TV Review: Parks and Recreation 4.10, "Citizen Knope"

rating: 3

There is a touch of sincerity that comes from the most genuine episodes of Parks and Recreation. Stripped of gimmick or flash, it has a sort of tender (maybe even caramel?) center of warmhearted friendship and togetherness which forces me to suspend disbelief enough to love the shit out of all the characters. In its best moments, the series able to blend this with a healthy dose of comedy that is accessible and fun. Sometimes though, the show itself in its own formula and focuses a little too much on getting the story right, forgetting that it is in fact a comedy. In a rush to put something out, they'll throw in a few odd laugh out loud moments for good measure. This week's episode wasn't the worst offender of this, but it could have used a little extra push. I definitely wasn't looking for anything majorly groundbreaking, what with it being the holiday season and a whole slew of "special" episodes that will be so over loaded with kitsch they will be utterly impossible to digest. Why even try to rise above all this stuff? Keep it simple, I get that. Add to that the recent plot twists and turns the show has gone through, and it would have been downright irresponsible to pull a complete 180 and give us 30 minutes of Christmas pizzaz. Still, I tink this week lacked a bit of its usual flavor. They were stuck in a tough spot, unable to really move anything forward because, after all, it is Christmas, but not wanting to succumb to overzealous holiday spirit. The episode picks up at the beginning of Leslie's suspension. Not even one day out, and she is already breaking into the office to steal work to bring home. Chris catches her and sends her home, but not before she books it for the door. She soon finds out from her campaign advisors that she needs to lay low for a while to let her most recent scandal simmer a bit. With nothing to do, and Ben out on a job hunt, Leslie becomes vehemently stir crazy and puts together a social action group to do her job from the outside. Meanwhile, the office tries to put together a Christmas gift for Leslie to try and repay all of the present debt they have accumulated over the years. All in all, the episode felt like a bit of a stall, piecing together enough loose jokes to make it to the end of the last few minutes where everything really happened. Four seasons in, it is getting a little old to hear, once again, Ron complain about how much he hates spirit of any kind, especially Christmas spirit. Same goes for Tom, whose edgy facade manifests himself this week in an e-mail tag cloud and a slight at the Parks department for being outdated. Not really much to go on there. Oh, and Andy poisons himself with some M+M's. Okay, that was a little bit funny. But they even felt the need to bring in Ralphio for a small part because when the chips are down, Ben Schwartz is always good for a laugh. Thankfully, when the show finally did get around to its last few minutes of action, it was exactly the special moments of togetherness I've grown so fond of from the show. A warmhearted proposal by the office to help Leslie in her campaign as well as a much needed don't give a shit attitude from Ben is sure to push the series in the right direction. It was an understated affirmation of what's really important to the show and their own idealist attitude toward the holiday season. Everything will work out okay, and where there is love, there will always be happiness. I'll give it to Parks and Recreation. They sincerely know how to end an episode leaving me feeling all gooey inside. I just wish they would have brought that kind of fun all the way through.