Parks & Rec & the Women of Pawnee (Season 3)
First off…
I finished season two here and I’m pretty jazzed about dealing with season three — and not just because it’s shorter and easier. I think this season cemented the cast dynamic and many seeds were planted for fruition in season four. I think the showrunners must have been more confident by now as I can clearly see on rewatch that a plan was in place and I’m one of those people who seriously digs that in a show. It just inspires trust!
In a nutshell…
The Parks Department reopens and Leslie and Ben’s tentative truce from the end of last season is wrecked by him constantly shooting down her big ideas with the city’s budget remaining tight. She finally comes up with one he can’t shoot down: bringing back the long-dead Pawnee Harvest Festival, putting her job and those of the entire Parks Department on the line to gamble on its success.
Meanwhile, Ann has been shooting Chris down consistently, finding his positivity unnerving, But Leslie convinces her to go out with him to see if Ann can talk him into increasing the budget on their date, which Leslie ambushes. Ben shows up as well, suspicious about Leslie’s machinations. The date ends up ruined at the very end by Leslie revealing the reason behind it. Despite all this, Ann has started to find Chris’ relentless optimism charming and asks him for another shot. It doesn’t hurt that Chris gets the flu and his stay in the hospital definitely humanizes him in Ann’s eyes.
Andy adorably tries to woo April back in every way he can: apologies, flowers, getting advice from relentlessly positive Chris, befriending her new boyfriend, and trying to (incompetently) do everything she doesn’t want to do for a month. April is still too angry to be moved “unless Andy can unkiss Ann.” She even threatens to move to Indianapolis to work for Chris, until Ron (who has been bonding with Andy over meat and sports) convinces her to stop torturing the nice boy before he gives up completely. She finally forgives (and kisses) him.
Leslie has been making great headway into getting the festival sponsors, services and free security nailed down, impressing Ben at every turn. When he and Chris decide to extend their stay in Pawnee, it’s obvious it’s more for Leslie and Ann than for the festival. Leslie is not quite as impressed by Ben, especially when he spends an entire media tour meant to promote the festival, stuttering or aggressive about defending his teen mayor past. But we see the beginnings of nerdy love between them during the wildly successful Harvest Festival where we meet Li’l Sebastian, a mini horse beloved by all of Pawnee and the only being Ron loves without reserve because… mini horse.
Tom has been increasingly obsessed with Ron’s relationship with Wendy and it bothers Lucy to the point where she breaks up with him, telling him to call her if he ever gets over it. He doesn’t and acts out by dating Tammy 2 to get back at Ron, unaware that Ron and Wendy have broken things due to her moving back to Canada for a family matter.
When Tammy ends up being more than Tom (or anyone on this Earth) can handle, Ron takes her away to hash things out… and they end up remarried, in jail, and Ron gets cornrows. It’s all pretty horrifying. The department holds an intervention, even up to a videotaped Ron chiming in, but it doesn’t work until Tom, feeling responsible for starting this mess, shows up and is beaten up by Tammy. Ron sees the evil in her and fireman-carries Tom away.
Ann, who has been converted to Chris’ life of vitamins and health food, is hoping Chris asks her to come with him when he moves back to Indianapolis (leaving Ben to take care of things). She drops hints, but finally asks him about their future. They have what must be a very encouraging conversation off-screen and Ann commits to making things work living apart. But she starts to find Chris strangely distant. When Ron and Leslie take a trip to Indiana, she asks Leslie to check up on him. Leslie finds feminine items she thinks are evidence of cheating. They belong to Chris who, when an angry Ann shows up, insists he hasn’t been cheating, but also that they broke up. It was something Ann didn’t clue into under his layers of positivity and she is humiliated. It’s not much better when Chris returns and takes a job as City Manager (with Ben as his assistant). Ann begins acting out and dating numerous men with some help and advice from Donna.
Andy and April have been having fun together. In fact, they think things are going so well, they invite everyone for a party that’s actually a surprise wedding. Leslie tries to talk them out of it, but finally realizes they’re going to do what makes them happy, even if it seems stupid. She starts to wonder if there’s something there with Ben, but he shoots her down when she asks him out. She’s later horrified to find herself matched with Tom when she tries online dating. It turns out it’s because Tom has multiple profiles, even ones to attract nerds like Leslie, but Tom still tortures her until she kisses him just to embarrass and shut him up. It’s something that will come back to bite her as Chris keeps believing she and Tom are a thing, even up to next season. She also learns about Chris’ strict rules against office dating, which renews her now-forbidden interest in Ben.
