6x21 Moving Up (1)

[8.5/10] It’s another Parks travel episode! This time, the locale is San Francisco, and while this half hour was stitched together as a single episode for broadcast, I think it works better as a separate (but related) chapter of its own.

The main story of the episode is obviously Leslie deciding whether to take the job running the National Parks Service in the Midwest. I appreciated how the show makes compelling cases on both sides of Leslie’s decision. On the one hand, she sees her parks-related heroes praising her and the promise of being their peers (and her visit with them at lunch was some peak Leslie geeking out), but on the other, she sees other veteran government employees telling her that supervising the merger to a clean finish will take eight-to-ten years, and that if it doesn’t go well, it could result in the city of Pawnee becoming (gasp) unincorporated!

That’s two compelling pulls on both sides. But the resolution works. When Ben takes Leslie through the redwood forests (taking a brief moment to geek out about it being the real life setting of Endor from Return of the Jedi), he points out that all of America’s natural treasures would be her responsibility and her privilege, that her name would be on those signs, with the implication that as much as Leslie loves Pawnee, there’s bigger work she can do. Her call accepting the job is adorably awkward, and promises great things for her.

The other two stories in the episode are good as well. I appreciate that they have Tom stumble when trying to do a rushed soft opening for Tom’s Bistro to try to capitalize on the publicity for the Unity Concert. It creates plenty of opportunities for bumbling -- April as a predictably combative waitress, Craig losing his sense of smell and relying on Donna to taste wine, Jerry botching the menus with pictures of his dog’s rear, and Ron’s perfectionism keeping him from completing all the chairs. (I love Ron smashing one chair because it was “too perfect.”) There’s plenty of comedy in that, but also a nice opportunity for Tom to hit a skid (with his main investor backing out) but being spurred by Ron and April to make one more big attempt and finish the job rather than quit.

The last story though, is probably my favorite -- Ben trying to get Grizzl (the thinly-veiled Silicon Valley start-up parody) to give Pawnee free wifi. The tech start-up material is pretty weak, but (a.) it gives Andy plenty of opportunities to goof around (and him bumbling around San Fran is a comedic treat) and (b.) resolving it by bringing Cones of Dunshire back, and having Ben best and impress the impressarios of Grizzl is a really fun move. There’s well-observed board game parody material, and it’s a neat bit.

Overall, a nice lead up to the true season finale.