[8.2/10] A nice episode. We have a standard Leslie plot, where she's worried about one thing (not getting to do the paperwork and other nitty gritty stuff in her job) and so projects that worry onto her professional life by turning a fairly simple slogan into a city-wide media assault. The Crazy Ira and the Douche stuff rarely does much for me, but Leslie's attempts to be cool and fit in with them are funny enough. And other bits like her press junket with Perd and Joan, or her attempts to champion her preferred slogan are amusing too.
Still, what really makes the episode work is its finish. For one, I like Ben as the voice of reason here, asking Leslie what's really going on and, after she spills the beans, talks to her about using this as a test run to see if the city can survive without her. Jerry makes for a great one-man stress test, and his buffoonery combined with the usual hilarious idiocy of a town forum, coupled with Leslie straining not to intervene make for some tremendous comedy. The grammar errors and nonetheless perfectly nice slogan reward Ben and Leslie's faith in enough of a fractured way to make it work, and the button on the story is particularly superb. Ben responding to Leslie's worry that she might not be any good at her potential new job by saying that's "the stupidest thing she's ever said" is quite sweet, and Amy Poehler and Adam Scott have truly nailed the great chemistry between their two characters.
The Tom-Donna-April story is quick but sweet. I like that the two want to support Tom, but also don't want him to leave for his new restaurant business, and so unwittingly conspire to make all his restaurant options look bad, only to encourage him when they feel bad about holding him back. Tidy and nice story.
And while pretty brief, Andy inadvertently discovering Duke Silver is pretty great as well. The scene where Andy inadvertently coaxes a confession from Ron is hilarious, and again, there's something sweet in Andy working so hard to make sure Ron doesn't give up music. His list of secrets that he reads to Ron in particular is a laugh riot. It's a simple story, but one made great by the performers.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-05-31T19:35:45Z
[8.2/10] A nice episode. We have a standard Leslie plot, where she's worried about one thing (not getting to do the paperwork and other nitty gritty stuff in her job) and so projects that worry onto her professional life by turning a fairly simple slogan into a city-wide media assault. The Crazy Ira and the Douche stuff rarely does much for me, but Leslie's attempts to be cool and fit in with them are funny enough. And other bits like her press junket with Perd and Joan, or her attempts to champion her preferred slogan are amusing too.
Still, what really makes the episode work is its finish. For one, I like Ben as the voice of reason here, asking Leslie what's really going on and, after she spills the beans, talks to her about using this as a test run to see if the city can survive without her. Jerry makes for a great one-man stress test, and his buffoonery combined with the usual hilarious idiocy of a town forum, coupled with Leslie straining not to intervene make for some tremendous comedy. The grammar errors and nonetheless perfectly nice slogan reward Ben and Leslie's faith in enough of a fractured way to make it work, and the button on the story is particularly superb. Ben responding to Leslie's worry that she might not be any good at her potential new job by saying that's "the stupidest thing she's ever said" is quite sweet, and Amy Poehler and Adam Scott have truly nailed the great chemistry between their two characters.
The Tom-Donna-April story is quick but sweet. I like that the two want to support Tom, but also don't want him to leave for his new restaurant business, and so unwittingly conspire to make all his restaurant options look bad, only to encourage him when they feel bad about holding him back. Tidy and nice story.
And while pretty brief, Andy inadvertently discovering Duke Silver is pretty great as well. The scene where Andy inadvertently coaxes a confession from Ron is hilarious, and again, there's something sweet in Andy working so hard to make sure Ron doesn't give up music. His list of secrets that he reads to Ron in particular is a laugh riot. It's a simple story, but one made great by the performers.
Overall, a nice gem in the middle of Season 6.