7x11 Two Funerals

[7.6/10] So let’s be up front here -- a lot of the charm of “Two Funerals” comes from the cavalcade of guest stars showing up for a quick cameo before the show ends. While I’m less enamored with some of them (I don’t think I ever needed to see “The Douche” or Mona Lisa Sapperstein again), it’s fun to get one last little bit with Bobby Newport or Joan Calamezzo. It’s also great to see a gross tribute to Mayor Gunderson (Bill Murray!) from Ethel Beavers of all people. In a lot of ways, this is a send off to the tertiary characters in the show, and it works well on that front.

To that end, the thing I like most about the episode is the fact that the honor of being temporary mayor [spoiler](wink) goes to Gary, the kind of the non-featured characters. I still don’t like how he’s treated as everyone’s butt monkey throughout the show, but it’s nice to have him get a day in the sun, and Jim O’Heir does such a great job at selling Gary’s delighted reaction to being asked to be the mayor and getting to fly in a hot air balloon.[/spoiler]

The other B-story, with Ron mourning the loss of his barber, Salvatore, is a nice comedy subplot. I like Ron’s devastation despite his professing that death is just a part of life. It’s a nice idea that Ron is used to stability so something as mundane as his monthly appointment with his barber is what drives home the fact that everything in his world is changing with so many people leaving and moving on. A return visit from Eagleton Ron is always pleasant (given Ron Swanson’s amusing disgust for him), and the unexpected but strangely fitting concordance between him and Typhoon is a delightful resolution.

Last but not least, I have mixed feelings on the [spoiler]“Leslie helps Tom propose”[/spoiler] A-story. On the one hand, I like what the show is going for here -- that after tons of flash and bombast, Tom has grown and matured and is ready to think about what someone else will appreciate rather than just what his natural instinct is. There’s some good comedy there (I love Leslie and Tom’s interactions with the sign store manager), and Aziz does good work.

My problem is just that [spoiler]the whole thing feels so rushed.[spoiler] I don’t know what Aziz or Natalie Morales’s availability was, but it feels like the only reason Tom is proposing to Lucy now is that it’s the last season and the show wanted to pay off a romantic arc. We don’t know much about Lucy -- she mostly exists to be the object of Tom’s affections in a way that Dianne, for example, never really did -- and I wish the show spent more time developing her and having the audience get to know her rather than just making her the end goal of Tom’s romantic journey.[/spoiler]

Still, overall it’s still a good episode, with it’s heart in the right place and some solid laughs. On to the finale!