This week’s episode of Parks and Recreation was directed by Jorma Taccone of The Lonely Island fame. The entire episode basically centered around Leslie and Ben, but it was different from last week’s “End of the World,” because it really focused on the tensions that arise between two people who have broken up but still try to hold on to their friendship.
Leslie is in charge of heading this year’s Pawnee’s Model United Nations, and she is incredibly excited about it. She’s also pretty sure that she’s going to make the event a great success. She asks Ben to help her, and obviously he jumps onboard, seeing as how he’s one of the biggest (and most lovable) nerds currently on television. Leslie also recruits Andy, whom she decides will represent Finland, and April, who only agrees to represent South Africa at MUN if she also gets to represent the moon.
Back at the office, Ron is trying to convince Tom to take his old job back (as Entertainment 720 is officially done for), because he recently saw Tom spraying perfume at the local Macy’s. Tom is proud though, and tells Ron that he needs to pursue his dreams. In a tactic to get Tom to take the job on again, he has Tom help him “find a replacement.”
Pawnee’s MUN starts off smoothly, and there’s a cute moment when Cassidy, a high school student at the event, fangirls after meeting Leslie. She and the other students are supposed to solve the global food crisis at the conference. The students all get along well, and Andy makes a hilarious agreement with another country to trade Finland’s entire army for fifty lions. Things start to get out of control, though, when Leslie accuses Ben of betraying her, which results in Denmark (represented by Leslie) declaring war on Peru (represented by Ben). Some insults may have been thrown around, as well. Ben of course doesn’t take this lying down, and gets a resolution passed that formally condemns Denmark. If anyone thinks that Leslie isn’t going to retaliate, they clearly haven’t watched a lot of Parks and Recreation, as she forms her own coalition to get Denmark’s revenge on Peru.
As war rages on between Denmark and Peru, Ron and Tom come to the conclusion that all the people that they’re interviewing are not fit to fill Tom’s position. Ron then asks Tom to take his old job back, which he refuses. Sick of beating about the bush, Ron tells Tom that he saw him spraying perfume at Macy’s, which Tom denies at first. He finally agrees to take his old job back though, if Ron will tell the others that he begged Tom to come back. The best part though, is when Tom refuses to take the job in front of the others, angering Ron and making him force Tom to tell the others that he begged Ron for the job back. It just goes to show that it’s never smart to mess with Ron. The man sands his toenails for crying out loud.
Back at the battlefields, the students have gotten tired of Leslie and Ben’s arguing and have all left the conference. Leslie and Ben then realize that they’ve been acting selfishly and recognize that they’ve both been having a hard time keeping each other in their respective friend zones. They finally make an agreement (or a treaty, since they’re still at MUN) to have a friendly five-minute chat with each other each day. Will this actually help them ease the pain of breaking up and going to back to being friends? It’s hard to say, but as with any peace treaty, only time will tell.
The clichéd saying “all’s fair in love and war” seems appropriate for this week’s episode, as the love (and subsequent war) between Ben and Leslie were really put in the spotlight tonight. They do seem to be slowly accepting the fact that they won’t be together for awhile, but hopefully this will change in the future.