Ben, sick of living in a motel, moves in with Andy and April and tries to teach them to be grown-ups. They have a ways to go, but it kind of works. Meanwhile, Leslie goes up against Marcia Langman over a painting by Jerry. It’s of half-naked centaur/goddess Diaphena, who Jerry subconsciously painted to look like Leslie, seeing her as a powerful woman. It gives Leslie a boost of confidence, but Marcia wants it not just out of the city art show, but destroyed. Leslie manages to keep it with some trickery: pretending Jerry painted over it with Tom as the centaur, when she actually had him paint another.
When a Health Department PR Director job opens up in city hall, Leslie pushes Ann to apply for it, up to the point of scheduling her interview and bringing her crates of binders to study. Ann resents Leslie pushing her and not taking into account that she likes nursing, and Leslie is annoyed by Ann’s lack of ambition and her dating and discarding of various men.
When the gang goes to The Snakehole Lounge to help promote Tom’s newest scheme: a drink called Snakejuice, it gets everyone good and drunk and prompts a huge (and hilariously incoherent) fight between Ann and Leslie.
We also see Andy and April’s first outing as Bert Macklin and Janet Snakehole, which is awesome. Things go well for Tom until Chris tells him he’s not allowed to use help from friends in government to promote private endeavors, something Ron disagrees with. Tom sells his shares miserably, but with Ron encouraging him not to give up trying to get “off the government teat.” Leslie and Ann make up in the hungover aftermath, with Ann deciding to continue nursing and take the job on a part time basis and Ann accidentally/on purpose tells Ben that Leslie likes him, too.
Unfortunately, the both of them know they can’t do anything about it. They stalwartly try to resist each other on a road trip where they end up with Chris for company. In the end, Ben breaks and kisses her, starting off their secret romance, which is kept from all but Ann. Well, until they’re forced to tell Leslie’s mother. Long story short: Leslie gives Ben advice about gaining Marlene’s respect when she steamrolls him and it works so well that Marlene comes on to him. Ben finally decides to just tell Marlene, who finds the preceding events hilarious in that light and approves of Ben in the end. There’s also some more tension between Chris and Ron when Chris tries to make (spectacularly unsuccessful) changes to how the department is run.
In the finale, Li’l Sebastian goes to horsie heaven and everyone, especially Ron, is in deep mourning. The Parks gang organizes the funeral, with some clever innovations by Tom, who helps Jean-Ralphio turn a financial windfall into an event planning company. In the end, Tom enjoys the work so much, he resigns from his job and joins Jean-Ralphio in starting Entertainment 720. Ron also finds out about Ben and Leslie and warns Leslie to be more careful. Leslie is perhaps too careful, bribing a stranger who sees her and Ben kiss with a gift certificate (that will come back to bite her next season).
Besides that, the event is a huge hit, Andy comes up with an awesome memorial song, April begins managing Andy’s singing career with her firmer hand, and Leslie is scouted, due to her string of successful events and initiatives, to run for public office — something she knows could mean the end of her and Ben. In other horrifying developments, Tammy 1 shows up. We don’t see her face, but she terrifies Ron and even Tammy 2.
The last thing we see are the ridiculously extravagant offices of Entertainment 720. Yeah. That’s gonna last…
The Women of Pawnee
As much as the final few episodes were about Leslie and Ben, they were more about Ben falling for Leslie than the reverse. We’ll get to know Ben more next season, but this season just hammered in the idea of falling in love with Leslie Knope (for us and Ben). We meet Leslie’s former best friend, Lindsay Carlisle Shay (Parker Posey) in an episode I didn’t go into (due to it having no great impact on the season’s arc), who holds Ron’s job in rich, neighboring Eagleton. Leslie could have had Lindsay’s job, but she is loyal to her hometown of Pawnee. “[Leslie’s] the kind of person who uses favors to help other people,” the police chief tells Ben. who couldn’t fall in love with that?
