Parker Posey (also an excellent name) plays Leslie's ex-best friend-now-rival, Lindsay Carlisle-Shay. Lindsay is the Parks and Recreation Director of Eagleton, Pawnee's rival town inhabited by rich snobs who believe themselves to be superior to the residents of Pawnee (although on average Pawneeans are several inches shorter and 80lbs heavier). Lindsay is no exception to this. She and Leslie clash over a fence that she erected through the middle of a shared park-space between Eagleton and Pawnee. Leslie is incensed because, as we should all believe, children of any status should be able to play in any park, even if the Pawnee side is "this scrappy piece of land where kids go to smash fluorescent light tubes". Posey whips up a storm as a villain comparable to even Megan Mullally's Tammy Two. Effortlessly patronising and rude, Lindsay humiliates Leslie in a public forum ending her speech abruptly by saying "here's to Leslie Knope, isn't she trying her hardest! So cute". We then discover that Leslie and Lindsay had made a pact to stay in Pawnee to make it a better place to live after Leslie was offered the parks job in Eagleton, but then when the job was offered to Lindsay she took it and disappeared. Fighting in a pile of garbage bags and a night in the cells later, Leslie rises above and creates the Pawnee wiffle ball league, uniting Pawnee and Eagleton kids alike. Posey and Poehler had worked together previously on in indie film Spring Breakdown. Posey was a long-time fan of the show, and had discussed a possible guest appearance with Poehler before it even debuted. Why it took so long for this appearance to happen (Posey's episode doesn't come until the end of Season 3) is a bit of a mystery, and Posey was reportedly very frustrated that it took so long to come to fruition. Despite this, the episode received very positive reviews, with Time Magazine calling the garbage bag fight one of the funniest scenes of the season (they're not wrong). It's no question that Posey and Poehler work well on-screen, so hopefully we'll get to meet the Eagleton Parks Director again in the future.
