Recap / Parks and Recreation - S03 E15

Ron: Tom only performs when there's someone to impress, so marooning him on 'Freak Island' isn't helping anyone. And you made April assistant to everyone? You know who April hates? Everyone. And Jerry can only function when no one's looking. You shine a light on him and he shrinks up faster than an Eskimo's scrotum.

Ann starts her part-time job at City Hall. Leslie makes a celebration of her first day, filling the office up with balloons, much to the annoyance of Ann's cranky office mate Stuart. April warns Ann that she filled one of the balloons with poison gas.

Leslie and Ben are together, but they have to hide their relationship because of Chris' no-dating rule. They are enjoying what Leslie calls "the bubble" - the beginning of a relationship when everything is simple and fun. Ben tells Leslie he has a meeting with the notoriously tough Marlene Griggs-Knope, director of the Pawnee school system, who wants Ben to approve the purchase of four new school buses despite a difficult budget season. After Ben asks her if there is any relation, Leslie denies it, not wanting to spoil their relationship "bubble".

Chris, as the new full-time city manager, makes some changes at the Parks Department, giving each employee a new job he feels they are capable of handling. Jerry becomes head of Public Relations, April becomes assistant to the entire office, Tom is given the assignment of digitizing the city archives on the nightmarish fourth floor with Andy as his assistant, Ron is given a circular desk in the main office where he is accessible to everyone, and Donna gets a new ergonomic keyboard for her computer.

Leslie eventually confesses to Ben that Marlene is her mom and warns him about her ruthless ways. When Ben meets with Marlene, she requests four new school buses. Ben goes into the meeting nervous and ends up immediately granting her request. After Ben tells Leslie what happened, Leslie later talks with her mom, who considers Ben a pushover. Marlene has now put in a request for ten school buses. Leslie coaches Ben for how he should act at his next meeting with Marlene.

April complains to Andy about her new job. Tom tries to charm his way out of his duties but fails as all the old ladies working there are more friendly with Andy. Despite his discomfort, Ron believes everything will eventually go back to normal as it has with past city managers that implemented drastic changes that never stuck. Donna, however, is concerned the overly-determined Chris will not do so and demands that Ron talk to him.

Leslie and Marlene have coffee together, and Ben interrupts their meeting to call Marlene out on her new request. Ben shows more confidence and he wins Marlene over. Marlene starts flirting with Ben without Leslie's awareness of it.

Ron, frustrated with his new duties, complains to Chris about the changes he's made. He has put everyone in jobs that they are not suited for. Chris thinks they'll adjust, but Ron warns him that isn't the case - Jerry only does well when he's in the background, Tom only does well if there's someone to impress, and April only does well if people leave her alone. They make a deal: everything goes back to normal, except that Ron keeps his circular desk for a week.

An uncomfortable Ben tells Leslie about how her mother flirted with him and they should tell her about their relationship, but Leslie does not want to lose the bubble. Fed up, Ben storms into Marlene's office and tells her that he is dating her daughter and asks her to keep it secret, as they could get fired if word gets out. Marlene laughs off the situation and they make a deal for two school buses. Marlene then tells Leslie she approves of Ben.

Tom, frustrated with the experience on the fourth floor, begins to consider other career possibilities.

Tropes

• Alien Geometries: The weird "space keyboard" Chris makes Donna use is incredibly confusing.
  Donna: I'm down to one word, and the word is "perflipisklup".
• Call-Back: The fourth floor is back from "Tom's Divorce" and it's still as creepy as ever, with Ron himself calling the place "Freak Island".
• Comically Missing the Point: Andy thinks he's found some new words of wisdom:
  Andy: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I read that once on a can of lemonade. But I like to think it applies to life.
• Determinator: Chris can be this, which makes Donna worried he won't budge on his changes to the department.
• Dirty Old Woman: Marlene, when she makes a pass at Ben after he impresses her by asserting himself.
• Funny Background Event: As Leslie is talking about how great the meeting between Ben and Marlene went, Marlene suggestively rubs Ben's leg without Leslie's knowledge - indicating the meeting went a little too well.
• Hidden Depths: Ron demonstrates that, for all of his own slacking and efforts to make the government useless, he understands the psychology of his subordinates and why they are unsuited for the new roles Chris gives them.
• Historical Longevity Joke: Tom makes a crack about Ethel being old enough to remember when Abraham Lincoln was shot.
• Pointy-Haired Boss: Chris, showing a surprising lack of insight in his shuffling everyone into positions that they are unsuited for. Ron advises him that missteps like that are par for the course for all incoming City Managers.
• Sarcasm-Blind: When Tom jokingly tells Andy to remind him to ask the very old Ethel Bevers where she was when Lincoln was shot, Andy makes sure to note that:
  Andy: Remind... Tom... ask... something.
• Secret Relationship: Ben and Leslie have to keep their relationship a secret because government employees of their stature are forbidden to date.
• Self-Deprecation: When Chris tells Jerry he believes Jerry is capable of much more, Jerry responds that he's not.
• Shout-Out: Donna calls Chris "The Six Million Dollar Man".
  • It may not be intentional, but Ron's circular "desk-prison" bears a passing resemblance to Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon.
• Too Dumb to Live: One Pawnee citizen made tea out of the water from the park sprinklers despite there being signs explicitly saying not to drink the water, and she tries to complain about it to Ron after getting sick from it.^note It's even worse: she made sun tea, which you make by putting teabags in water and leaving them to steep in the sun. Basically, she took unsafe water and then went to extra efforts to make it even more unsafe.
• Wretched Hive: Again, the fourth floor of city hall. According to Tom, there's a whole room up there where they store the knives they've confiscated from people who went to the fourth floor to stab someone.
  Ethel: Try not to move things around, 'cause technically speaking this is still a crime scene.