5x16 Bailout

[7.4/10] Another fun episode, though the storytelling gets a little jumbled in places. I like that the episode centers around an ideological disagreement between Leslie and Ron. The show does very well at having these two people who disagree with one another but respect each other, and throwing in Jason Schwartzman (who’s playing, I can only assume, the grown up version of his character from Rushmore) is a treat as well.

I particularly enjoy their conflicting notions about what to do about Schwartzman’s failing movie rental store. Leslie wants to “bail it out” by declaring it a historical landmark which would give it a taxbreak, and capitalist Ron thinks that the failing business should go away and let the free market decide what should replace it. I particularly like that Leslie wins, but gets more than she bargained for when the video store turns into a pornography outlet. It’s the kind “be careful what you wish for” turn that plays with notions of what the government gets tarred with when it dips into this sort of thing that works well for a politically-minded sitcom. The fact that she finds another solution – using the community center to host movie nights, is a nice touch as well, and the jabs at videos – from Schwartzman’s inaccessible cinephile tastes to “Too Big to Nail” the erotic dramatization of these events, are quite funny.

The B-story, where Chris tries to be a father to Tom as a way of seeing whether he’d be okay as a dad has some funny moments. That said, I forgot this was the introduction of Mona Lisa, and she annoys the crap out of me. In fairness, she’s supposed to, but I don’t really like what she brings to the table or brings out of Tom.

But the other B-story, with Ann forcing April to bond with her in exchange for a letter of recommendation is really good. There’s a charm to the prickly April tolerating and eventually finding common ground with try-hard Ann. The fact that amid all the traditional bonding stuff, April wants to know what’s really bothering Ann, and is actually supportive once she finds out that Ann is fretting over the Chris sperm donation situation, is a very nice beat for the two of them. No show does non-mutually-agreeable hugs like Parks and Rec.
Overall, this isn’t as tight or insightful as the show is at its best, but it has some fun character comedy and the humor that comes from conflicting ideologies and unintended consequences.