6x06 Recall Vote

[8.6/10] A very nice episode with something solid for everyone to do.

The main story, with Leslie’s filibuster, had some great moments. Again, I am sick and tired of Jeremy Jamm and his cartoonishly evil antagonism, but it’s something I just need to make my peace with. Otherwise, the episode gave Amy Poehler a great opportunity to show of her comic chops with Leslie’s stream-of-consciousness voting rights spiel. Everything from her Ronald Reagan impression to her pee-pee dance were hilarious.

But I also liked the substance of the story – that while Leslie was filibustering in the hopes of staving off Jamm’s anti-voting rights bill for personal gain, she sticks to it because of her principles even when it will hurt her personally. The notion that she wants to keep the Eagletonians at the ballot box because she thinks they’ll be grateful to her for saving their town, only to learn that if they’re allowed to vote, they intend to put up their own representative so that they can have a voice on the council, is a nice reversal. And the fact that, upset as she is by that fact, Leslie sticks with the filibuster because those damn Swanson-y principles tell her it’s the right thing to do is a nice story for her.

Speaking of Ron, his little story with Donna, including his fascination with Big Buck Hunter, is a nice little character piece for the two of them. I again appreciate that Donna’s gotten more to do this season, and her and Ron make for a surprisingly good comic pairing. Ron sucking at Big Buck Hunter, taking Donna hunting for real, and then admitting he wants to go back and keep playing the video game til he masters it is great. And he and Donna and sort of adorable together, particularly in the moment when she asks him if he has a license to hunt at night and then they both pause for a moment and just laugh. Her “you know I don’t give a f***” line is the perfect button on the scene.

Speaking of surprisingly effective pairings, I know that I crapped on the storyline featuring Tom and Nadia the Doctors Without Borders physician, but I actually really liked the two of them together here. They had a mischievous energy together that turned out to be pretty cute. The fact that Ann helps Tom out is a nice touch, and it’s always good to see Tom being a little more vulnerable and human and a little less flash and swagger.

Related to that, it was all quick disposable gags, but the details of Ben’s early-90s skating party were all well done. The sign “Wyatt Ben can jump” cracked me up. Ann dressing as Blossom was funny. And Ben’s amusingly quotidian kink of girls on roller skates was a funny and well-used detail.

Last but certainly not least is April & Andy’s story. It’s nice to have Andy back on the show, however briefly, and his energy really adds something to the half-hour. He and April are always sweet together, and the theme of the mini-plot is quite nice -- with Andy scared and overwhelmed at his job in London but encouraged when April tells him that everyone experiences that and he should just fake it till he makes it.

Overall, it’s an episode that has something fun and funny for almost everyone to do, and packs in a small amount of substance there to boot. Jamm is a drag, as usual, but otherwise this is a thoroughly enjoyable installment of the show.