Ah, Drunk Ann! You know, annoyed as I was with Ann at the end of last season, I liked that she put up with April torturing her in “Flu Season.” She knew it was a dirty move, going after Andy out of jealousy, and she took her penance… up to point. As much as Ann seemed to think seeing Chris sick and helpless in that same episode humanized him, I think this season humanized Ann. She’s been stuck in the Only Sane box up till now, but you see more of her drunk and crazy— investing so heavily in Chris that she is ready to move after only weeks, taking on his lifestyle, and, of course, not realizing when she’s been dumped. In a perfect world, she would never see him again after the humiliation that was their break up. But he comes back and I love how straight-forwardly she deals with him even while she rebounds with every man in the tri-city area.
On the surface, April’s arc this season was entirely about her relationship with Andy and vice-versa. But there were some seeds planted (this seemed to be a planting season). It was hilarious, seeing her having to work briefly for Chris. As much as she responds to Andy’s childlike joie de vivre, Chris’ brand of optimism freaks her the hell out (see above). I think Chris got through to her a bit when he told her she was capable of more than she was doing.
Donna Meagle! The more I see here, the more I want to follow her home from work and see her mogul/temptress/zenmaster life. I loved her schooling Ann on dating because she just could not watch that mess. And I love how firmly Donna knows who she is. As a large lady, myself, I wish I had her calm, cool self-assuredness.
I can’t believe it I forgot to go over her in the last 2 seasons! Maybe she scares me as much as she scares everyone else. To sum her up, Tammy 2 is a hypersexualized, manipulative, violent librarian (and in this town, that very word is evil). In her clutches, Ron is a wild, sex-crazed, law-breaking animal and… Well, just wait till you see what Tammy 1 does to him.
Joan Callamezzo is in fine form this season. I love that not even she is immune to fangirling over Li’l Sebastian in “Harvest Festival.” She goes after Leslie just as hard as ever and puts Ben in her cross-hairs during “Media Blitz” over his teen mayor past. You know, I would love to see her and cheerfully sedate Perd Hapley do a bantery morning show.
Shauna shows up during “Media Blitz” and “Time Capsule” for more of Leslie’s smooth interview skills and gripping headlines (“The Parks Department cuts the crap-sul, buries the time capsule!”).
Marcia Langman appears twice — once to protest Twilight for being anti-Christian and pro-quivering (not a Twilight fan, but aren’t bloodless Mormon vampires having family nights and abstaining before marriage as wholesome as it gets?) and again to give Leslie crap in “Jerry’s Painting.”
Lucy, Wendy, and Marlene all have brief appearances, all of which have been explained above. For Wendy, it was the last time, unless she comes back in season seven. Just under two more weeks till we know!
Bechdel Test failed…
It’s a 9/7 fail for season three, which is a shame as I never felt, watching or rewatching that it was skewed toward the male characters in focus. I still contend that this test is not a perfect measure of whether a show is female-forward. Then again, I might be biased as this show just leaves me so warm and happy that I like to think it perfect from every angle. As far as this show goes, the A-plot always deals with Leslie and her love life is not the sum of her concerns except for in 3–4 episodes near the end. In fact, Leslie is largely content with her career and its upward trajectory. Her love life thoughts are more “wouldn’t it be nice” than something that consumes her.
Fangasms
Just a silly thing that makes me giggle: The talking heads from the policemen in “Ron and Tammy 2,” all identical and all ending in “real piece of work” killed me
Andy: “Leslie, I typed your symptoms into the thing up here, and it says you could have ‘network connectivity problems.” Apparently, this line was improvised by Chris Pratt and I love it.
Another thing about Andy (that I forgot to mention in season 2's recap) is that every song he’s ever written mentions both being “a champion” and “spreading your wings and flying.” We see that in his Li’l Sebastion memorial song and later in season four and it’s adorable. I know I spend a lot of time gushing about how cool Swanson is, but there’s something infectious about Andy’s childlike glee about every damned thing in life. I think it’s what made me love the pairing of Andy and April so much. They’re complete opposites but they balance each other.
This was an amazing season for Ron. My highlights are best summed up visually…
Next up: Season 4
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All images from Parks and Recreation are property of NBC Universal, Greg Daniels, Michael Schur, Howard Klein (among many other entities) and used here for criticism and analysis only.
