Whenever there’s a scandal that takes place on a television show, it’s usually taken as an opportunity to squeeze a few episodes out in order to feed the beast. The problem with this is that sometimes minor things are portrayed as major problems in order to just fill up time and create unnecessary drama. I think one can argue that this is used in television to a greater extent in regards to the “will they/won’t they” scenario. Something I love about Parks and Recreation is that the first major “will they/won’t they”, the budding romance between April and Andy, was handled in an appropriate manner to the characters. If this were the office it would take six seasons for those two to get married. That’s not how April and Andy roll. The show got them hitched in a shockingly short amount of time. You may now be wondering, “What the hell does this have to do with the episode you dumb, ugly bastard!?” Well, first of all, you should be nicer to me. Second, the resolution to this week’s “scandal” was a typical showcase of how Parks and Rec subverts what’s become almost standard practice in sit-com land. But first a recap:

Leslie dives into the world of focus groups where the slightly dim people of Pawnee pass judgment on one of her television appearances. Something that I like about this season is how the show is portraying the race as some major political race. Having a focus group like this might be appropriate if she was running for mayor or something. If I’m wrong about how intense city councilman elections are, please correct me.  One of the members of the focus group spouts that famous, “She doesn’t seem like the type of person I could bowl with line” that was so key in George Bush’s success in his elections. You see, George Bush seemed like the kind of guy you can have a beer with while Al Gore simply seemed like the kind of guy capable of leading the free world with the nuclear codes in his possession. Sorry, I digress. Leslie takes this incredibly personally pointing out about a hundred times, “I’m a great bowler, ask Ron.” It was a line spouted many times throughout the show that I enjoyed vehemently. I can imagine Ron begrudgingly acknowledging Leslie’s bowling prowess.

This leads to Leslie throwing a bowling rally of sorts to make her seem more relatable. When she finds Derek, the guy that called her out in the focus group, she spends all of her time playing with him to make specifically him (much to Ben’s chagrin) a Leslie Knope supporter. While Leslie is playing Derek, we get treated to a bowling match between Ann, Tom and Ron. Ron’s shocked anger at Tom’s ability to bowl like a small child and get strikes is unpredictably hilarious.  I can listen to Ron say, “What the fuck!” all day. The real B-story of the episode was the rest of the campaign team doing cold calls to raise money. When April sees how stoked Chris is to win a pair of movie tickets (the prize to the person who raises the most) she vows to end his happiness by beating him. This gives way to a delightful montage of April pretending to be a bunch of much kinder, varyingly ethnic, group of people. April eventually wins, but can’t feel good about beating the always chipper Chris because while raising money, Jerry’s daughter broke up with him. April tries to redeem the bad karma she threw at Chris by offering to go with him on a trip to the movies. It’s a sweet moment that shows April has a heart.

OK, so the conclusion of the bowling storyline is when Leslie plays a final match with Derek and asks to see if he has his support. He still says no and she becomes agitated. She bets him that if she beats him, he’ll vote for her. He accepts and of course loses. I mean, just ask Ron. Leslie’s really good at bowling. When he again refuses to vote for her they start arguing. Derek calls Leslie a bitch and hearing this, Ben flips and punches Derek in the face. This is, of course, caught on camera. This could have been a multiple episode scandal that would provide fodder for drama. This was my fear. But Leslie managed to handle it with a great speech NOT apologizing for what Ben did. She thought it was brave and sexy (they totally made out afterwards). This turned out to be a big boost to her standing with the Pawnee public as it made her look tough, strong and willing to stand by her convictions. After all, “bitch” is her second least favorite word for a woman.

Observations:

• “Ticki Ticki Tom Tom” “I wrote Tom”
• “Straight down the middle…anything more and this becomes figure skating.” –Ron Fucking Swanson
• “You’re so down with strikes they should call you Norma Ray”
• “I’d like to introduce Derek’s ass to my foot.”
• “I feel like you’re being kind of a bitch right now.” Derek at the press conference
• I think Ben removed from the Parks Department makes their relationship feel more organic, less sitcom-y
• I enjoyed the tag where Ron returned to the bowling alley in disguise to try bowling like Tom. He rolls a 300.