Episode 1:2 -- Canvassing
EPISODE DETAILS
Title: Canvassing
Written by: Rachel Axler
Directed by: Seth Gordon
COLD OPEN: It's Easter in Pawnee, and the Parks Department is hosting an egg hunt. Leslie tells us that Tom was in charge of hiding the eggs this year and did a great job -- she has yet to find one. We then cut to Tom who tells us he did not hide any eggs, so we now know that the children of Pawnee will not find a single egg on this Easter egg hunt.
The subcommittee assembles and Leslie hands them each a binder filled with scripts and scenarios for them to take around the neighborhood and talk to people. She breaks them up into two teams -- she and Ann comprise one team, and Mark, Tom, and April form the other. Leslie and Ann meet a variety of people, several of whom are supportive of the park but are unable to attend the meeting. As they get hot and defeated, Leslie tells Ann to open an envelope in the binder which includes a list of leading questions such as "Would you rather have a park here rather than a nuclear waste dump?", a trick she claims she learned from Karl Rove. This approach, though, backfires almost instantly as Leslie gets into a verbal confrontation with woman who is vehemently opposed to the idea of a park being in her neighborhood. When Leslie tells her that she doesn't love her children if she opposes the park, the woman vows to attend the meeting and voice her opinion about the park. Leslie and Ann head back to Ann's house because Leslie realizes Andy is their secret weapon (she likens him to FDR) and discover the other team (minus Tom) playing Rock Band with Andy. Mark's team talked to one person -- a man who was clearly a registered sex offender based on questions he asks them -- and that was pretty much enough for their team to call it quits with Tom leaving to go back to the office.
Back at the office, while Tom is on the phone calling a variety of suppliers and contractors and striking deals for them to get involved in the park project in exchange for future favors, Ron is visited by city manager Paul who approves of the fact that Ron has "fast tracked" this parks project. This leads to a confessional where Ron expresses his disgust that federal funds are pouring into town and leading to the encouragement of civic projects like parks. It is clear, however, that despite his philosophical objections to the park, Ron does want to maintain Paul's approval and so when Leslie, shaken by the canvassing experience, comes to him and suggests delaying the community forum, he rejects her request and encourages her to stay on schedule, telling her that Paul will be there.
The night of the forum comes. Tom has a VIP section for his suppliers -- sod and landscaping and concrete and playground equipment. Leslie looks out and sees her mother sitting in the front row. Leslie tells April to sit in the office so that Leslie can call on her if they need someone to speak positively about the park project. The meeting begins and pretty much immediately becomes, in the words of Marlene Griggs Knope, a "trainwreck." Opposition is clear and vocal. Kate Spevack, the woman Leslie insulted with her push polling, expresses her shock that this project is being pushed through so quickly before an environmental impact study can be conducted. She encourages the community to take a stand. Kate's opposition scares off Tom's suppliers. During a break, Ron tells Leslie she has to avoid a vote at all costs, which leads to Leslie conducting a fillibuster at her own meeting by giving a detailed account of the history of Pawnee, a rumination on what the future of Pawnee may hold, and a reading of The Phantom Tollbooth. Kate manages to get the floor and calls for a vote, but Leslie manages to hold that off by calling for everyone to express their opinions so the rest of the meeting consists of people standing at a mic yelling at Leslie. Ann marvels at how Leslie sustains this abuse and wonders if she was that mean when she spoke at the meeting weeks earlier. The meeting ends promptly at 9:00 as scheduled without a vote. While Leslie is exhausted, she is still exhilarated at having survived the meeting and shares a smile with her mother who is clearly a bit impressed with her daughter.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS
* We see Donna very briefly at the beginning of the episode during the Easter egg hunt.
* A photo of Madeline Albright now sits behind Leslie's desk rather than the photo of Nancy Pelosi we saw in episode 1.
* Leslie says of her mother that she is "as respected as Mother Teresa, as powerful as Joseph Stalin, and as beautiful as Margaret Thatcher."
* This episode is the first time we hear Leslie talk about her dream/goal of becoming the first female president of the United States. She dreams of bringing her staff and showing them the park she built.
* The pit, "Lot 48," is located at the corner of Sullivan Street and Collins.
