[7.8/10] This episode does something I typically love on Parks the Rec - have Leslie learn a lesson in a sideways sort of way, with the help of someone in her inner circle. In this case, it’s Leslie seeing the “Kaboom” people (led by Paul Scheer) build a playground in a day, and deciding that she’s going to fill in the pit herself. Spurred on by Mark, she goes for forgiveness rather than permission, and naturally, it blows up in her face.
There’s a lot of great Leslie moments in this, from her asking Mark who she needs authority from not to ask for permission, or her frantic attempts to express remorse to Andy without saying the legally-prohibited apology she wants to, or her sharpness and finding a way to help her and Andy at the same time.
(As an aside, it’s also a great Leslie and Ann friendship episode. When I was watching the show weekly, I remember feeling like the show often overstated the importance of their kinship as Leslie became more connected to her coworkers. But going back to this season, it’s clear how much of the show’s early going in particular is founded on their connection and rapport with one another, and Parks and Rec shows how ready they are to help one another here.)
There’s a nice parallel here, with Leslie wanting to jump to the finish of achieving her dream of building a park, and Andy wanting to jump to the finish to get back together with Ann by getting a lot of money in a lawsuit (which is, amusingly, how he takes Ann’s admonition that Mark has a real job and a grown up life). While Leslie gets a leg up here, both of them take the lesson to heart that sometimes you just have to do the legwork and rushing it gets you into trouble. That feels true to the ethos of this “work worth doing” show, and the message is elegantly deployed with Andy’s injury and ensuing legal threat being bargained into him getting the city to fill in the pit on Leslie’s behalf and getting a construction job to show Ann he can be a grown-up.
The laughs are there, especially in Leslie’s depiction as the scrupulous square trying to be a free spirit, and Andy showing up in the nude. But overall, it’s one of those episodes that feels like the show really finding its voice and showing what it’s capable of.
(Oh, and I can’t go without mentioning that it features the great H. Jon Benjamin of Archer and Bob’s Burgers fame as the city attorney!)
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-07-12T23:06:51Z
[7.8/10] This episode does something I typically love on Parks the Rec - have Leslie learn a lesson in a sideways sort of way, with the help of someone in her inner circle. In this case, it’s Leslie seeing the “Kaboom” people (led by Paul Scheer) build a playground in a day, and deciding that she’s going to fill in the pit herself. Spurred on by Mark, she goes for forgiveness rather than permission, and naturally, it blows up in her face.
There’s a lot of great Leslie moments in this, from her asking Mark who she needs authority from not to ask for permission, or her frantic attempts to express remorse to Andy without saying the legally-prohibited apology she wants to, or her sharpness and finding a way to help her and Andy at the same time.
(As an aside, it’s also a great Leslie and Ann friendship episode. When I was watching the show weekly, I remember feeling like the show often overstated the importance of their kinship as Leslie became more connected to her coworkers. But going back to this season, it’s clear how much of the show’s early going in particular is founded on their connection and rapport with one another, and Parks and Rec shows how ready they are to help one another here.)
There’s a nice parallel here, with Leslie wanting to jump to the finish of achieving her dream of building a park, and Andy wanting to jump to the finish to get back together with Ann by getting a lot of money in a lawsuit (which is, amusingly, how he takes Ann’s admonition that Mark has a real job and a grown up life). While Leslie gets a leg up here, both of them take the lesson to heart that sometimes you just have to do the legwork and rushing it gets you into trouble. That feels true to the ethos of this “work worth doing” show, and the message is elegantly deployed with Andy’s injury and ensuing legal threat being bargained into him getting the city to fill in the pit on Leslie’s behalf and getting a construction job to show Ann he can be a grown-up.
The laughs are there, especially in Leslie’s depiction as the scrupulous square trying to be a free spirit, and Andy showing up in the nude. But overall, it’s one of those episodes that feels like the show really finding its voice and showing what it’s capable of.
(Oh, and I can’t go without mentioning that it features the great H. Jon Benjamin of Archer and Bob’s Burgers fame as the city attorney!)