4x20 The Debate

[9.0/10] This one could get to “excellent” on Leslie’s speech alone. I have to admit, even knowing it was coming, her speech about loving where you’re from and working to make it better, believing in it and not threatening it or punishing it, gave me chills. I don’t think I felt that the first time I watched this episode. In truth, it’s Parks and Rec at its most didactic, laying its philosophy bare, and that sort of directness doesn’t always work for me. But we are at a different place as a country now than we were in 2012 when this aired, and the message seems all the more poignant. I, at least, was utterly defenseless.

But even apart from that one great moment, the episode is full of great debate-related parodies and moments. Whether it’s getting questions from Twitter, Perd eating up all of Leslie’s time, or the fringe candidates (including Buddy from Friday Night Lights!), there is a good helping of the classic P&R small town lunacy that adds color to the proceedings.

And there’s a more pointed satire of debates on top of that, with the prepared, knowledgeable Knope losing to the likable but platitude-offering dope thanks to his unassuming charm. It pokes at the dog and pony show of debates and the ways they’re both compromised (Sweetums being a sponsor is a nice touch) but also pretty far removed from representing who would make a good leader versus who knows how to play to the crowd and to the camera. It’s sharp satire grounded in great character work and a particularly stellar performance from Poehler.

(Honorable mention to the moment where Ben stops his cautiousness and tells Leslie to go kick Newport’s ass. They are such a great pairing.)

Of course, it can’t all be sharp political satire. We get bogged down in another chapter of Tom and Ann, this time adding in Chris for a strained love triangle. The show does its best to redeem Tom a bit here, trying to chalk up his immature behavior to him not knowing how to express his genuinely sweet feelings, but it’s something of a fig leaf on a relationship and a set of behaviors that, as Chris accurately points out, defies all logic. I do appreciate that Ann doesn’t suddenly pick a new boyfriend, but responds in a mature fashion to both Chris and Tom’s advances, choosing her own path. But the whole story amounts to a bandaid on a pretty poor decision.

Still, there’s also some trifling fun to tide us over! It’s not particularly deep or meaningful, but the C-story with Ron, April, and Andy is great. Andy reenacting his favorite movies after the cable goes out is just comedy gold. There’s such a childlike enthusiasm to everything he does, and Chris Pratt’s natural charm really comes through. By the same token, Ron stealing cable, singing “Lineman for the County,” and mildly panicking when he hears sirens is fun stuff as well.

Overall, the A-story is the powerhouse here, with heart, wit, and incisive observation about debates, politics, and governance writ large, with a weak B-story and a fun C-story that balance one another out in the shadow of the bigger, better part of the episode.