Parks and Recreation - Pawnee Rangers - Oct. 13, 2011

Tom and Donna’s annual get-together was both unexpected and refreshing; it made me smile a lot. I never saw them as being so sympatico, especially considering Donna’s hatred of Jean-Ralphio. And also their unconditional support, eventually, for Ben’s whole new level of nerd.

“I have already passed the kale I had for lunch.”

Puppy party! Leslie is a freaking genius. I want a puppy.

Ron sometimes scares me … when I find myself agreeing with him … “I try never to say what someone obviously wants me to say. My first wedding took two hours.”

Batman’s crying.

I want Batman to be my IT guy.

I’m a little in love with Ben.

“All we do is sit around in the cold eating beans.”
“Those beans were a reward!”

I’m posting this from my canvas/cardboard shelter.

Loved Andy’s expression and enthusiasm as he took the oath to become a Pawnee Goddess.

“It’s a Gertrude Stein!”

I thought the Batman costumer made Ben look kind of fat-faced. Also I was disappointed by the payoff to the Chris-Jerry storyline. I hope they are setting that up to be funnier.

I liked Leslie’s “goddess roar”.

Maybe I’m just in a good mood today, but that was one of my favorite episodes ever. Words can’t do justice to the hilarity contained in those 22 minutes.

I want to join the Swansons.

“It will not be fun.”

Treat yo’ self!

I will not be excited if Ben becomes a comics obsessed nerd. His line last week about the star trek movie seemed to fit with his general tidyness and accountant nature but relaxing by wearing a batman costume brings us to a whole level of weird that I don’t care for. Unless they get Leslie and Ben back together and it goes away.

There’s a repressed psycho inside every accountant. Most would be the Joker, but Batman matches up better with Ben’s personality.

I had to check the time because I was sure the episode ran long. They crammed a whole lot into one show. I think pretty much ever character was featured.

Ben’s just a general nerd. When he started talking about how “Game of Thrones” appeals to everyone my first thought was “That’s the exact sort of thing I would read on the Dope.”

I think he’d make a great Arthur.

There’s being a nerd and then there’s dressing up in costume, not for a joke or a prank but because it is relaxing. I am afraid they are turning Ben into just another wacky member of the cast and then we’ll be left with Ann Perkins for the straight lines, and god knows I love her but that’s a lot to ask of one person. I was actually kind of hoping that we’d get to see some development on his character in terms of his relationship with Leslie but I feel like the writers decided to just hang a big nerd sign on him.

“It’s a pioneer woman watching her grandmother get trampled by a buffalo.”

Ron is such a caricature but not at all funny. What happens because of him is funny sometimes, but he is so unreflectively self-righteous he’s like a black hole in the laughs.

Not that P&R has any really zany characters - the humor is social and story-centered - but Ron still seems like the massively dense center of gravity of the show.

Isn’t she an investor in the Snake Hole Lounge? They aren’t completely unsympatico.

I saw her investment as a kind of fuck-you to Tom, at least in part. I didn’t think they were such pals, anyway, even if they have some of the same interests.