[7.6/10] It’s Dave! I forgot that he shows up this early. Louis C.K. is such a boon to the early going of this show, though he doesn’t have that much to do. Even so, his interactions with Leslie at the stationhouse are hilarious, from his mentioning that his mom prefers to call him “David” to Leslie letting exactly what she was doing there (including having a van full of an unreasonable amount of candy) all spill out. There’s instant chemistry between the two of them.
The whole setup of the A-story is amusing, with Leslie and Tom staking out the community garden in the pit and running into Andy there. Leslie not realizing what pot actually is or how to do a stake out turns out to be great fodder for comedy, and we start to see Andy at his comic best. (As I recall, his frantic dive into the pit was the first time the character made me laugh out loud.)
Mark and Ann make a much more entertaining couple than I’d remembered. Their rapport is solid, and the fact that their date culminates in them accidentally calling the cops on Tom is a great way to go.
The B-story is great stuff as well. Ron having a hernia and refusing to ask for help (choosing to just not move instead) is classic Swanson. It’s also the first time April’s really had anything to do, and her flat affect methods of messing with Ron but then ultimately helping him out is the first beat we ever get of their budding mentor relationship. Plus, “I’m Ron f---in’ Swanson.”
Overall, a great outing that connects the stories in great ways. (I love when Leslie tells Dave she’ll get Ron to come down and kick his ass, and the episode cuts to Ron sitting immobilized in the dark.) This is definitely where the show started coming into its own.
Hoes before bros. Uteruses before duderuses. Ovaries before brovaries.
Ron is actually hilarious. Rarely so much was accomplished with so little.
Where the previous episode "Pawnee Zoo" was where the characters were first forming into the lovable personalities they would go onto become down the road, this is the first episode with a real sense of humour in my opinion. It still isn't spectacular but it's where Ron, April and Andy first get some real nice material to work with.
Ron's hernia and the resultant comedy is both true to the show's sense of humour and true to the character. Ron would rather sit in one place than ask anyone for the most basic of help (getting a ride to the hospital) at least until a certain April Ludgate comes to him. April herself finally gets some material and her back and forth with Ron is superb.
Andy living in the pit and being caught by the stakeout team of Leslie and Tom is great and him reluctantly agreeing to get into the van despite apparently waiting for a guy to show up for a rock fight is an absolutely hilarious throwaway line that adds such a necessary punch of humour to it all. It undercuts the creepiness of what he's doing ever so slightly but at the same time, just perfectly.
It's great to see Louis CK make his first appearance here and his role in season 2 certainly elevates the episodes he's seen (see "Greg Pikitas" for example). The Mark/Ann stuff is just OK but the way the narrative works around them (first the stake out and later the arrest) makes it all worthwhile.
Solid episode.
OMG, guys! Ron Swanson had the best plot in this episode! LMAO!
Ron is the best. we don't deserve him.
Shout by MaithBlockedParent2015-08-15T22:46:08Z
This is the first episode of this show I actually loved. You need the first 7 episodes to let the characters grow on you. Now that they are all established you can have some fun with them. I like the direction this is going and hope they can keep this up.