- Ben: A person should not have to have an advanced law degree to avoid being taken advantage of by a multi-billion dollar company.
Leslie is still trying to figure out a way to defeat Gryzzl, but it is becoming increasingly unlikely that she will find anything substantial enough to outweigh a $90 million bid. Just as she begins considering giving up, a Gryzzl drone delivers a package to her at their front door. Leslie discovers that she is not the only one who has received such a package, as Donna was also sent one. They find that the gifts sent in their boxes were developed specifically for them based on personal details that could only have come from private texts and phone conversations. Ben deduces that Gryzzl must be data mining, which is an extreme invasion of privacy and illegal. Leslie now has a lead with which to use against Gryzzl.
A public forum is held to gauge the town's reaction to Gryzzlboxes, which turns out to be resounding disapproval. With the town and Donna behind her, Leslie attempts to convince Ron to side with her, but he is having none of it as he believes it's the people who are the foolish ones for owning and using devices and agreeing to have their data mined and sold first place. Despite this setback, Donna agrees to organize a private tour of the current Gryzzl offices in order for Leslie and Ben to snoop around.
Tom is trying to distract himself with work in order to keep his mind off of Lucy, who has returned to Chicago to visit her boyfriend. Andy presents Tom with an opportunity to become his agent as Andy is unsatisfied with the contract offered to him by the station manager where he does his show Johnny Karate, as it will sign off his rights to the ownership of the character. Tom agrees to help Andy renegotiate his contract.
At City Hall, Craig asks April to deliver a welcome speech to the new potential Parks Department interns, seeing as she got her start through the program. She reluctantly agrees but is hellbent on making sure none of the candidates are successful, believing they are essentially throwing their lives away if they become an intern at the department. April latches on to a girl named Jen, who she believes "has almost zero potential" and is much like she was when she first started (no motivation, no charisma, and no passion for the work ahead). She sways Jen from doing the internship and suggests she go do "something fun" instead.
Leslie and Ben infiltrate the Gryzzl headquarters in disguise to ask Roscoe, Gryzzl's vice-president, about the company's use of data mining, to which Roscoe openly admits to the practice, explaining how Gryzzl's software has algorithms that cater toward providing their customers with whatever they desire. Leslie offers Roscoe a chance to debate these questionable practices on TV as she figures it will be a great way to humiliate the company as she presents her evidence.
Tom and Andy meet with the station manager Hank Muntak. Hank is a tough negotiator and offers only minute upgrades, which Tom is not satisfied with. Hank agrees to offer up more, including raising Andy's weekly salary from $100 to $500, but Tom is more interested in gaining the rights to Johnny Karate. Tom is successful in doing so, but only after crying, begging, and annoying Hank until he gave in.
Just prior to the airing of the debate with Gryzzl, Ron brings forth the 27th version of the Pawnee-Gryzzl free wireless agreement and highlights an amendment made in December 2015 which states they can gather and use any information they want. Ben is furious at himself for having missed the minute change. This clause absolves Gryzzl of any wrongdoing and abolishes Leslie's case. While what they are doing is technically not illegal, Ben nevertheless points out that Gryzzl's current practices are not ethical and implores Roscoe to be more upfront with the public in the future.
Craig is not pleased with April's actions towards the interns. He calls her out on treating her time with the Parks Department as a waste, as she did amazing work with the department during her tenure while learning from a great mentor in Leslie, and asserts that it wasn't for that internship, April would currently be working truly miserable dead-end job.
Lucy returns from Chicago. She's broken up with her boyfriend, thus leaving the door open for Tom and Lucy to get together in the future.
April, realizing how irrational and ungrateful she was, makes up for her actions the next day by bringing in a large number of new potential interns for Craig to consider.
While Leslie and Ben consider how to go about acquiring the land, Ron arrives on their doorstep with a Gryzzl drone that he personally shot out of the sky and destroyed after it sent a Gryzzlbox to his four-year-old son, who doesn't own any Gryzzl devices. He subsequently declares his allegiance to Leslie's cause and agrees to help her take them down.
Tropes
- Affectionate Nickname: Donna and Joe call each other "honey bear" and "sugar plum". Leslie and Ben can't help but find that adorable.
- Call-Back: Craig went through some therapy of his own during the Time Skip. His therapist? Dr. Richard Nygaard, the same one Chris saw for his depression back in Season 5.
- Celebrity Resemblance: A variation - Leslie picks up a little figurine of a piggy dressed as Tom Selleck (called "Tom Sell-oink") as a stand-in for Ron.
- Character Development: Craig has learned to get a slightly better handle on his Hair-Trigger Temper thanks to his therapist, who recommended he take a deep breath and say three great things about life whenever he felt the need to shout. He's still pretty Hot-Blooded, though.
- Continuity Nod: Leslie and Ben have a bulletin board full of ideas on how to acquire the Newport Land from Gryzzl, most of which are crossed out; one of those ideas is "historical landmark status".
- Dramatic Thunder: Rolls behind Ron after he tells Leslie and Ben how he shot a Gryzzl drone out of the sky after it invaded his son's privacy.
- Insistent Terminology: Two at once, rarely. On his own show "The Perdple's Court", Perd Happley demands to be called "Judge Perd". Simultaneously the studio puts up a disclaimer that says "Not a real Judge". They're watching him closely, as when Perd admits he doesn't know what the "Hammer-thing" is called, the disclaimer announces "It's called a Gavel".
- Papa Wolf: Ron shot down a Gryzzl drone out of the sky after it delivered a package to his toddler-aged son who doesn't own any Gryzzl devices.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Leslie and Ben try to infiltrate the Gryzzl campus in disguises, but it's a moot point due to the building's facial recognition software and the GPS on their phones.
- Read the Fine Print: How Gryzzl got away with data mining.
- Show Within a Show: "The Perdples Court". If the title didn't give you enough of a summary, it's a People's Court rip-off presented by Perd Happley, who's not a real Judge.
- Too Much Information: One woman publicly reveals her husband's embarrassing medical condition to a town forum.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: For once, the Pawneeans are unanimously on Leslie's side, even chanting, "We're not against you on this!"
- Ungrateful Bastard: Craig calls out April on being this, correctly pointing out that if it weren't for her Parks Department internship, she'd currently be working a truly miserable dead-end job.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Craig is not happy with how April dissuaded the potential interns and for being ungrateful for the good things the Parks Department has done for her.Craig: April, you spent the last ten years doing amazing things with this Parks Department and learning from the greatest teacher in this or any business, Leslie freaking Knope! You'd be a check-out girl at a gas station if it wasn't for that internship! [...] You're lucky to have worked here, no matter what you want to do with the rest of your life, and I think you know that.
