[8.5/10] One of those episodes that does great with the pure comedy stuff. The opening list of Pawnee’s former slogans is just such a great example of how the show’s rapid-fire comic lines can work like gangbusters. On top of that, you have the “crackpot convention” of a public forum, which may be the height of the show’s absurd, Springfield-esque town hall meetings. The byzantine debates among the populace over what should go into the titular time capsule is the show at its absurd best.
But all the Twilight-related humor works very well too. Taking as absurd a premise as a guy chaining himself to a Parks Dept. pipe in order to get a Y.A. vampire novel into a time capsule, and giving an emotional undercurrent of a divorced dad trying to connect with his daughter is a deft choice. As always, Will Forte is great, combining both his everyman qualities and his vein of pure lunacy into the perfect well-meaning nutbar proselytizing bad vampire fic. The way that he, Tom, and Donna get into and start having their little book club is pitch perfect.
That leads nicely into the B-stories, with the weakest one being Tom sulking about why Lucy broke up with him. There’s some solid material there, with Tom himself relating everything to Twilight, and it shines a light on his own emotional insecurities and fixation on Ron. It’s just undercooked and not as sturdy as the rest of the episode.
But the side-story peak is the unexpectedly delightful pairing of the different flavors of high energy that are Chris and Andy. Chris’s enthusiasm for helping Andy with his Eduardo problem is a lot of fun, and the fact that Andy being nice and being in a band (as Chris wrote on the whiteboard in their brainstorming session) actually are what helped Andy to sideline his rival is a great twist. Plus, the grace note with Andy talking up Ann to Chris rather than trying to destroy their relationship, however ineffectually, a la Mark is great too.
Overall, a very good episode of the show, with plenty of laughs and the sort of Pawnee craziness that makes the show and its oddball denizens so memorable and enjoyable.
"Except for Turnip. Except for Turnip."
Shout by NABlockedParent2016-10-03T14:29:23Z
"Pawnee: first in friendship, fourth in obesity."