It’s also a demonstration that Pawnee’s financial limitations weren’t a character flaw of Ben’s that went away when he fell in love with Leslie
I love this observation so much!
I think this episode was a taste of the sorts of conflicts all the characters will be facing next season *fingers crossed* if Leslie wins *fingers crossed* (Except for Ben. Other than being the Michelle to Leslie's Barack, who knows what he'll be doing?)
It was nice to get a feel for what might be in store, and I think the writers have the chops to make it work. Now we just have to keep hoping, wishing, praying, etc. that they get the chance.
Yes, this episode gave me a great feeling of what next season might have in store. And it made me feel really good about her chances of winning too--the questions raised seem too interesting to just drop. And someone on the West Coast thread pointed out that if Chris is fired, Ron probably wouldn't move up, and Leslie wouldn't even get to be parks director, so there goes that theory. As stressful as that scenario sounds, it makes me feel confident because I feel like they wouldn't do that to us!
Yeah, thank God this ep brought us back to Leslie being awesome and exerting actual influence (how easily she convinced Pillner to change his budget plans!) and then running into the wall of finite resources and trying to deal with that, as opposed to her doing weird shit to sabotage herself.
The more I think about it, the more confused I get about the possibility of Chris losing his job. It's been hinted that he wants Ann back before, but in this ep it was hinted at in conjunction with the possibility of him being not being in the public service... and...I don't know what this means. But it leaves me feeling vaguely anxious about just about everything.
That look Chris gave Ann was really ambiguous ... was he thinking about leaving Pawnee (and her) if he lost his job? Thinking that he might be able to make that happen if he wasn't her boss any longer? I like that Chris's story arc this half of the season seems to be figuring out his life in Pawnee, since we never got a story like that for him like we did for Ben, but I'm not sure how or Ann fits into that. We shall see ...
Yeah, you're right. It just makes me somewhat less sure about the election somehow. I don't know...there is all this stuff that could happen to Chris and could happen to Chris and Ann, but only if Leslie isn't elected. Or Chris could come around to asking Leslie to vote against another term for him. But I'm not sure if we're supposed to like these possibilities or not? I don't though, so obviously I want her to get elected more than ever.
OMG I think we are soulmates. Nobody understands how happy I am to have Parks back! I feel like everyone else is crazy and I am sane,,,but I know its probobly the other way around! Anyway, I love Parks, I love your thoughts here. I love the fact that I am not alone in this love affair! And right now I am a little drunk. But I mean everything I said!
I'm not super enamoured with this episode, because it had the feeling of a stepping stone premiere episode wherein I'm more excited about the things it set up more than the things that actually happened, but I'm so, so happy the show finally addressed the parks vs. public office issue.
Re: your second bullet point, now that I have worked in government all the little inefficiencies seem like like an oversight on the part of the writers and more like an actual reflection of how government functions. Which is... not very consistently.
Really? I feel like it's the first time in a while we've seen Leslie really shine by refusing to give up on something and coming up with an awesome solution nobody else thought of. We've seen a lot of her campaign struggling lately and not a lot of her showing those qualities that we know she has from past arcs, and I was really happy to see that finally, and I thought it was done really well. And it tied in nicely with April's plot, where Tom and April are using what Leslie has taught them. I loved it, but you're right, it also worked nicely to set up the rest of the season.
Interesting what you say about the budgets. In my exposure to local government, it doesn't seem like the ability to hire or not hire employees fluctuates that often, and adding or cutting positions is part of the overall budget process. But if they are taking liberties with that part of it for plot convenience, I'm cool with that--it's not something where realism is needed.
No, I agree that it was great to see Leslie really triumph again; it's just that at the beginning of the episode it felt too much like stuff we've seen before in terms of her messing up, Ben being upset about it, her ultimately overcoming it etc. The plots in the back half have followed very similar trajectories, as opposed to last season when I felt there was more variety. But I think that's a result of this particular storyline rather than the writers running out of ideas in general.
Re: government, what I meant was that there are really rigid hiring rules in place, especially with regards to union jobs, but you'd be surprised how often they're able to find money for contract positions in order to work around budget limitations, hiring freezes, or other such things. And of course it's not unusual for there to be oversight in terms of there being a surplus of employees... until of course they need to make a cut.
Hmmm, yeah, I can see where it's hitting some similar notes. I think it just worked better for me this time because the plot had more of a point, rather than just more shenanigans for the sake of shenanigans? But I do hope that beyond the campaign we go back to getting more variety.
Well, that's why I said Ben believed that, not that I did--and I can see how that would strike you that way, although it might also be odd for him to be in love with her and running her campaign while questioning her ability to do the job. I think we'll see her struggle with it more next season, assuming she wins, which it really feels like she's going to at this point. I think that's where the episode tied in really nicely to the Tom/April storyline--that 98 percent of the time the job is going to be really frustrating for her. And the other 2 percent, she'll be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat and do something good. But she's going to agonize over everything because she cares--maybe that's what Ben is talking about. It's not that it comes easily for her, but it's better to have someone like her in that position than someone like Newport or Pillner, who don't think through the implications of their decisions, other than in selfish or political terms
( ... )
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I love this observation so much!
I think this episode was a taste of the sorts of conflicts all the characters will be facing next season *fingers crossed* if Leslie wins *fingers crossed* (Except for Ben. Other than being the Michelle to Leslie's Barack, who knows what he'll be doing?)
It was nice to get a feel for what might be in store, and I think the writers have the chops to make it work. Now we just have to keep hoping, wishing, praying, etc. that they get the chance.
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The more I think about it, the more confused I get about the possibility of Chris losing his job. It's been hinted that he wants Ann back before, but in this ep it was hinted at in conjunction with the possibility of him being not being in the public service... and...I don't know what this means. But it leaves me feeling vaguely anxious about just about everything.
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Re: your second bullet point, now that I have worked in government all the little inefficiencies seem like like an oversight on the part of the writers and more like an actual reflection of how government functions. Which is... not very consistently.
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Interesting what you say about the budgets. In my exposure to local government, it doesn't seem like the ability to hire or not hire employees fluctuates that often, and adding or cutting positions is part of the overall budget process. But if they are taking liberties with that part of it for plot convenience, I'm cool with that--it's not something where realism is needed.
Reply
Re: government, what I meant was that there are really rigid hiring rules in place, especially with regards to union jobs, but you'd be surprised how often they're able to find money for contract positions in order to work around budget limitations, hiring freezes, or other such things. And of course it's not unusual for there to be oversight in terms of there being a surplus of employees... until of course they need to make a cut.
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