Parks and Recreation: “Ms. Knope Goes to Washington” (5.1)
As the first episode of the season, “Ms. Knope Goes to Washington” was all about setting up what we’ll be seeing from Parks and Recreation for the next 21 weeks of the show. This means reassuring the audience that the aspects of the show they like won’t be changing, even though its dynamic must, by necessity, move forward. Last season was primarily about Leslie’s election, and her success means a huge change for the parks department. Not only that, but Ben, whose place in Pawnee has always been a bit uncertain, left the city to work on a congressional election campaign.
I’m guessing that we’ll mostly see Ben on his visits to Indiana and through Skype this season, but before he leaves, the show does a good job of reminding us why we care so much about him. Or, more importantly, why Leslie cares so much about him. They have the same favorite historical artifacts and he is able to introduce Leslie to a pair of her heroes, Barbara Boxer and Olympia Snowe. Their priorities in Washington are similar, and at the end of the day, it still makes sense for them to continue as a long distance relationship. Also with them, pretty much just for laughs, are Andy and April, who reaffirm their marriage by having sex all around Washington. It’s a small story, but effective, and Amy Poehler perfectly captures her character’s thrill at being in the capitol.
Meanwhile, the rest of the parks crew is still in Pawnee, and right now is the time of the annual employee appreciation barbeque. Normally this is something Leslie is in charge of, and she goes as all out with it as she does with everything else in her life. But with her gone, Ron is in charge, and for once has to actually do something besides sit behind his desk. He figures he can throw a great barbeque because he loves grilling meat, but everything goes wrong and the staff just kind of waits around for food until he gets annoyed enough with them to leave.