6x14 The Wall

[7.6/10] A quality episode all-around. The main Leslie caper is a little much, but there's a great deal of fun to be had with the squabbling old married couple, the always fun NPR shtick, and Tom and Andy's attempts to help make it all work. The idea that Leslie needs to look to the future rather than the past to make the Pawnee-Eagleton merger work is a little easy (and lord knows we don't need more Craig in the show), but it's a neat solution to the problem.

But what I really loved were the B-stories. With Chris and Ann departing, the show turned to Jerry and Donna to keep the ensemble strong, and both deliver. It was almost all pure silly comedy, but Ben trying to surprise Leslie for their anniversary, but instead finding an unexpected kindred spirit in Jerry, was great. The two of them going on an Enchanted-themed carriage ride or doing the tango together was comic gold.

The April-Donna story was more down to earth, but just as good. Donna and April have a great and stealthily-developed dynamic between them, which led nicely to April having a hard time disciplining Donna as her boss. April trying to leave Yelp reviews in lieu of actually addressing Donna directly has some fun comic consequences, and her learning from Ron that you sign your name to any criticism leading to the two of them agreeing to be adult and up front with one another is done really well.

Plus, the stuff on the margins is great too. Ron typing out strongly worded letters to vegan organizations and Canada is just a big laugh every time. And Leslie getting an Iron Throne from Game of Thrones made for Ben, his "that stupid face" reaction to it, and her trying to play along but going Star Trek instead was all top notch.

Overall, the main story was the weakest, but still good, and the supporting stories and comic bits on the side were all very strong.