- Ron: (regarding Justin) He's a tourist. He vacations in people's lives, takes pictures, puts them in a scrapbook, and moves on. All he's interested in are stories.
Leslie hosts her annual pre-Valentine's Day brunch called "Galentine's Day" for her female friends. One of the traditions is Leslie's mother, Marlene, telling the story of a romantic encounter she had with a lifeguard as a teenager. When Leslie later tells Justin the story, he thinks they should reunite the two at the Senior Center Valentine's Dance the Parks employees are scheduled to put on.
Tom meets with Wendy, hoping to start an actual romance with her, but when she realizes what is happening, she turns him down. Andy's band has been booked to perform at the dance, but they aren't sure about the old songs they're expected to play. Ann and Mark are also celebrating the holiday, with Mark giving Ann every cliched gift he could find.
Later, Justin reveals he has tracked down Marlene's old flame, Frank Beckerson. Leslie takes the day off so she and Justin can go to Illinois to bring Frank to the Valentine's Day dance. When they meet him, they see that Frank is strange, depressed, unemployed, and has frequent panic attacks. Leslie is concerned about Frank's behavior and believes they should call it off, but relents when Justin insists they should "let this unfold".
April's boyfriends want to go The Bulge for Valentine's Day, but since April has to work at the dance, Ben and Derek decide to accompany her because they think "old people are funny".
The Parks Department employees set up the dance. Andy is worried that his band won't be able to tell if the old people like how they're playing the songs. Ann and Mark discuss their relationship, and Ann says she has nothing to complain about. Justin and Leslie arrive with Frank. Leslie is concerned that he's crazy, but Justin is enthusiastic about getting Frank and Marlene together.
As the night progresses, April gets increasingly annoyed with her boyfriends when they make fun of the seniors at the dance. When she finally has had enough, they accuse her of becoming lame ever since she started hanging out with Andy. She breaks up with them in response. Justin tells some of the Parks employees about the Frank and Marlene story; Ron wonders what Leslie thinks, but Justin doesn't know. Meanwhile, Wendy shows up to confront Tom about the alimony papers she has received. He's hoping to blackmail her into getting back together with him. She calls him out for acting desperate.
Ann tells Andy the band sounds good, to his relief. When April shows up and Andy dedicates the next song to her, Ann wonders if something is going on between the two. Tom and Wendy part on friendly terms after a long discussion. Meanwhile, Marlene is repulsed by Frank's past, current unemployment, and overall failure at life. She turns down his offer of a second chance at love, prompting him to storm onto the stage and denounce her over the microphone. Leslie apologizes to her mother for bringing Frank while Justin is shocked that things didn't work out.
Leslie tells Ron she thinks Justin acted like a jerk today and Ron explains that Justin is an "emotional tourist" who "takes vacations in people's lives" and is only interested in having a good story to tell. Realizing he's right, Leslie breaks up with Justin, which devastates Tom. A couple of elderly ladies recognize Ron as Duke Silver, but he tells them they're mistaken. After Mouse Rat has finished performing, one of the old ladies tells him the band did a great job, much to his delight.
Tropes
- Blatant Lies: In a talking head, Ann says her relationship with Mark is going great, but her tone of voice and body language make it clear that she doesn't believe herself.
- Call-Back: A pair of old ladies recognize Ron as Duke Silver, which he immediately denies.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Throughout the season, April has been becoming progressively nicer thanks to Andy's influence. Derek and Ben accuse her of becoming lame because of this.
- Derailing Love Interests:
- A slightly milder example as he was clearly a Temporary Love Interest played by a guest star, but Leslie decides to break up with Justin after realizing he is an "emotional tourist" who inserts himself into people's lives and cares more about having a great story to tell. Then again, this was foreshadowed a bit in "Leslie's House", where he often tended to one-up someone else's story.
- While they weren't exactly romantic with each other, the increasingly mean-spirited way Derek and Ben behave towards the senior citizens is part of the reason why April decides to break it off with them (her growing feelings for Andy being the other part).
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: When Leslie and Justin break up, Justin comforts Tom in the same way that divorcing parents often have to comfort their children.
- Green-Eyed Epiphany: Ann clearly looks jealous when she sees that Andy and April have become close. However, it's not because she still harbors romantic feelings for him so much as it stems from You Never Did That for Me, as Andy has clearly grown up and improved a great deal as a person after she broke up with him while she's begun to realize her relationship with Mark isn't fulfilling her.
- Innocently Insensitive: Justin meant well for the most part, but never considered the consequences of trying to get Frank and Marlene back together when Frank turned out to be a weirdo.
- Jerkass: April's gay boyfriends, Derek and Ben, constantly mock the senior citizens who are in monogamous relationships. She gets sick of it and calls them out on it, and when they insult Andy, she breaks up with them for good.
- Old Flame Fizzle: Justin and Leslie reunite Marlene with her teenage fling Frank, and it doesn't go well, as Marlene has moved on with her life and Frank is kind of a mess.
- Recycled Title: There are two episodes named "Galentine's Day", this one and one in season 6.
- Valentine's Day Episode: This episode takes place on Valentine's Day and includes both Leslie's annual Galentine's Day brunch and the Pawnee senior citizen dance.
