image, so she adopts all of the animals. Meanwhile, Chris invites Ron to meditate in order to prove he’s capable of handling something he doesn’t want to do. But in the end, that doesn’t matter since Chris was informed that if Leslie loses to Bobby Newport, he will lose his job to someone of Bobby’s recommendation. The tension increases! There really wasn’t any Tom and Anne together, and that’s a good thing. I laughed the hardest when Andy was playing with the pet toy while he thought it was a pet. Hilarious.

Television Blur (3/3/12)

The Walking Dead, “18 Miles Out” – The episode was split into two story-lines: one focusing on Rick and Shane duking it out while trying to release Randall, the kid Rick saved outside of the bar, and one focusing in on the girls back at the barn where Beth wants to commit suicide because of her hopelessness. The action took place during the Rick/Shane scenes as they once again don’t see eye to eye. This time they decide to settle things with their fists until a swarm of walkers are released. Shane barely makes it out alive from the assistance of Rick and Randall. Meanwhile, Lori and Andrea butt heads with their opinion on how to ensure Beth doesn’t kill herself, which ends with Beth cutting herself with broken glass but shallow enough that she’ll survive. Call me crazy, but I’m beginning to go over to the dark side with Shane’s logic. Rick is too indecisive and unable to make tough decisions quickly. Nonetheless, these two dynamic characters are the heart and soul of The Walking Dead.

—

Luck, episode 5 – Ace and Gus push their buttons with Escalante by calling out his gambling scheme. They order him to throw Leon out and hire the best jockey to ride Pint of Plain. This causes Joey to go into a rage, especially when Ronnie confesses he switched agents. Meanwhile, Marcus sees the doctor and is prescribed Valium. Under the drugs, Marcus confuses his care for Jerry as homosexual feelings, which Jerry laughs off. It’s the most sensitive we’ve seen Marcus all season long, but it shows the relationship between the two railbirds. At the end, Pint of Plain gets injured by a horse shoe during the race and we see another tough character let down his guard with an act of sentiment, Ace petting Pint of Plain.

—

How I Met Your Mother, “Karma” – This season of HIMYM has been very uneven, with episodes of pure awesomeness and then others that are disposable. “Karma” was an episode in the middle of the spectrum. While the story-line of Barney pursuing Quinn at the strip club was dull and very unfunny, the story-line with Robin feeling captive in Marshall and Lily’s home on Long Island was pretty effective. But what matters is that Ted has become the main character again. Coping with the death of the idea of him and Robin, he tries to fill her room with something to forget her by. The conclusion was important to the progress of the series. Finally with Marshall and Lily back in the city, they don’t have to be excluded from the gang’s shenanigans. But where is Ted going to live?

—

Smash, “The Cost of Art” – Finally, Karen catches a break this episode and makes some friends in the workshop for Marilyn the Musical. They teach Karen how to become part of the ensemble instead of always standing out, but it’s clear at the end that she’s meant to be a leading lady, not one that blends in with the rest of the cast. Meanwhile, Derek throws a party for a young TV-star, Lyle West (guest star Nick Jonas). The characters begin to understand the situation clearer: Ivy sees Derek for a flirtatious and untrusting boyfriend while Karen finds out that Ivy slept with Derek for the leading part. From the preview of next week’s episode, looks like this is just the beginning rounds of the Ivy vs. Karen match-up.

—

The River, “Peaches” – What kind of curse will the Magus find them-self with this episode? Well, their engine is shot and they need replacement parts to avoid being stranded on the Amazon River. Luckily for them, there’s another boat in the area. The Exodus and its four-person crew aboard the Magus and they laugh, cheer, and share stories with each other like a group of friends on a camping trip. But they soon find out that the members of the Exodus are ghosts trying to leave their ship by capturing people to replace them by sunrise. Lincoln, Clark and AJ race to save their crew before it’s too late. The episode concentrated a lot on Lena and her search for her father. When she finds him on board of the Exodus, happiness pours from her face, but she’s left with the opposite when she has to leave him on the Exodus along with the other ghosts.

—

Awake, “Pilot” – This new NBC drama has a lot of potential. The plot is simple yet complexly fascinating: Michael was in a car accident with his wife, Hannah, and son, Rex. He is currently living two realities, one where Rex died from the accident and one where Hannah has died. He is a police detective and in both realities, he has separate cases to solve, different partners, and different shrinks. The dilemma is that he doesn’t know which world is real and which is a dream. Pretty cool, huh? The cop portion of the series seems like it’s going to be very procedural: two intertwining cases every episode where he has these “hunches” because of his other reality. But the best part of the show will be the psychological aspect of Michael dealing with the loss of a loved one. Awake will show how different, or similar, his world ends up being if his wife or son died in that crash.

—

Parks and Recreation, “Campaign Shake-Up” – The campaign of Leslie Knope has been running quite smoothly the past few weeks, but that all changes in this past week’s episode when Bobby Newport hires a new campaign manager, Jennifer Barkley (Kathryn Hahn). She’s smart, has quick wit, and on top of that she is over-the-top friendly. Time and time again, Jennifer plays Ben and Leslie for a fool, which results in Team Leslie wiping away their recent punk’d spot with alcohol. Meanwhile, to avoid a new hire to fill Leslie’s shoes, the Parks and Rec department have to solve the problem of germs spreading from the water fountain. These were easily the funniest scenes of the episode. I laughed out loud every time someone actually put their mouth around the spout of the fountain. In the end, Ron promoted April. The episode was missing the usual shenanigans that I love from Tom and Andy, but adding Jennifer to the race will add some nice political comedy between both campaigns in upcoming episodes.

—

The Office, “Test the Store” – For me, this week’s episode of The Office was disappointing. When I’m not falling out of my seat with laughter by the time the opening credits are rolling, I’m already dreading the rest of the episode. Anyway, the Sabre store is opening and Dwight is striving to be the leader that will gain him the VP position. They’re showcasing the Sabre Pyramid and everything falls apart when Ryan flees from his presentation. Meanwhile, in the Scranton parking lot, Andy gets a black eye from protecting Pam from a group of young girls on bikes. Toby gives a self-defense class, but eventually the truth is revealed and Andy is teased mercilessly. Back at the store, Jim fills in for Ryan and impresses the crowd. At the end, Dwight is named VP and celebrates with his usual leg-kick and fist pumps. Again, I wasn’t impressed by the episode at all.