review: Parks and Recreation shows us "How a Bill Becomes a Law"

Parks and Recreation, Season Five, Episode 3 “How a Bill Becomes a Law”

Lucy Lawless has arrived and Parks and Recreation will never be the same again. Can she tame the manstadon known as Ron Swanson or will she just end up another trophy on his wall?

We began with Leslie and Ben Skyping, where we learned that Leslie keeps a clock set to Washington D.C.’s time near her desk so she always knows what time it is for Ben. Does it matter than Pawnee is in the same time zone? Nah.

We see more of the dynamic with Ben and April. April scares the crap out of Ben, as he is so stuffy that does not ever know how to take her. It is easy to empathize with him though, as April often resembles a 12-year-old on a sugar binge. Imagine being trapped with her in a car for hours. What would you do? Don’t answer that….no fan fiction here. Especially not Star Trek: Next Generation fan fiction.

• * Leslie ventured into the hell that is Pawnee Today, where Leslie talked about the Fun and the Sun Act, aimed to get the Pawnee Porpoises more time for swimming practice. “I’m a city councilor with porpoise.”
• * April misses Andy and she tries to talk Ben into going back Pawnee to see his lover Chris.
• * Ben’s nerdiness almost ruined the whole thing though.
• * Chris starts a 3-1-1 number to help the community. Being Pawnee, it goes horribly and of course, Jerry takes the brunt of it.
• * Did you know Jim O’Heir, who plays Jerry, originally auditioned for Ron Swanson?
• * Donna has started reading 50 Shades of Grey. People calling 3-1-1 got a live reading of it.
• * With Ann away, Leslie decides to get a perm. Ann had warned her never to do it – and we saw why.
• * Andy plays well with princesses; Ron Swanson does not.
• * Ben’s CD collection is probably one of the worst the world has ever seen.
• * Pawnee’s leadership once tried to resegregate baseball.
• * Food’N’Stuff is apparently THE hookup spot in Pawnee.
• * Cold-patch asphalt always seals the deal.
• * The price for increased pool hours is pooping privileges.
• * Andy senses Ron’s attraction to his new woman friend Diane and convinces him to dress like a princess. I never want to see Princess Swanson again. Reminded me of Mimi from The Drew Carey Show.
• * Andy “Messy is fun. My whole life is messy and I love it.”
• * I think Ben is going to kiss April.
• * Diane asks Ron out for dinner. As a middle school vice principal, she is a woman who knows what she wants and is not afraid to get it.
• * Of course, Andy gave Diane a clue that Ron was interested.
• * You come at Leslie and tom will mow you down.
• * No Ann this week? What the heck?

I felt this week’s show was a little scattershot and all over the place. I liked last week’s better, but average Parks and Recreation – even bad Parks and Recreation – beats almost anything else on TV. I give this episode a C+.