* This is the first time we meet Andy and Ann's neighbor Lawrence with whom Andy has an ongoing war and who will become a regular at town meetings.
* At this point in time, the name of Andy's band is Just the Tip, and they are in need of a bassist.
* Guest stars include UCB alums Lennon Parnham as Kate and Brian Huskey as the creepy neighborhood sex offender.
ANALYSIS
Second episodes are hard. In the pre-streaming world, you need to re-introduce the main characters for people who are jumping in on episode two and still move the plot in some direction to keep people on board. That means we spend some time clarifying relationships and roles here, leaning into character traits like Leslie's optimism or Tom's sleaziness. The frustrating thing is that is can also feel like wheels are spinning, and that's exactly what happens here in this episode. Very little happens and what does happen just doesn't seem very engaging. It doesn't help that Leslie doesn't come across as very likable in large portions of this episode. She is rude to people during the canvassing, even to the people who agree with her. When Ann tries to just talk to people neighbor-to-neighbor, Leslie shuts her down and demands she use her binder script even though it prevents any meaningful dialogue from happening. She engages in push polling, a tactic that many in political spheres consider a bit ethically hazy. She even seems to essentially admit to cheating in a high school election. While we still get moments showing us Leslie's passion and idealism, her willingness to play a bit dirty leaves us confused as to whether we should be rooting for her.
This episode does, though, give us a stronger sense of what motivates Leslie. There is still her idealism, her belief that the government can accomplish good things to help people. There's a quote I love in this episode where Leslie says, "A pit filled with trash is not the best we can do." That seems like a guiding principle that will continue to blossom in future episodes and seasons. It is a key defining characteristic of Leslie Knope, her belief in the power of the government to help make people's lives better That motivation here is murky because it's wrapped in these kind of ethically grey moments, but it's there.
The other key motivation that seems to drive Leslie does not have the lasting impact as her "not the best we can do" moment. The way this episode drives plot forward is introducing Marlene Griggs Knope and Leslie's desperate desire to win her mother's approval. It is clear that Marlene was designed to be a bigger character. She appears in half the episodes of this first season but only sporadically after season 1. (She doesn't appear at all in seasons 6 or 7.) This dynamic was intended to be a big plot device that was abandoned when the show underwent some retooling during the hiatus between seasons 1 and 2 and the decision was made to make Leslie much more competent. The Leslie that returns for season 2 would not struggle to win her mother's approval the way she does in season 1 when Marlene actually says that she has told Leslie repeatedly "there's nothing wrong with being a wife and mother." Marlene does not see the potential in season 1 Leslie to have any sort of success. She loves her daughter as we can see from the smile she shoots her at the end, but she also sees her daughter as lacking the ability to succeed the way she wants to. She wants Leslie to settle for a less brutal path that will still provide happiness and not be filled with so much failure. At the end of the day, season 1 Leslie is largely a failure for reasons that both are and are not her fault. She lacks the people skills to engage with people successfully, leading to irate community members telling her she sucks after a community forum. She lacks the leadership skills to inspire her subcommittee members to take canvassing seriously. It seems highly unlikely this Leslie will build this park let alone become president. As Leslie becomes more capable, her need for a withholding mother becomes less and thus Marlene Griggs Knope fades to the sidelines in future seasons. (I will say this is a largely unfortunate side effect of the improvements this show goes through as it hits season 2 because Pamela Reed is a terrific character actress who has great chemistry with Amy Poehler. You could also argue that as Ron Swanson takes on a more paternal figure in Leslie's life and career, Marlene becomes extraneous.)
"Canvassing" is not a horrible episode of Parks and Recreation but it's also not a particularly good one. We have wheels spinning, and it's only the second episode. There's not a real sense of community amongst these characters -- even Mark and Ann who provided the "Leslie is okay" chorus in the first episode feel less supportive of her with the exception of Ann's admiration at the end that Leslie is able to withstand the barrage of criticism. None of the characters are particularly likable or sympathetic, which makes it hard for the audience to invest in the plot. So we have here a rather grating main character surrounded by people who don't seem to respect or like her all that much. This is an episode I frequently tell people to skip because it just isn't particularly good or even funny. Sadly, this is true of the next several episodes of this season before it turns around toward the end. But we'll get to that in future posts.
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