It's flu season in Pawnee. April is sick and in the hospital, and Ann is taking care of her. April mistreats and abuses Ann as retaliation for kissing Andy, but Ann keeps her cool. Ron visits April at the hospital, and she asks him to not tell Andy she's here.
Leslie also has the flu, but will not admit it because she has an important presentation to give to the Pawnee Chamber of Commerce for the Harvest Festival plans, as the Parks Department doesn't have sufficient funds to pull it off themselves. Ben takes Leslie to the hospital, where she is admitted with a dangerously high fever and dehydration. Ben and Tom decide to do the presentation themselves, but Leslie does not trust anyone but herself to do it. Tom immediately abandons Ben to hang out with a group of older friends of his at the spa.
Chris visits Ann at the hospital after his daily run. He's paranoid about getting sick and is taking precautions to avoid catching the flu, such as wearing a mask. They've been dating for a while now and although Ann really does like Chris, she feels insecure about how perfect and flawless he is.
With April in the hospital, Ron needs to find an assistant who will be just as ineffective as April. He brings Andy on for the job. Much to his surprise, Ron winds up bonding with him over food, alcohol, and discussions about football and politics. They play some football in the parking lot. Andy asks Ron what he should do about April. Despite not wanting to get involved in their personal affairs, Ron tells Andy that April's in the hospital with the flu and suggests he go visit her.
Ann learns that Chris has been admitted to the hospital. The flu has hit him hard due to his poor immune system and lack of body fat and he has a complete physical breakdown. Ann is ecstatic to see that Chris isn't completely perfect after all. April then asks her for more flu medicine, as Leslie stole hers. Ann can't find Leslie in her room so she asks Chris if he's seen her; he tells her he had a dream that Leslie took his flu medicine.
Leslie shows up at the commerce meeting, but Ben notes that she's still delirious and out of it. She assures him that it's not a matter of not trusting him, but this is her project and her career is on the line. When Tom shows up at the meeting with his spa friends, Ben scolds him, but Tom tells him that his spa buddies are actually the owners of some local car dealerships who've agreed to donate 25 vans for the Harvest Festival.
Despite her delirium and being hopped up on an excess of stolen flu meds, Leslie delivers her presentation flawlessly, to Ben's awed surprise.
Back at the hospital, Ann's shift ends and she finally blows up at April. Ann apologizes for kissing Andy but insists it was a mistake and tells April to stop taking it out on Andy. Later, Andy visits April, who pretends to be asleep. When he leaves, she smiles, revealing she is happy he came.
The next day, Ben visits Leslie at the hospital, bringing her waffles and soup. He tells her that the presentation was a success - they have 110 businesses on board with funding the festival, well over the minimum 80 required.
Later, Chris tells Ben they have been called back to Indianapolis for a new assignment, but both agree to seek an extension to stay in Pawnee longer to help with the Harvest Festival.
Tropes
- Annoying Patient: April takes advantage of her illness by being this for Ann.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Ann stays nice and professional the whole time April is abusing and annoying her, right up until the exact second her shift is over. She then proceeds to chew April out for being so petty over the whole Andy incident.
- Bait-and-Switch: Most longtime sitcom viewers were no doubt cringing when Leslie made her way up on to the podium to deliver her presentation, expecting her to make a complete fool of herself. Instead, she knocks it out of the park.
- Comically Missing the Point: Andy tries to help Leslie with her illness:Andy: Leslie, I typed your symptoms into the thing up here, and it says you could have "network connectivity problems".
- Determinator: Leslie. She's delirious and not entirely there when she's sick, but she pushes through (with a whole bunch of stolen medicine she took) and successfully delivers her speech asking for local businesses to support the festival.
- Feigning Healthiness: Leslie refuses to admit she has the flu because she has to give an important presentation.
- Friendship Moment: This episode marks the beginning of Ron's friendship with Andy. After bringing him on as April's substitute, he finds that Andy shares his love of "manly" interests such as meat and football that no one else in the department does.
- Insecure Love Interest: Ann feels like this due to how flawless Chris is.Ann: He's like the perfect human man. I can't find one flaw. One time, I thought he'd farted, but it was just me.
- Precision F-Strike: When April is hospitalized with the flu, she spends an entire day abusing Ann in revenge for kissing Andy. Ann, being a good nurse, puts up with April's behavior right up until the second her shift is over.Ann: Three, two, one... and my shift is over. (to April) What the fuck is your problem?!
- Pure Is Not Good: The very health-conscious Chris is hit hard by the flu due to his poor immune system and lack of body fat.
- Real Men Eat Meat: Again, Ron. When Andy recommends they get burritos for lunch, Ron initially declines as he's not one for "ethnic" food... until Andy tells him about a dish called the Meat Tornado, which actually killed a person once. Ron eats it all in one sitting with no ill effects.
- Ship Tease: This episode is the first to start laying on some for Ben/Leslie.
- Shout-Out: Leslie mistakenly calls the Chamber of Commerce the "Chamber of Secrets". After she delivers her speech perfectly, she lapses back into delirium and introduces Ben with "Give it up, everybody, for Scott Bakula from Quantum Leap."
- Sick Episode: Among the main characters, Leslie, April and Chris are stricken by the eponymous flu outbreak.
- Token Minority: Played for comedy and exploited to a certain extent for Tom, who is the "Indian buddy" of a bunch of older white men who frequent the local spa. Turns out that his friends were car dealership owners who agreed to donate some vehicles for use in the festival thanks to his asking.
- Weakness Turns Her On: Ann is ecstatic to see Chris weakened by the flu, as she had been intimidated by how perfect he is and it proves he isn't invincible.
- Working Through the Cold: Leslie, even though she really shouldn't.Leslie: (to a poster) Hello, I'm Leslie Monster, and this is Nightline.
