Parks and Recreation: “Are You Better Off?” (Episode 5.22)
It’s been an excellent season of Parks and Recreation, more varied than any that came before it, and despite a mounting episode count Parks doesn’t even seem close to running out of steam. One of its most impressive features has actually been the way Parks seems to identify areas of itself that are becoming problems—characters becoming too broad, plot repetition—and excise them before it makes the show any less enjoyable. The novelty of having such a wacky cast of characters has long subsided, but in every case the show’s writers and actors have done their best to give them depth. It may no longer be surprising to hear Ron go off on a subject, but right now it’s no less satisfying.
The season has had a particularly strange structure, in that what would be the peak for almost any show, a wedding between two of its main characters, came midway through the season. Some people have said that Parks has seemed somewhat directionless since then, but I would argue that this has in no way affected the quality of its episodes. Actually, I would have been somewhat annoyed if the moment Leslie and Ben were married, the show began a new dramatic storyline, because it would have seemed so fake. Instead, the show has returned for its last run of episodes to the low-key, low-stakes world that it began with. Not many of these episodes have had the blockbuster set pieces that Parks occasionally features, but they’ve been witty and strong and completely enjoyable.
That being said, the season finale “Are You Better Off?” ties together all of these otherwise loosely connected episodes and shows that they were serving a larger purpose. Most of the time, Pawnee’s chorus of morons is annoying but largely benign, ready to voice their inane opinions and then let the city’s government go about its work. However, after a year in city council, Leslie wants to gloat a bit about her accomplishments and opens up a forum for listening to what Pawneeans thought of the last year. Of course, when it comes to open forums, those who don’t care don’t show up, and it’s the few bearing grudges who make the loudest noises. Every person who ended up affected “negatively” by Leslie in the last year arrives, and it isn’t long before they begin a campaign to recall Leslie.
This storyline is slightly contrived, but nonetheless exciting and a new place for Parks to travel. One of its themes has been the way, so long as a person like Leslie is working behind the scenes, progress does get made. The show’s government actively helps people… but even so, it can’t help everyone. People with terrible, sometimes bigoted ideas get disenfranchised too, and even though it’s for the betterment of society, that doesn’t mean they’re not people too. For a season finale it’s perfect, reflecting on what’s come before and telling us what the show’s next season will be about.