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S06.E19: Flu Season 2


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In the midst of flu season, a sick Leslie and Andy struggle to book performers for the Unity Concert. Meanwhile, Tom heads to a wine competition in search of a sommelier for his new restaurant, and Ben seeks drunken help from Ron with a personal problem.

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Even though I could see tonight's 'big surprise' coming from the first promo, I still loved tonight's episode. Having Ben realize he wanted to be a father before he found out was a sweet touch. Ben's line calling other Ron a hobo and Andy's line about the SAT's both killed me. Leslie and Andy are great together and I liked seeing them interact so much since it doesn't happen often.

Finally, you know Craig is officially a Pawnee resident now that he randomly picked up a new job. 

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Drunk Ben is the stuff comedic dreams are made of. I loved his realization that "other Ron" didn't help him at all. I loved "I was just telling Ron that my dog's Jewish!" I loved Andy's feigned patience at Land Ho guy (Jeff Tweedy) following that Karate Chop song. I also truly loved that the show didn't really emphasize the pregnancy reveal. I'm going to assume it'll happen off-screen. I also loved Donna being into April annoying the wine crowd.

Craig still bugs a bit, but I like the way he's being absorbed into the group.

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So happy! I had read spoilers that hinted Leslie would be pregnant but thought we wouldn't find out until the season finale. 

Ben trying to drunkenly climb a fence was one of the funniest moments all season. And I loved the callback to Johnny Karate. 

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I just about peed myself laughing with Other Ron's spirit animal (a white hawk?) landed on his arm. I love the Rons.

Leslie's pregnancy? Eh. It's weird to me that Leslie would be surprised by a pregnancy, since you'd think she'd have a three ring binder dedicated strictly to her fertility and would be contracepting like a boss if she didn't plan on having a child yet. (Which I don't think she did, considering her surprise and Ben's epiphany to start a family.) But I guess she's the magical unicorn .3% who bust right through birth control with perfect use.

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Craig still bugs me.  For now, he's just too one-dimensional:  screaming, over the top all the time just gets boring (IMO). 

I liked when drunk Ben was rambling into the phone about his dog being Jewish and Leslie says, "Are you having a stroke?"

Pragmatist that I am, as soon as Ben threw the check in the fire, I wondered if he'd try to get a replacement check issued when he sobers up and realizes what he did.

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It's a superficial note, but I loved Leslie's hair last night. Amy Poehler is usually super blonde. It was nice to see the darker shades. 

The general sickness masking pregnancy has been done before (most rewardingly on LA Law) but Parks and Rec made it work. I'm so happy Leslie didn't tell Ben over the phone. That's an "in person" conversation and I loved the ending with Ben wanting to start a family. 

The funniest moment of the episode was that fake music video. "Support our troops!" 

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Were the show's writers being deliberately obtuse with the line about how only one person "deemed himself" good enough to win the sommelier award? A roomful of writers and smart cast and crew members wouldn't just let that line go by, would they?

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That might have been my favorite episode of the season. I laughed out loud several times. Mostly due to the country singer's amazing lyrics. And drunk Ben. And, I blush to admit, Craig, who stupidly cracks me up.

And then the end was touching and sweet and lovely. Basically that episode captured everything I love about the series.

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It's weird to me that Leslie would be surprised by a pregnancy, since you'd think she'd have a three ring binder dedicated strictly to her fertility and would be contracepting like a boss if she didn't plan on having a child yet.

Seems out of character to me, too, but I'll let it slide for the sweet way it built to Leslie and Ben's closing scene.

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I'm trying to get excited about Leslie being pregnant, and I'm failing. I'm sure it will be funny and sweet because Parks, but they just went through all the standard "pregnant women be crazy" jokes with Ann, and Ron used up what few baby-related jokes were left. 

Craig makes me laugh, but he also makes me flinch. A little of him goes a long way.

I don't know what's funnier -- Ron Dunn, or how much Ron Swanson hates Ron Dunn.

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This points up a problem with the show throughout its run: Pawnee is a great city, and would have to be for Leslie to love it so much, except for

  • the raccoons
  • the obesity epidemic
  • the ignorant populace that voted Leslie out of office
  • the local media as represented by Joan, Perd, and the tabloid
  • sketchy business practices by Sweetums et al
  • the smell
  • AND SO ON

I know all the crappiness of Pawnee is for humour...but at a certain point they need to have pulled back from how shitty Pawnee is to explain why these good people haven't left!

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I know all the crappiness of Pawnee is for humour...but at a certain point they need to have pulled back from how shitty Pawnee is to explain why these good people haven't left!

 

Way back in my young adulthood I lived in a fairly small town in Indiana (in 2000 only 12,000 people lived there). By then I had lived in several states and it was humorous to me to talk to the people I was working with about my moving around. Almost all of them were lifelong Hoosiers. One woman, in her 40s I think, lived around the corner from her mother and down the block from her sister. They were STUNNED that I lived so far from my family. In talking to several people from the area it was unfathomable to them to think about leaving for any reason really. Vacations were taken but mostly in the area. Ohio would be a big trip. When Jerry talks about his excitement to go to French Lick I cracked up because that's what my coworkers did. This was in 1996.  I wonder how much of that is at play here. I know it is a show but whenever I wonder why do they stay I think of my coworkers who have roots like I've never experienced and I kind of get it. Leslie would have those kind of roots. 

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While I agree Pawnee is a horrible place to live (well, I grew up in Chicago so I have a built in prejudice against living anywhere in Indiana but that's neither here nor there), I do think the show has done a great job of establishing that Leslie is irrationally in love with the town and would probably think that it is a perfect place to race a kid.  As for Ben, he may disagree but he's not stupid enough to say that to Leslie.

Edited by mjforty
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I imagine that Leslie's pregnancy is part of the setup for the final season. Given the potential series finales they've done in the past (Rock Show, Lil Sebastian, Win, Lose Or Draw, Ben & Leslie) I have faith that they'll end it well.

 

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It's weird to me that Leslie would be surprised by a pregnancy, since you'd think she'd have a three ring binder dedicated strictly to her fertility and would be contracepting like a boss if she didn't plan on having a child yet.

I agree that she probably knows when her period is due down to the hour, but given how often she goes into denial about things that wreck her plans (like the last Flu Season episode), I can totally picture her pretending that a late period or potential contraception failure just wasn't happening.

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