What I’m Watching: Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation: Season 5, Episode 1 “Ms. Knope Goes to Washington” (B)

Expectations were high for the season premiere of my favorite comedy, and, like last year, the opener didn’t quite deliver. A disappointing episode of this show is still much better than any installment of most comedies on the air. That said, this episode just didn’t seem entirely fresh, serving more as an arguably necessary reintroduction to the characters and their new statuses in life. Leslie not getting to make her presentation was a bit of a disappointment, but showing Andy around Washington was entertaining. I most enjoyed Andy’s closing tour, which highlighting Sinbad living in the White House and the story of Oval Redenbacher. Leslie getting motivated to clean up the river by herself was a more positive start, and having her back in Pawnee will definitely be welcome. Objectively, Ron running Leslie’s barbecue, complete with a live slaughtering of the dinner and no vegetables, was a funny concept, but there was too much stubbornness on Ron’s part and too much complaining on the part of everyone else for it to work entirely. That said, the pig being named Tom was good for a few laughs, and finding out that Ann and Tom were pretending to stay together just because everyone told them they wouldn’t last was extremely amusing. Ann putting glitter in all of Tom’s moisturizers because he put glitter in the laundry and in the butter was terrific, and the best part of the whole thing was that, angry as he was, Tom loved the idea. Let’s hope for more of that kind of hilarious humor in the coming episodes.