[6.7/10] Eh, there’s good stuff here, but it’s a lot of reheated and repeated material, to where the good stuff can’t quite overcome the meh stuff. For instance, we’ve done the “Leslie has something going on personally and goes overboard taking it out on everyone in the office” bit plenty of times before. There’s something sweet enough about her being that upset by Ann leaving that she tries to make everyone else sign loyalty oaths, but it’s not great. Sure, Ann trying to ply Leslie with waffles and Ron setting Leslie straight are nice, but we’ve done this and there’s not much to it.
Ben and Chris’s story fares a little better, if only because the two have a sort of adorable dorky vibe together that the show only hits sporadically. Their friendship is an understated highlight of the show as a whole, and the pair doing their good cop-bad cop routine is quite fun. Even better is their dinner together afterward, when they realize that as much fun as their old days together were, part of the luster is missing when trying to recreate them because they have committed romantic partners who enrich their lives in different ways. It’s a nice, quick story.
The rest of the interactions with the titular Eagleton doppelgangers are very hit and miss. Let’s start out with this – Craig is pretty much the most enjoying character in Parks and Rec history (with a strong showing from Mona Lisa) so I’m less than enthused at the realization that this is where he shows up. On the other hand, Pawnee Ron initially thinking he’s going to be best friends with his mustachioed, nature-appreciating counterpart, only to realize that Eagleton Ron is a yoga-enjoying hippie type is pure gold. Similarly, Tom creating a fake backstory for his digital equivalent from Pawnee to get him fired is pretty meh, but April going full valley girl in a diabolical scheme to get rid of her competition is pretty funny.
It’s par for the course for this mixed bag of an episode, which boasts some good stuff but still seems a cut below the show’s usual quality.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-05-02T01:24:46Z
[6.7/10] Eh, there’s good stuff here, but it’s a lot of reheated and repeated material, to where the good stuff can’t quite overcome the meh stuff. For instance, we’ve done the “Leslie has something going on personally and goes overboard taking it out on everyone in the office” bit plenty of times before. There’s something sweet enough about her being that upset by Ann leaving that she tries to make everyone else sign loyalty oaths, but it’s not great. Sure, Ann trying to ply Leslie with waffles and Ron setting Leslie straight are nice, but we’ve done this and there’s not much to it.
Ben and Chris’s story fares a little better, if only because the two have a sort of adorable dorky vibe together that the show only hits sporadically. Their friendship is an understated highlight of the show as a whole, and the pair doing their good cop-bad cop routine is quite fun. Even better is their dinner together afterward, when they realize that as much fun as their old days together were, part of the luster is missing when trying to recreate them because they have committed romantic partners who enrich their lives in different ways. It’s a nice, quick story.
The rest of the interactions with the titular Eagleton doppelgangers are very hit and miss. Let’s start out with this – Craig is pretty much the most enjoying character in Parks and Rec history (with a strong showing from Mona Lisa) so I’m less than enthused at the realization that this is where he shows up. On the other hand, Pawnee Ron initially thinking he’s going to be best friends with his mustachioed, nature-appreciating counterpart, only to realize that Eagleton Ron is a yoga-enjoying hippie type is pure gold. Similarly, Tom creating a fake backstory for his digital equivalent from Pawnee to get him fired is pretty meh, but April going full valley girl in a diabolical scheme to get rid of her competition is pretty funny.
It’s par for the course for this mixed bag of an episode, which boasts some good stuff but still seems a cut below the show’s usual quality.