Parks and RecreationThe Reporter
Original Air Date: Apr 23, 2009
JD - Associate Staff Writer
JD@thetwocentscorp.com
So we're falling into a little pattern here, each new episode beginning with a snippet of life in Leslie Knope's little corner of Pawnee. Today Leslie is on a nature hike, a city-run pre-teen program, which used to be a teen program until one of the teenage girls got pregnant. Well, you know what they say about there not being much to do in small towns...
Leslie, true to form, does something almost anyone with three brain cells wouldn't, and chows down on a plant she's unfamiliar with, which turns out to be bitter and causes her tongue to swell. Thus endeth the hike.
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[photo: nbc]
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This week, back in Leslie's natural habitat, she's decided to call a reporter to write an article about the pit. Projects like the pit project need press or they die. She's seen it happen before, like the ill-fated graffiti removal plan that fell apart too soon, before they really even got started cleaning up a bunch of cartoon penises scattered around the city that still haunt Leslie to this day.
ReplyDeleteShe gathers her committee to discuss the interview, where she channels Tyler Durden for a few moments: The first rule of The Pit Project is 'stay on message'. The second rule of The Pit Project is 'Stay. On. Message.' After this, she takes Mark to JJ's diner, the meeting place for the political elite in Pawnee, and grills him for advice on dealing with the media.
And then the big moment finally arrives. The reporter, Shawna, shows up, and she's treated to a tour around Leslie's building, even though she's been there before, and a viewing of the horribly racist murals there, which Leslie seems rather fixated on. She insisted on touring them with Ann too.
When the interview starts, Shawna brings out a tape recorder. Leslie panics, fails spectacularly, then flees the interview, and upon coming back, walks in on Andy telling Shawna that he was drunk the night he fell into the pit. Which, by the way, no one was aware of until now. Cue Ann and Andy fighting, Leslie panicking (again), and Shawna just eating up her juicy story. In a state of desperation, Leslie calls Mark to fix it.
Oh, and he does. Shawna comes back later to tell Leslie she'll see her at the pit the next day for a second interview, and Leslie thinks all is back on track. Little does she know that Mark's way of fixing things involves a little... er, lovin'.
The next day, Mark drops Shawna off at the pit, even though they don't live near each other at all. She's wearing the same clothes she had on the day before, and it takes Leslie a while to put two and two together, but once she does, it's Total Meltdown Time. By the time the interview ends (abruptly, when Leslie bails in the middle of it), Leslie is left with an even bigger mess to clean up than she had before.
This was a really fun episode, and as much as I like Leslie The Oblivious, I think I like Leslie The Panicky Screw-up even better. It's a shtick Poehler does really well, and I think the scene above is probably one of my favorites in the series so far. Not that there's a lot to go on now, but you know what I mean.
What did you guys think? Give me your two cents!