I rarely do this, but there are so many things big and small that play into the show’s longterm trajectory that I’m going to offer this proviso: DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ALL OF PARKS AND REC. IT CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE RUN OF THE SERIES AND YOU’LL DO YOURSELF A DISSERVICE BY SPOILING YOURSELF
Alright, with that out of the way, let’s talk about this one. What’s striking in retrospect is how “The Master Plan” plants the seeds for three of the show’s biggest relationships, and progresses a fourth considerably.
The biggest one of those is obviously Leslie and Ben. It’s so interesting to see where the two of them start with the knowledge of where they end up. I love that Leslie is instantly combative with him, so defensive of her department and the threat of budget cuts that she yells at him not once, not twice, but thrice. And I love Ben’s early characterization, as a non-nonsense but decent guy with Ice Town looming in his background and motivating him to show that he’s responsible. It’s a nice way to show that while he and Leslie are on opposite sides of their dispute, like all great Parks and Rec pairings, deep down they want the same things and have common ground.
The episode offers a tidy, compelling introduction to him and Chris, as the hatchetman and chipper cheerleader respectively. By the same token, the episode wrings some good comedy and Ron’s excitement at the prospect of cuts and government shutdowns and Leslie’s horror at the same thing.
We also get the start of Chris and Ann. It’s only the barest of beginnings, but Ann getting really drunk after breaking up with Mark and not remembering who she made out with made for a nice little mystery in the third act. I’m not crazy about Ann saying that she broke up with Mark because they didn’t fight enough, or deciding that she should be with Andy because they did argue, but I think there’s an argument for realism in how we rationalize the end of one relationship and look at others with rose-colored glasses. Plus, her intoxicated interactions with Chris in the flashback to the Snakehole Lounge were actually pretty amusing.
We also get the start of Tom and Lucy. It’s a minor plot in the episode, but I like that the show takes a typical Tom plot -- trying to use pickup artist style tricks to get women -- and has it be a bridge to Tom seeming like a human being. While I feel like the show ultimately rushed Tom and Lucy together at the end, they have good chemistry at the end of the episode here. The way she can call him on his crap in a funny way, and Tom can admit it in a funny way, makes you intrigued by them as a pairing and starts to show a more down-to-earth side to Tom that the show would visit all too infrequently.
Last, but certainly not least, it’s a heartrending episode for Andy-April boosters. Seeing how touched and clearly excited is that Andy clearly seems interested in her, how dismayed she is to see Ann flirting with him, how sad Andy is when he thinks he picked up the wrong signals after seeing her with Jean Ralphio, and how much pathos there is in the tag when Andy plays his little “will you go out with me” song is just a rollercoaster of emotions. Their shared weirdo energy is just so great, and what’s notable is that this doesn’t feel like the episode dragging out the “will-they-won’t-they” unnecessarily, but more earning the complicated feelings and worries the two have about each other.
Again, so much that starts in this episode becomes so important to the series as a whole, and how well all of it comes off is a great sign for where the show goes in its second season finale and beyond.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2017-07-24T22:48:14Z
I rarely do this, but there are so many things big and small that play into the show’s longterm trajectory that I’m going to offer this proviso: DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ALL OF PARKS AND REC. IT CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE RUN OF THE SERIES AND YOU’LL DO YOURSELF A DISSERVICE BY SPOILING YOURSELF
Alright, with that out of the way, let’s talk about this one. What’s striking in retrospect is how “The Master Plan” plants the seeds for three of the show’s biggest relationships, and progresses a fourth considerably.
The biggest one of those is obviously Leslie and Ben. It’s so interesting to see where the two of them start with the knowledge of where they end up. I love that Leslie is instantly combative with him, so defensive of her department and the threat of budget cuts that she yells at him not once, not twice, but thrice. And I love Ben’s early characterization, as a non-nonsense but decent guy with Ice Town looming in his background and motivating him to show that he’s responsible. It’s a nice way to show that while he and Leslie are on opposite sides of their dispute, like all great Parks and Rec pairings, deep down they want the same things and have common ground.
The episode offers a tidy, compelling introduction to him and Chris, as the hatchetman and chipper cheerleader respectively. By the same token, the episode wrings some good comedy and Ron’s excitement at the prospect of cuts and government shutdowns and Leslie’s horror at the same thing.
We also get the start of Chris and Ann. It’s only the barest of beginnings, but Ann getting really drunk after breaking up with Mark and not remembering who she made out with made for a nice little mystery in the third act. I’m not crazy about Ann saying that she broke up with Mark because they didn’t fight enough, or deciding that she should be with Andy because they did argue, but I think there’s an argument for realism in how we rationalize the end of one relationship and look at others with rose-colored glasses. Plus, her intoxicated interactions with Chris in the flashback to the Snakehole Lounge were actually pretty amusing.
We also get the start of Tom and Lucy. It’s a minor plot in the episode, but I like that the show takes a typical Tom plot -- trying to use pickup artist style tricks to get women -- and has it be a bridge to Tom seeming like a human being. While I feel like the show ultimately rushed Tom and Lucy together at the end, they have good chemistry at the end of the episode here. The way she can call him on his crap in a funny way, and Tom can admit it in a funny way, makes you intrigued by them as a pairing and starts to show a more down-to-earth side to Tom that the show would visit all too infrequently.
Last, but certainly not least, it’s a heartrending episode for Andy-April boosters. Seeing how touched and clearly excited is that Andy clearly seems interested in her, how dismayed she is to see Ann flirting with him, how sad Andy is when he thinks he picked up the wrong signals after seeing her with Jean Ralphio, and how much pathos there is in the tag when Andy plays his little “will you go out with me” song is just a rollercoaster of emotions. Their shared weirdo energy is just so great, and what’s notable is that this doesn’t feel like the episode dragging out the “will-they-won’t-they” unnecessarily, but more earning the complicated feelings and worries the two have about each other.
Again, so much that starts in this episode becomes so important to the series as a whole, and how well all of it comes off is a great sign for where the show goes in its second season finale and beyond.