Parks and Recreation-"Indianapolis"

NBC didn't have a picture from tonight's episode so you get this one of the cast.
Credit: NBC

My review of tonight's episode of Parks and Recreation is after the jump.

For Parks and Recreation this week it was back to the basics. This week's episode was simple and didn't do anything major. I had no problem with this as not doing much in terms of plot allowed the characters to become the features this week. It was a fun episode because these characters are so damn good that an episode that just allowed these characters to interact is awesome.

The main plotline involved Leslie and Ron going to Indianapolis to accept a commendation for bringing the Harvest Festival back. Because Ann's worried about Chris cheating on her so Leslie decides to help her by finding out. When Leslie finds a woman's razor and pink shower cap, Ann gets worried and comes up. And when Ann comes up we find out that Chris had broken up with Ann a week ago. Awkward. We find Ann, the straight woman of the show, making a mistake. The scene was very awkward but it was also funny. Ann's reaction to not realizing that it happened a week ago was very funny. Also, I'm sad to see Ann and Chris break up but it was necessary. The two of them make a great couple and I'm sad to see them break up. 

The episode also gave Rob Lowe great material. Everything about his house was reason for laughter. The chi, the salad, and the things on the grill that weren't steaks were all reasons for laughter. What he's done since he left Indianapolis was also a great little talking head. Rob Lowe is very funny on this show and this episode is no exception. Also, the writers had to make it so Lowe could plausibly be out of the show for a few episodes and then pop back onto the show later. He has a busy schedule and the writers had to work around that.

The Ron loves meat jokes are very easy to make, but they were all funny. Ron's love of Mulligan's made for a great opening scene. The fact that Ron has photo book for every steak he had there was absolutely hysterical. It also gave Nick Offerman the best Ron meltdown material in awhile. The scene outside Mulligan's was absolutely great because of how funny Offerman is as an actor. Also, Ron's reaction to the food in Chris's apartment was absolutely hysterical. Seeing him dump the salad into the bowl was funny (even if it was mean). The scene in the diner where Ron asks the waiter to "give me all the bacon and eggs you have" was great. The food jokes are easy to make with Ron, but they work in their own way.

The Snakehole plotline worked not only because Aziz Ansari played everything in this episode really well but also because it worked Adam Scott into the ensemble better. The purpose of his role was to integrate him better into the cast and this episode did it very well. At this point, it feels like Scott is a part of the show and not a special guest star like he did last season and the beginning of this season. The episode gave him great material that Scott performed really well.

It was very sad to see Tom's dreams crushed by Dennis Feinstein. The scene was very funny because Jason Mantzoukaz played Feinstein really well, he was a a-hole. The scene worked in its own way, even if Tom's dreams were crushed. The scent names were also completely over the top and ridiculous. 

Now that Andy and April are together they act exactly the same as they did and they are still funny. The competition between the two of them was very cute and very funny. It gave us moments like April getting a drink from a random stranger, April pretending she worked there, and Andy standing in the bathroom essentially asking for money. Also, it's nice to see Aubrey Plaza smile. She's playing happy April as well as she played sarcastic April. 

Some other thoughts:

• Leslie's role was largely toned down compared to others. She still had some great lines but she wasn't the focus of the episode. I had no problem with this as it allowed others to be featured.
• The Jerry moment of the week was very good this week.
• The tag was very funny, not only because of Ben spraying Tom's sent into Feinstein's car, but because of Adam Scott's retching, it was very funny and not too disgusting.
• "We are like Robin Hood, we steal from the clubs and give to ourselves"
• "They used to call me Angela Lansbury, because of my haircut"
• "I can smell your dreams...and they smell f****** terrible"
• "Skywriting isn't always positive"

Overall, a great episode of the show because of its simplicity.

What did everyone else think?