Parks and Rec: I Say I Do

I've been working on a post where I touch base on all of the new shows I picked up this season and see where I am with each, but I'm going to post that a bit later this week. For now I just want to quickly talk about my favorite comedy, Parks and Recreation, especially since this week it's getting preempted for some stupid reality show.

First, the proposal last week was absolutely perfect. It just felt right that these two characters are taking this next step in their relationship. And even though Ben, yet again, put Leslie and her dreams ahead of his professional career because he realized that he was "ridiculously in love" with her was the stuff of fairy tales, it still felt like this show and these characters EARNED this perfect moment. The fact that it was also a surprise proposal gave me joy since I honestly didn't see it coming. I knew some big, life-changing thing was probably going to happen in the episode. I thought Jerry's heart fart attack was it then I thought it was Ben taking the job in Florida. And even later in the episode, I thought it was going to be Ron opening himself up to a romantic relationship. So when Ben went down on bended knee and opened the box with the ring, Leslie wasn't the only one whose heart skipped a beat.

My love for Ben, Leslie, and their relationship can probably be summed up in this wonderful retrospective video montage of some of their best moments:



Frankly, I'm glad Ben's Washington arc is done as both actors really do play off best with each other, but that's not to say I didn't like it. On the contrary, I have enjoyed seeing Adam Scott have lots of scene with Audrey Plaza as they too had palpable chemistry. But I really was starting to feel uncomfortable as it seemed like the show wanted us to imagine Ben and April together, as in romantically. On the other hand, I knew this show really wasn't like that as that plot development would absolutely break the hearts of Leslie and Andy.

But on to the other characters... how awesome is it that Ron Swanson is dating Xena Warrior Princess? I mean when I heard Lucy Lawless was cast as Ron's love interest, I already knew it would be love at first sight and it really, really was. Speaking of, I'm more and more convinced that Chris and Ann are becoming endgame. Yes, when they first got together it didn't work out, but we now know that BOTH of them were seriously messed up as evidenced by Chris going to therapy now and Ann most recently realizing she's been losing herself in her relationships. I think a season or so of more self-actualizing and both can reconnect. A few of the other things that have made me smile this season: Andy hanging out with kids, Donna livetweeting, Tom's Rent-A-Swag, Ron in princess makeup, Leslie's half-perm, Ben's Star Trek fanfic, and April toying with Ben.