What I’m Watching: Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation: Season 3, Episode 11 “Jerry’s Painting” (B+)

What could be better than a super-sized episode of this show to go along with an extra-long episode of “The Office”? For fans of this series, not much. This definitely ranks as the best character-in-a-painting episode since Tony Soprano got painted atop a horse and Paulie had his clothing repainted so that he looked like Napoleon. I love the fact that Marcia Langman, the woman from the families association, continues to appear whenever there’s some sort of controversy afoot. Jerry’s role in the whole storm was fun as well, and I love the way Leslie worked it out so that there would be two paintings and she’d get to keep the one she really liked. Tom’s reaction to his being put as the baby was amusing, and it’s always great to see him go nuts about something. Ben moving in with April and Andy could have been a bad move, and on any other show two characters being so blind to the awful messiness of their living space might be hard to believe, but it’s all part of what makes the newly married couple such consistent characters. This week’s shopping trip was even better than the last, and it was entertaining that Andy did his best to keep April on track before derailing himself. I love the direction of the budding romance between Ben and Leslie, coupled with Chris’ ignorance about their attraction to each other. The single best moment of the episode, however, came from Ron’s rather blunt introduction at the gallery.