"Parks and Rec" Watch-"Bus Tour"

Bert Macklin is back & ready for action! 

Parks and Recreation: "Bus Tour"

Leslie's campaign has hit into high gear the last 2 episodes and we have reaped the benefits as the show has been firing on all cylinders. 

Unlike The Office, Parks has plenty going to service the considerable skills of its cast. Naturally Leslie takes the lead as she is forced to deal with the fallout of her harsh words for Bobby Newport's recently deceased father the day before the city council election. Not surprisingly she only exasperates the problem as she & Ben are once again outwitted by political genius Jennifer Barkley who gets them to roll their campaign buss right up to a memorial for Nick Newport Sr. & all seems lost. On this show, & in life I'd like to believe, kindness decency can always come to the rescue though & that's exactly what happens. Finally following Anne's advice Leslie apologizes to Bobby without any pretense (I loved the sight gag of Bobby playing Wii bowling right next to an actual bowling alley) with a lovely story of her coming in last place in the 5000 meters when she was in school but her mother being incredibly proud anyway (the fact the show can get away with being so earnest speaks to the quality of both the writers & the actors delivering the lines). Of course Bobby fails to understand the meaning of the story but when he goes to talk at the memorial service he recites the same story, but with himself winning the race, & then calls Leslie up to the stage to thank her for her support as he all but endorses her. It's this ability to deliver laughs & heart felt moments, without either undercutting the other, that differentiates this show from the Two and a Half Men's & Big Bang Theory's of the world. That & every measure of quality. 

In the B story Tom is tasked with finding out why the vans they hired out to get senior citizens to the polls are no longer scheduled to go out &, despite completely trusting Tom to get the job done, Leslie sends Donna & Ron along as well. It turns out that the owner of the rental company, played by Mike O'Malley* (the one redeeming factor on the disaster known as Glee), has been paid $10,000 by the Newport's to not send the vans out. Ron tries to convince him to give them the vans with an appeal to his honor but when that fails Ron, ever the free market enthusiast, offers to match the $10, 000. When that only leads to a demand for more money the three give up & are about to leave when Donna finds the inspiration to back her SUV into the rental owner's truck &, with the help of her two witnesses, let him off the hook for rear ending her by giving them the vans. It's a fun story throughout, then again I'm not sure a Ron F#$%ing Swanson storyline could be anything but.

*Alan Sepinwall reports that O'Malley was actually a close second for the part of Ron Swanson. I'm sure he would've been very good, but boy am I glad Nick Offerman got the job. 

The show also has fun with Chris trying to fight through his depression by constantly being in action (loved his biking past the bus), culminating in his sleeping with Jennifer Barkley, as well as the case of the pie thrower which gave us the return of Bert Macklin! As far as I'm concerned the show can do no wrong when Andy is inhabiting his alter ego, whether he's smashing a pie in Jerry's face, giving everyone inappropriate security nicknames, or figuring out the pie thrower is Joe from Sewage but failing to stop him anyway. Bert Macklin... You son of a bitch, you get me every time.

I'm guessing next week Leslie will emerge victorious in the race for city council (otherwise Chris will need a new job & we won't get to see Ron as his #2), but either way I fully trust this show wherever it wants to go.

Grade: A-