What I’m Watching: Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation: Season 2, Episode 10 “Hunting Trip” (B+)

Having Leslie tag along on a hunting trip so that she can be “one of the guys” is an inspired storyline for this show, and the result is quite hilarious. Ron’s unamused reaction to the invasion of his private space was fun, and it’s nice to have an episode that’s so Ron-centric while still highlighting all of the other characters so terrifically. It’s wonderful to have both Leslie and Ann along for the ride, and their attempts to bond in masculine ways are entertaining. Someone getting shot was clearly going to happen given the wealth of untrained and inexperienced hunters going off into the woods armed with weapons, and seeing how each of the new hunters went wrong was great. Leslie’s decision to bite the bullet and take the blame for shooting Ron in the head made for great comic fodder, with two marvelous scenes that seemed like they were never going to end – Ron’s berating of Leslie for shooting him in the head and Leslie’s excuses for why she, the inferior female, had shot Ron in the head. The revelation that it was actually the unlicensed Tom who shot Ron in the head was a nice surprise, and Ann pantsing Tom and then high-fiving Leslie was a fitting end to the fateful trip into the woods. Back at the office, April and Andy are really good at getting nothing done, and their little friends-with-benefits experiment to make Ann jealous doesn’t seem to have paid off, but it sure is amusing.