Four Seasons Into "Parks and Recreation"

Moderate spoilers ahead for the first four seasons.

The third and fourth seasons of "Parks and Recreation" see Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) getting romantic, and Leslie running for City Council.  Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) takes on the job of Pawnee's city manager, and Tom Haverford takes a strange detour into the private sector with Jean-Ralphio (Ben Schwartz).  The show has hit its stride, and while not every episode is great, and the fourth season loses laughs as it enters "West Wing" territory, it maintains a level of quality that is very impressive.  

The biggest course correction that the show has made is that its outlook is now firmly positive, and all of its major characters are shown to be fundamentally good people who are slowly improving themselves.  Even though they have their faults, some bigger than others, they can be counted on to help each other and do the right thing when it matters.  It's fun watching people grow and change and learn to value each other.  Leslie Knope is firmly at the center of all of this, figuring out how to apply her insane work ethic in ways that allow her to actually accomplish big things.  She emerges as a true leader of our motley bunch.  At the same time, Amy Poehler keeps her so fallible and so funny.  Leslie is amazing, but she's also still a petty, grudge-holding, overzealous steamroller with a waffle addiction.

A lot of the show is concerned with everyone's romantic relationships.  Because I am totally basic, Leslie and Ben are my favorite couple, but I would be inconsolable if Andy and April ever broke up.  What worries me is that romance - or really failure in romance - is becoming a defining characteristic for characters like Ann, Tom, and Chris.  Ann and Tom get paired up at the end of the fourth season, which feels very wrong, and I suspect the writers only went in that direction because they weren't sure what else to do with either of them.  Ann and Tom are the members of the gang who seem the most neglected at this point, still fairly shallow and unexplored despite having a lot of potential.  Tom's 720 Entertainment business venture was a one-note joke that got run into the ground, while revealing almost nothing new about him as a character.  I know more about Donna and Jerry's lives, just due to running jokes.

Conversely, I like how Ben and Chris have been developed.  It took me a while to stop seeing Rob Lowe as Sam Seaborn, and enjoy the weirdo that is Chris Traeger.  Lowe has this desperate energy that makes Chris more and more poignant as his perfect facade starts showing cracks.  Meanwhile, Ben is a nerd who is a nerd in a realistic way.  He's not constantly spouting pop culture references or accounting jargon, but it shows up at the right times.  I like that he's a super-earnest idealist like Leslie, who just got pummeled down by failure and tedium over the years.  He's maybe too much of a perfect boyfriend - endlessly empathetic and supportive of all of Leslie's ambitions - but on the other hand Ben does have his own insecurities to tackle.  And I'm a sucker for healthy, functional onscreen relationships.        

"Parks & Rec" has proved that it's not scared of changing the status quo in fundamental ways, which has kept the show interesting, and kept me from focusing on its weaker points.  The third season had the very strong Harvest Festival arc, and the secret relationship arc, which were the show at its best.  Though it had some lulls, I also like the election storyline, where we get to explore the ins and outs of Pawnee more, and get guest stars like Bobby Newport (Chris Pratt) and his campaign manager Jennifer Barkley (Kathryn Hahn).  Other highlights include the introduction of the rivalry with the affluent Eagleton, the tiny horse Li'l Sebastian, and a local doomsday cult.  I'm not remotely surprised that writer Mike Scully is a "Simpsons" vet.    

The one character I haven't mentioned yet is Ron Swanson.  Nick Offerman is still fantastic, and I like the gradual softening of Ron's edges.  However, the two attempts to match the series high that was "Ron and Tammy," from the second season, have both fallen a little flat.  I get such a kick out of Tammy Two (Megan Mullaly), and Tammy One (Patricia Clarkson) has great potential, but somehow Ron's messy relationships with his ex-wives are funnier offscreen than they are onscreen.  

I'm halfway through the show, and the urge to binge just keeps getting worse.  I'll be back with a post on the remaining seasons sooner rather than later.    

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