After the Great Battle at the Dump, Lady Leslie, of the Knope/Wyatt clan, raises her sword to unite the two feuding nations of Eagleton and Pawnee under one banner, lest their dissention destroy them both. While she is distracted, her loving but competitive husband, Lord Wyatt, works in secret with the gremlin Gingerich to finally dethrone her as Queen of Gift-Giving after years of successive and pathetic defeat.
In the Game of Anniversaries, you either gift…or you die.
Leslie A+
While the sweet-old-couple turned cranky-sad-couple plotline was a bit transparent, we got some serious Leslie growth (not a fungus) by the end of it. This is one of the only times Leslie has delegated an entire task. Her goal throughout the episode was to save the Pawnee-Eagleton merger, and her solution was… to let the kids handle it! And it turned out to be exactly what was needed. Not only that, but instead of shutting down Tom’s idea, this time she embraced it with so much love and pride, she couldn’t even speak. The girl is on fire.
And would anyone have even been surprised if it turned out Leslie had actually made that Iron Throne replica? It’s not beyond her crafting abilities.
Ben B
"So she's gunna make the face this year. She will make that stupid face!" -Ben Wyatt
Hats off to Ben for attempting to out-gift Leslie. I think part of him knew that would never happen, but good on him for trying. And I love that one of the characters finally admitted that Larry actually has the most successful home-life of them all. The meaningful close-up we got of Ben when Leslie complemented his paella because of Larry’s saffron trick made me think we were going to get a nice little bow to tie up his and Larry’s man-date together, but no such pay-off. Not even a small scene where Ben acknowledges how loving and helpful Larry has been despite how they’ve all treated him. Maybe they’ll add it in the producer’s cut? However, since I am ALSO worried they’re going rely too much on CGI in the new Star Wars, he doesn’t get too many points off.
Larry A
Is it just me, or did Ben find out exactly why Gail is with Larry by the end of this episode? He’s a talented, saffron-using, tango-dancing, Enchanted-loving teddy bear. But like Canada, more fun to hate than love. Sorry (not sorry) Larry. For this week, I'll give him an A. Lord knows I'll give him F's later for no reason.
April D-
"Is this landmine still functional?" -April Ludgate
I liked the idea of this plotline for April. She’s young and hasn’t had to deal with the awkward task of managing her friends, which can be especially challenging when the friends are older. But her path through this storyline seemed worn; she had to reject Ron’s advice for the sake of the show’s layout, but April is usually pretty direct. Whenever April has been in a leadership position before, she’s never had a problem expressing herself in a direct (albeit, some-what mean) manner. If anything, I would think her problem would be directing people in a compassionate way, something Leslie would’ve been better at teaching than Ron. It felt like the writers sacrificed known character traits in favor of moving the story along, which is not typically a Parks problem.
Donna B
That low angle shot of Donna about to go “Mjölnir on his ass” kills me. And the fact that she knows enough about April to be able to tell she's the reviewer is a great call-back to the episode where Donna and April come up with dog types for each other. But Donna is ALSO usually more direct than she was this episode. I can see why she would want to slowly draw April into admitting why she did it, but I don't approve of it and I don't really buy it. However, I'll never fail Donna in an episode where she lets her nerd flag fly; I do love it when she gushes over Game of Thrones or Thor. Go Mjölnir some ass, girl.
Ron B
"It says 'Dear Canada, Fuck you.'"-Ron Swanson
In all of Ron’s plotlines this season, his character had been deprived of the opportunity to grow or learn something. This episode, Ron wrote a bunch of (hilarious and character-appropriate) reviews of corporations he didn’t support. Ron's inspiration for doing this feels contrived, but it’s forgiven because the outcome is too funny to pass-up. But Ron doesn’t go on a journey; he doesn’t learn anything new, or realize something new about himself, and he hasn’t for a long time. When did the writers decide Ron was perfect and no longer needed to grow? But dammit, if this plot isn’t insanely hilarious then I don’t know what is. And while he may not grow, he at least helps April do so (whom I'm still convinced was taught a lesson she didn't need to learn). Hopefully the remainder of the season will challenge his character more; he's Ron "Fucking" Swanson. He can take it.
“Anniversaries” B-
Between Tom self-actualizing and coming to terms with his mortality, April’s morbidly positive review of the funeral home, and Ben’s sinister vision of Gail waking up screaming from a hypnosis nightmare, this episode got delightfully dark! It was written by Megan Amram, who also penned the episode “Animal Control” and co-wrote “Ron and Diane” (clearly Amram knows how to write great Swanson one-liners). This was a solid, hilarious episode of Parks, but the plots were a little thin for me and the characters wavered a bit too far from their known personalities.
Demerits
- Donna and April, the most unabashedly direct people in the Parks Dept., are suddenly unwilling to be direct to each other? Yeah, right.
- I want about nine more hours of Leslie and Ben trying and failing to role-play Game of Thrones.
- I don’t have a supercut of all Ron’s bad reviews, and it is upsetting. I guess this will have to suffice.
Extra Credit
- Leslie’s impression of Ben’s surprised face is spot-on.
- Tom realizing he’s going to die was GOLD.
- CRAIG IS BACK and he’s “Samantha in the board room and Miranda in the bedroom.”
- Donna knew the reviewer was April because of her precious review for a funeral home as a “Great first date spot”. Classic.
- I forgot to miss Ann and Chris in this episode... BECAUSE WE GOT MORE DONNA! Am I right, guys?
Best Jerry/Gary/Larry Dig
- Ben’s idea that Larry and Gail’s marriage is a horrible hypnosis accident. “Like, if I say ‘nutmeg’, will she wake up and start screaming?”
- “Ugh! Where’s Leslie?”
One last thing… are we going to get new City Hall murals for the big Pawnee/Eagleton brawl at the dump? Please, please, please.