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Parks and Recreation Review: Xanax-O’Clock

Critic's Rating: 5 / 5.0
5

This Parks and Recreation episode was basically perfection – and this season if off to an exceptionally strong start.

I didn’t think that things could get better than Leslie’s digs at Eagleton last Thursday and hearing about their budgetary concerns, but bringing in more Eagletonians, especially the “Doppelgangers“? Well done, writers!

Pawnee Counterparts
(Colleen Hayes/NBC)

My personal favorite doppelganger? Has to be a tie between Ron and Tyynifer. I love it when April adopts a new role and in this episode, she maintained it heartily throughout the whole half hour. In a parallel universe somewhere, this April is tanning in Miami with Tynnifer discussing rebranding, life coaching and Pilates.

But Ron Swanson’s match, also named Ron, was pretty priceless. I loved witnessing our Ron slowly realizing that this Ron was, in fact, a terrible version of himself. According to Ron Swanson of course. Because a Morrissey-loving, sandal-wearing, yoga-practicing vegan is exactly the formula to put Ron Swanson right over the edge.

Leslie’s reaction to Ann leaving was pretty typical, although I really need to suspend my disbelief when it comes to Leslie pulling out all the extreme-crazy stops. Sometimes her character is over the top thoughtful, while simultaneously being more driven and hard-working than anyone I’ve ever seen. It’s hard to see where her impracticality stems from, especially regarding her friend’s happiness.

However, it is like Leslie to want everything to stay the same around her. She is nothing if not stubbornly in love with her town, her waffles and her group of friends. I’m upset that Rob Lowe will be leaving the series. Chris Traeger brings something really special to Parks and Recreation. He’s a voice that hasn’t been represented very well in comedy. I love Rashida Jones in general, but Ann has never been my favorite comedic character on the show. Although feeding Leslie waffles in tonight’s episode was a bright moment for her character.

Here’s hoping the series keeps going at this pace. Keep the laughs coming, as we document each week in our Parks and Recreation quotes section.

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