Episode 1:4 -- Boys' Club

 

Written by Alan Yang

Directed by Michael McCullers

COLD OPEN: We join Leslie and Tom as they are headed out to a hiking trail to investigate reports that local teenagers are having fights with bags of dog poop. While Leslie initially doubts that this report is true, upon their arrival, they find a group of boys doing just that -- flinging bags of dog poop at each other. Tom immediately walks away, refusing to get involved, but Leslie approaches the boys to demand they stop. Of course, they start flinging bags of poop at her. She tries to deflect them with a trash can lid. Repulsed by the smell, she picks up a bag and throws it back at the boys and soon realizes that it IS fun and joins in on this dog poop battle.

MAIN PLOT: A gift basket of wine and cheese arrives from a local business (Norton Construction), but before Jerry and Tom can open it, Leslie stops them, reminding them that they are bound by ethics to refuse any gifts over $25. She tells them they live in a fish bowl as government employees and have to live accordingly. Tom, of course, quickly informs us via confessional that he NEVER exploits his power -- a statement belied by video footage of him using his government ID to cut in line in front of children in order to get a free hot dog.

Leslie tells Ann that she had April set up what is essentially a Facebook page for the pit and holds a grand debut with Ann, Leslie, and Tom. She excitedly notes that they already have six friends, including Mark Brandanowitz. Tom tells the others they need to check out Mark's profile which is filled with pictures of Mark and scantily clad women. This clearly stirs Leslie's jealousy.  Ann asks where Mark is, and Leslie tells him he's at a meeting of the "boys' club" -- a group of male government employees who meet in the city hall courtyard and drink beers.  While Leslie is sure that this is where the deals are made, a quick glimpse of the group shows them talking about where one's wife bought his shirt. Leslie decides that she and Ann are going to crash this boys' club. Mark and the others welcome them, offering them beers. As they talk, Ann teases Mark about the girls on his profile, a conversation Leslie encourages. They run out of beer and declare it time to go home, but Leslie is having such a good time, she runs back into her office and brings out the wine basket she had just told Tom and Jerry they could not open. 

Meanwhile, April is waiting for her sister Natalie to pick her up, leaving her annoyed voice mails. 

The next morning, Leslie proceeds to offer an apology to every single female member of Congress for letting them down by violating ethics and opening the wine basket. The rest of the department is upset with Leslie, mostly that she opened the wine basket after all the times she'd taken them to task for what she deemed inappropriate behavior. Ron, however, tells her that it's not a big deal and that she is taking this all way too seriously. He warns her not to make this any worse. Leslie, of course, does not listen and proceeds to write a full confession that she emails to every member of the Pawnee government, including a link to the pit's Facebook page. 

Unfortunately, while April was waiting for Natalie to pick her up the night before, she also got into the wine and posted a video to the pit's profile of her drinking the wine. Leslie is horrified -- she has now essentially sent a link to this video to every member of the government. Ron comes in and is furious, pointing out that April is only 19 so now Leslie has essentially aided and abetted underage drinking and advertised it on the internet. He told her not to make it worse and she made it worse. He informs her that the disciplinary committee will hold a hearing. April could be dismissed from her internship and Leslie could be fired. Leslie spirals into a panic.

The next day, Leslie and Ron head into the hearing. Leslie is a bundle of nerves as she reads from a prepared statement confessing that she made the decision to open the basket but that April got some of the wine without Leslie knowing.  As the questioning continues, Ron loses his patience, comparing the hearing to communist China. He ends up vehemently defending Leslie, telling them that if they plan on giving Leslie anything more than a slap on the wrist, they will have to come through them. He then tells Leslie they are done and they walk out. 

Later, Ron tells Leslie that she'll get a letter in her file, but that is the extent of her punishment. When she tries to thank him for his help, he brushes her off but a small smile is visible. He confesses that he did what he did because of his hatred of bureaucracy, but again, his affection for Leslie is clear.

At the end of the day, Mark comes to Leslie's office and offers her a beer. She bemoans the fact that she has a letter in her file, but he tells her he has multiple letters in his file, as do most of the men in city planning. He welcomes her to the boys' club.

SIDE PLOT: Ann is headed off to work for a double shift. As she scrambles to take out trash and take care of other chores before leaving, she becomes frustrated at Andy just sitting on the couch playing Mario Kart. She asks if he can clean up a little, and he responds that he'll try, warning her not to expect much. As soon as she leaves, however, Andy confesses how much he loves Ann and tells us that he has a whole list of tasks he intends to do around the house to prove his love and appreciation for her. 

Over the course of the day, Andy does clean the house, finishing his to-do list by cleaning himself. Since he can't get into the shower or bathtub with his casts, he fills up a kiddie pool with water and soap and takes his bath outside, taking inspiration for the idea from the way his parents clean the dog. As he's chilling in his homemade bathtub, he listens to a song he wrote about Ann that he plans to play for her when she gets home. Lawrence barges into the yard and demands Andy turn down the music, but he refuses. Lawrence grabs the boombox and takes off running down the street with a naked Andy following.  

Ann comes to check on Leslie to see how things went. Ann asks Leslie why she did it -- why she violated her ethics. Initially, Leslie claims it was to get into the boys' club but then ultimately confesses her feelings for Mark. She tells Ann about their one-night stand and says that there is still something "complicated" between them. In a confessional, Ann questions Leslie's taste in men before adding, "But then I'm not one to talk."  She then returns home to a clean house, a clean Andy (who is a bit banged up after falling in a bush while chasing Lawrence), and dinner on the table.

STRAY OBSERVATIONS

* This is the first episode where Donna speaks although I'm not sure we've actually been told her name.

* This is the first mention of April's sister Natalie.

* Mark Brandanowitz's favorite movie, according to his Facebook profile, is Dances With Wolves.

ANALYSIS

This is probably one of my least favorite episodes of Parks and Recreation. It's hard to put a finger exactly on why this is the episode I'm most likely to skip, but let's give it a whirl ...

1. To start off, we have probably the grossest cold opening ever. Just the idea of a dog poop fight is just icky. There's some humor, I suppose, in uptight Leslie eventually getting into the idea, but I struggle to get over the fact that it's just such a disgusting concept.

2. While I appreciate Leslie's frustration at the male-dominated nature of government, the kind of desperate way she tries to infiltrate the boys' club is a bit grating. This is Leslie at her worst -- pushy, unable to pick up cues, and demanding attention. And all of this is undercut at the end when she basically tells Ann that her real goal was just to get Mark's attention rather than strike a blow for equality. 

3. The plot here just feels really thin, like more of a sketch of a plot than an actual plot. I suppose we do have the first real glimpse of Ron's heart, we see that Andy is maybe more than the slacker we think he is and that his love for Ann is real, but beyond that .... meh. The stakes of Leslie's ethical breach are low since we know she won't get fired. April, despite her involvement in the "scandal", is barely in the story. We don't even know if there are any consequences for what she did despite the fact that what she did was probably worse than what Leslie did. 

For the fourth episode of the series, it's just a weak entry. Luckily, I think this season does end on a relatively strong note as we'll see in future posts. They will rescue this largely unimpressive first season.