Leslie and Andy have arrived in Washington, D.C. to visit Ben and April, who came with Ben to D.C. as his intern, and to also try to get federal funding to clean up the Pawnee River.
Back in Pawnee, Ron announces he will be throwing the annual Parks Department Employee Appreciation Barbecue at Ramsett Park in the absence of Leslie, who was usually responsible for the event and had dubbed it The Leslie Knope Employment Enjoyment Summerslam Grill Jam Fun-Splosion. Ron is adamant that the event will consist of nothing but a barbecue, as he rules out having any of the traditional fun and games usually had when Leslie runs it. On the day, Ron brings along a pig he intends to kill and cook, but is halted by Ranger Patrick who points out just how wrong that practice would be, as it breaks many laws and health codes, while the children are disturbed at the possible sight of seeing an animal be slaughtered. Ron subsequently settles with buying meat from Food and Stuff, which delays proceedings and forces everyone to wait.
After visiting the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, Leslie and Andy meet up with Ben and April at the National Museum of American History. Leslie has many grand plans for the day and hopes to see everything at the museum with Ben. However, Ben informs her that he is busy all day and cannot join her, but tells her to meet him back at his office as soon as she's done with her meeting at the Department of the Interior.
Everyone at the barbecue is complaining that they're bored and hungry. Donna notices Ann and Tom are bickering and comments that she "senses trouble in the Haverkins household", but the couple insists they're stronger than ever. Ann and Tom reveal to the camera that their drunken decision to move in together wasn't a success and realized after the first day that they had made a huge mistake. However, everyone was so smug and insistent that it wouldn't last that they decided to pretend to be together still just so no one would get the satisfaction of being right.
At the Department of the Interior, Leslie is disappointed to find out that the face-to-face meeting she scheduled with Mr. Jepson was never registered, and is told by his receptionist to just leave the proposal on top of a big pile of other proposals. Leslie was under the impression she would be able to specifically present her application, but it turns out all applications are simply handed in and sifted through in due course. Feeling sorry for Leslie, the receptionist notes that she will make sure he reads it and takes down Leslie's details.
Ben later surprises Leslie with an invitation to a swanky D.C. cocktail party. There, Leslie is overwhelmed by all the tall, powerful, and accomplished women surrounding her and feels out of place and intimidated by the situation. Leslie is also overwhelmed by the position Ben is in and feels her position as a lowly small-town councilwoman does not stack up to the new people Ben is involved with.
With his co-workers yammering about the amount of time he is taking and the lack of eating utensils he has brought, Ron grows tired of everyone complaining, quits on the barbecue, and drives off, leaving those in attendance in shock and with no food. Later, back at City Hall, Tom and Ann are finally caught by Donna, but she agrees to let their deceiving ways slide out of respect for their efforts to cover up what was really going on. Chris talks with Ron about the disastrous barbecue, pointing out that it was first and foremost an event meant to appreciate the Parks and Rec employees for their hard work.
Back home in Pawnee, Leslie laments to Andy about Ben and her jealousy of the powerful women she met in D.C. Andy reassures her that she is better than all of those women combined, noting she is "kickass Leslie", who never gives up and gets things done. This inspires her to begin cleaning up the Pawnee River herself.
Ron calls everyone into the main room of the Parks Department. He tells them their work is appreciated and provides them with the food he skipped on at Ramsett Park, thus making up for his poor hosting of the Employee Appreciation Barbecue.
Tropes
- Call-Back: A subtle one - Leslie projects her insecurities about being around the powerful Washington DC women onto a made-up figure she names "Tall Rebecca", referencing Ben's previous attraction to tall brunette women as mentioned in "Jerry's Painting".
- The Cameo: Senators Barbara Boxer, Olympia Snowe, and John McCain appear at the party.
- Cuteness Proximity: Chris has this reaction when he sees Ron come in with a pig... and then he realizes it's Ron with a pig.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: To an old farmboy like Ron, involving the kids in butchering a pig is a valuable lesson in where food comes from. Everyone else (to whom meat comes from a store) is horrified.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: Ron is completely focused on doing the barbecue his way, overlooking the fact that the object of an employee appreciation event is to show appreciation to the employees.
- Everything's Better with Sparkles: Tom has put glitter in several different things like laundry detergent as part of his new business idea. Ann gets back at him for ruining her clothes with the sparkle detergent by putting glitter in his face lotion and calling it "Sparkle Skin".
- Hypocritical Humor: Everybody's objections to eating a pig they met alive disappear when it's butchered where they can't see it.
- Idiot Ball: For once, Ron's usual hypercompetence at tasks he genuinely cares about deserts him completely. A truly competent barbecue cook would have already slaughtered and butchered the pig, dressed it with seasoning, and started cooking it early in the morning so it would be ready by the time of the party. But that would have ruined the plot. Still, to anyone who understands the timescales and prep involved in the kind of barbecue Ron planned to make, his failure to get started in a timely way is especially out of character for him.
- It's All About Me: Ron, when running the employee appreciation barbecue, cares more about barbecuing "the right way" than making sure his guests are satisfied.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Inverted - Leslie feels small and insignificant compared to some of the big-wig female politicians she meets.
- Portmanteau Couple Name: "Haverkins" for Ann and Tom.
- Significant Name Overlap: The pig Ron slaughters for the barbecue is also named Tom.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: At the barbecue, Ron brings a pig to slaughter and cook, believing that as the Director of the Parks Department, he can invoke Screw the Rules, I Make Them!. The present ranger informs him that the laws prohibiting such an act actually fall under the jurisdiction of other government branches such as the health department, so he's powerless.
- We Named the Monkey "Jack": Averted, Tom was the pig's name even before Ron acquired it. Doesn't make it any less funny to Donna though.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Chris calls Ron out on his bad handling of the Park Barbecue.
