TV Review: Parks and Recreation 5.6, "Ben's Parents"
While “Ben’s Parents” certainly had a debatable overall flaw, it also had the same incredible performances and laughs that keep me coming back as a fan episode after episode.
rating: 3.5
Bens Parents was a solid episode of Parks and Recreation but I believe its the first of this season to feel slightly less than perfect. The resolutions to each plot in Bens Parents were pretty weak in that I personally feel they werent exactly earned. Nonetheless it still gave me plenty of big laughs and remains a decent example of one of Americas best sitcoms currently on the air. The main plot of the episode which definitely had the most screen time by far was surrounded around dealing with Ben parents who literally cannot stand each other at the couples engagement party. As mentioned, this plot had a bunch a great laughs, but after watching Bens parents butt heads for most of the episode, the conflict is resolved rather quickly with a simple ultimatum to which both of Bens parents immediately agree. The writers did a great job at establishing tension among the various in-laws (I feel like somewhere at some point there must have been a bitter and bloody rivalry between various Red Vines and Twizzlers clans), so much so that their quick acceptance to behave like mature adults at the wedding felt unearned and a little too convenient. Leslie and Bens ultimatum was certainly no Jeff Winger speech (is it February 7th yet?). I did, however, derive great enjoyment from the always adorable Ben and Leslie as well as the supporting casts collective good-natured threat to Ben if he were to ever hurt Leslie (even Jerry!). It was a fun little plot but ultimately lacked in delivering on any real tension or consequences. Meanwhile we got glimpses of Chris emotional break-down and Toms struggle to put together a legitimate business proposal for Ron to invest in since he cant get a loan after Entertainment 720 went bankrupt. I liked the scenes of Chris breaking down in the face of Leslie and Bens happiness his claims of a perfect storm of emotions and the conclusion that Everything ends! when he runs out of tissues were especially funny, as was April and Andys balancing out of Chris emotions by alternately naming happy and terrible things like Dave Matthews Band but they had even less actual resolution than the main plot. Chris just suddenly ran out of tears I guess. The end. Toms plot was definitely a step up as we got to watch Tom genuinely go through the process of realizing that he has to cut Jean-Ralphio out of his business venture in order to really make it work. Though it doesnt not make sense that as soon as Ron learns this from Jean-Ralphio hes already decided to back Tom with his gold money, but I saw it coming a mile away and it was wrapped up during the closing credits. Again, I got a ton of laughs form Jean-Ralphio, as always, but everything was just a little too neat and predictable. Not every episode of Parks can be perfect and to expect such is asking for disappointment, so while Bens Parents certainly had a debatable overall flaw, it also had the same incredible performances and laughs that keep me coming back as a fan episode after episode.