[7.7/10] The Ron and Tammy stuff was always a little too exaggerated for my taste. Parks and Rec was never above getting cartoony now and then, but their outsized relationship was just never on my wavelength, despite the electricity that comes from the real life husband and wife playing off one another. There’s some good material with the intervention, with everyone but Leslie pretty much sucking at it, Jerry being blithely enthusiastic about the remarriage, and even a video from Ron himself being unable to snap current Ron out of it. But for the most part, it’s too wacky for me to get into.
That said, it has a solid narrative through-line, with Tom feeling upset with Ron for dating his ex, and wanting to get back at him for that. He eventually realizes (with Leslie’s help, of course), that that’s a really crappy thing to do. While the whole notion of him getting pummeled by Tammy was a little too much for me as a resolution, I do appreciate the closure of the story and Tom trying to make up for his poor deeds.
But the best part of the episode is the stuff that happens on the sidelines. For one thing, I love love love Ben’s interactions with Chief Trumble. On the one hand, it’s the perfect fish out of water business, with his love of calzones (to the dismay of Pawnee’s residents) and his awkwardness around cops combining to create great laughs every time. But on the other, it also leads to one of the great mission statements about who Leslie Knope is from Chief Trumble – she gets as many favors as she wants “because she uses favors to help other people.” This part of the story even name-drops Dave, building up Leslie’s professionally and personally, and communicates to Ben and the audience who she is and why she’s great.
The other B-story is the natural comedic pairing of the endlessly chipper and professional Chris with the anemic, dark, slacker stylings of April. Watching the two bounce off one another is a treat, and the way it turns into another front in the mutual dislike society between April and Ann is great too. The whole twist of April trying to start a fight by not canceling the lunch with Ann for Chris, only for Ann to turn around and use it to dig April deeper into her hole of good behavior with Chris is fun.
But it also builds up both relationships at play. The way that Ann has entirely melded her behavior to Chris’s is a little scary, but fits into the general thread of her adjusting her life to be like her boyfriends’, and the question of whether he’d ask her to move (especially when he asks April to move as his assistant and speaks to her potential) adds stakes to it. At the same time, Andy trying to free April from the job with a Burt Macklin letter is sweet, and speaks to his dumb but well-meaning gestures.
Overall, the main story of the episode doesn’t really work for me, but the rest of the material is so great that it makes up for it.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-02-26T21:34:34Z
[7.7/10] The Ron and Tammy stuff was always a little too exaggerated for my taste. Parks and Rec was never above getting cartoony now and then, but their outsized relationship was just never on my wavelength, despite the electricity that comes from the real life husband and wife playing off one another. There’s some good material with the intervention, with everyone but Leslie pretty much sucking at it, Jerry being blithely enthusiastic about the remarriage, and even a video from Ron himself being unable to snap current Ron out of it. But for the most part, it’s too wacky for me to get into.
That said, it has a solid narrative through-line, with Tom feeling upset with Ron for dating his ex, and wanting to get back at him for that. He eventually realizes (with Leslie’s help, of course), that that’s a really crappy thing to do. While the whole notion of him getting pummeled by Tammy was a little too much for me as a resolution, I do appreciate the closure of the story and Tom trying to make up for his poor deeds.
But the best part of the episode is the stuff that happens on the sidelines. For one thing, I love love love Ben’s interactions with Chief Trumble. On the one hand, it’s the perfect fish out of water business, with his love of calzones (to the dismay of Pawnee’s residents) and his awkwardness around cops combining to create great laughs every time. But on the other, it also leads to one of the great mission statements about who Leslie Knope is from Chief Trumble – she gets as many favors as she wants “because she uses favors to help other people.” This part of the story even name-drops Dave, building up Leslie’s professionally and personally, and communicates to Ben and the audience who she is and why she’s great.
The other B-story is the natural comedic pairing of the endlessly chipper and professional Chris with the anemic, dark, slacker stylings of April. Watching the two bounce off one another is a treat, and the way it turns into another front in the mutual dislike society between April and Ann is great too. The whole twist of April trying to start a fight by not canceling the lunch with Ann for Chris, only for Ann to turn around and use it to dig April deeper into her hole of good behavior with Chris is fun.
But it also builds up both relationships at play. The way that Ann has entirely melded her behavior to Chris’s is a little scary, but fits into the general thread of her adjusting her life to be like her boyfriends’, and the question of whether he’d ask her to move (especially when he asks April to move as his assistant and speaks to her potential) adds stakes to it. At the same time, Andy trying to free April from the job with a Burt Macklin letter is sweet, and speaks to his dumb but well-meaning gestures.
Overall, the main story of the episode doesn’t really work for me, but the rest of the material is so great that it makes up for it.