Leslie misses Ann so much that she wants to find a new best friend. She invites April, Donna, Shauna Mulwae-Tweep, Ethel Beavers and Evelyn to a Galentine's Day lunch, where she proceeds to grill them on various topics. When the others learn what she was doing, all except Shauna leave. Leslie decides Shauna is her new best friend, but when she learns that Ann has had her baby, Leslie leaves Shauna and heads for Michigan to see Ann. She tells Ann about her search, and Ann informs her that April and Donna are her friends. When Leslie gets back to Pawnee, she apologizes to April and Donna.
Ben, Tom, and Larry meet with a tent owner, Harvey, who has signed a contract to rent them tents for the Unity Concert. Harvey, however, has changed the contract, asking for more money. Ben decides to find another tent company, but it turns out that Harvey owns all the tent companies in the vicinity. While Ben and Tom have been negotiating with Harvey, Larry learned that the tent companies violate several city codes, so the three force Harvey to honor his original contract.
Ron offers to do the park survey by himself, as he needs some quiet from the pressures of parenting. However, Andy is assigned to work with him. While goofing off, Andy breaks a tooth and Ron has to take him to the dentist. Fed up, Ron tells Andy that it's up to him whether he stays at the dentist or not, so Andy decides to leave. However, back at work, Ron realizes that Andy really needs to go to the dentist and takes him there. Afterwards, he calls Diane to tell her he'll be home soon to give her a break.
Later, Larry arrives late to the Unity Concert meeting, and everyone yells at him. Ben, aware of how much help Larry has been and how nice a person he is, loudly announces that Larry is his friend.
Tropes
- The Bus Came Back: For a little while, Ann, who's just given birth.
- Continuity Nod: In a previous episode, Ann says "Olive" would be a cute name for the baby if it was a girl. She names her son "Oliver".
- The Ghost: Lampshaded by Leslie with regards to Chris' therapist Dr. Richard Nygaard, whom Leslie recommends a clearly miserable Shauna go see before adding that she wonders if Chris was just talking to himself in a mirror.
- Jerkass:
- Harvey, who constantly tries to rip off the heroes on the tents. He only relents after Larry finds that he's violated a lot of city codes.
- Tom is needlessly cruel to Larry for no reason even after Larry saves the day.
- Recycled Title: There are two episodes named "Galentine's Day", one in Season 2 and this one. Unlike the later episode "Flu Season 2", this one doesn't even have a "2" at the end.
- Replacement Goldfish: Leslie uses Galentine’s Day to find a new Ann.
- Shout-Out:
- Ron mentions how his stepdaughters love Doc McStuffins.
- Ann and Leslie argue over Friday Night Lights.
- When announcing to the department that Larry is his friend, Ben goes "Oh captain, my captain" and stands on a table, mirroring Dead Poets Society.
- Stepford Smiler: Shauna. Her status as a perpetual Romantic False Lead is fully deconstructed here, where it's shown she's very miserable and is barely able to stay positive.
- The Tape Knew You Would Say That: Ann's message to Leslie assures her that her absence is not due to a Liam Neeson-Taken-type situation. She then anticipates Leslie's conclusion and assures her that she's not saying so because that's the sort of thing they would make her say.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Larry saves the day when he figures out that Harvey has a ton of city code violations and because of it, they convince Harvey to stick to the original deal. Ben also goes out of his way to compliment and praise Larry.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Ann calls Leslie out on her treatment of the other girls, especially how she used "Galentine's Day" as a way to not-so-subtly rate them.
